Hood River Vus Routes

Something to read on tonight's TriMet bus ride: A Line 35 horror story

Here’s how the commute, according to Hunsberger, went downhill from there:

* First Stop: Bus driver parks, reports the detour to dispatch and awaits rerouting instructions. She waits 20 minutes. She notes she's not used to driving on "this side of the river" and blames dispatch for directions.

* The bus actually needed to be about 1,200 feet, or a fourth of a mile, away.

* “Driver resumes, drives in 3/4 circle,” about 1058 feet.

* Second stop: “Driver says dispatch directed her to get on to Hood, but she declares traffic too heavy to maneuver. She then parks again within 1,100 feet of where she needs to be, calls dispatch” and waits for a supervisor.

* Detour resumes: 2.8 miles - about 5 minutes.

* Third stop: “Bus driver stops to wait for supervisor to pull ahead of her and lead her on detour back to Macadam.”

* Scenic detour veers south toward downtown: 4.2 miles - about 10 minutes.

* Back on Route! “Bus finally gets back on route, 90 minutes after it left it. Approx. detour length: 7.6 miles. My normally 45-minute commute home ends in West Linn 2 hours later.”

Good lord!

Still, Hunsberger said, at least half the riders stayed on for the entire trip. “It's Portland,” he said. “They were politely frustrated. Some eventually got off and walked, though it wasn't certain they'd find another bus.”

During the whole ordeal, Hunsberger sent out stop-by-stop tweets.

“Could someone @trimet please help the #35 bus driver find our route again? She's been off it & parked for 20 minutes.”

No response from TriMet on Twitter.

Minutes later, another S.O.S.: “My @trimet bus moved! Three blocks! It is parked again herehttp://maps.google.com/maps?q=45.501186+-122.676895, so close to its route!

TriMet fare hike arrives this week (along with 'rolling' monthly passes ...

TriMet's latest news release says the transit agency is about to make "seasonal changes."

Translation: Fares are going up again on Sept. 1.

Starting Thursday , adult All-Zone and 2-Zone single fares will go up a nickel to $2.40 and $2.10, respectively. The cost of an adult monthly pass will also jump by $4 to $92 and a youth monthly pass edges up a buck to $27.

Of course, unlike last year's fare increases – which were accompanied by painful budget and schedule cuts – many riders are immediately getting something in return for the nickel and diming.  

Oregon's largest transit agency said 10 bus lines and the MAX Blue Line will have trips added to relieve crowding, while 14 more bus lines will be altered to improve reliability.

These bus lines will have added trips: 4-Division/Fessenden, 8-Jackson Park/NE 15th, 9-Powell/Broadway, 12-Barbur/Sandy, 14-Hawthorne, 35-Macadam/Greeley, 44–Capitol Hwy/Mocks Crest, 75-Cesar Chavez/Lombard, 78-Beaverton/Lake Oswego and 94-Sherwood/Pacific Highway Express.

Also -- and this is pretty cool -- in response to requests from riders, TriMet will introduce a new "rolling" 30-day pass.

While the pass will be the same price as any other 30-Day pass, it will give riders the convenience of buying it at any time during the month, TriMet said. It's valid 30 days from the date of purchase.

Currently, monthly passes are good only from the first day of the month through the last day of the month. They can be purchased only after the 20th until the start of the new month. The pass must be in hand by the first of the month.

For example, if a rider receives a Social Security check after the first of the month and doesn't have the money to buy a pass as the new month begins, they can purchase it at any point and it's good for 30 days.

Here's a rundown of the new fare increases:

Adult All-Zone and 2-Zone single fares will increase 5 cents.