~n

Thank you for mentioning the Hawthorne Streetcar web site.

One thing to note about the current streetcar is that it is not primarily intended as a commuter or interurban service (although if Lake Oswego ever gets a line, that portion of the streetcar system will operate more like a commuter service or as a hybrid)… Rather, the streetcar as implemented is intended as a local circulator in dense corridors.

If you’re only going two or three stops, and you’re in average or better physical condition, there is no real reason not to just walk. But if you’re going say from Powell’s to picking up a few groceries at Safeway, then heading down to an apartment on Harrison, the streetcar makes sense.

Clearly the streetcar makes sense as a mode of transport to a large number of visitors and residents to the corridor, because ridership has exceeded all expectations, over 10,000 daily boardings in the last count as I recall. (It doesn’t hurt that about 57% of the streetcar’s route is in fareless square.)

The problem facing the streetcar now is crowding… the recent vehicles that came online in late summer have reduced peak headways to 12 minutes — but that puts a lot of streetcar users in a situation where, if they’ve just missed a streetcar, they have to decide how far they can walk in 12 minutes rather than wait for the next streetcar, and nowadays even face the risk of being turned away because a car is full.

This summer, on a weekday afternoon around 2PM, I got off the streetcar at the Galleria and counted 8 individuals who could not board because the car was packed full. (This wasn’t just a case of people clustering by the doors — the car was completely full with standees from end-to-end.)

Some good news on the horizon is that the Pearl District neighborhood association appears to be supporting reconfiguring Lovejoy and Northrup into a couplet (this is not to be confused with the Burnside-Couch couplet proposal), which will improve traffic flow of all kinds in that neighborhood and especially improve flow on the slowest stretch of street that the streetcar serves. (It should be noted that a bus would fare no better on Lovejoy because there is currently only one through-travel lane in each direction … no passing for any type of vehicle is possible.)

If a few minutes are shaved off of each streetcar round-trip, headways can be reduced without adding new vehicles or new operator-hours.

- Bob R.

I enjoyed reading your article on the Portland streetcar. When I worked downtown about 4 years ago, the MAX dropped me off about two blocks from my job. I loved riding it. However, my experience with the Streetcar has been that is difficult to catch and walking proves to be just as fast in some cases. I feel its a novelty for a lot of people. Still, as more businesses, shops, and housing open along its route the more powerful a transportion medium it will become.

Keep up the great work and thanks for linking to us!

Bailey