That's an example of the fluctuating interest in the Thruway lines. The photo was on the Bend<>Ontario route, which I think was set up before the coast route that you rode, with a different staff person. When I was at ODOT, the idea of bus stop signs was new. Prior to that it was the bus company's problem. The dividing line in the early-70's was when Greyhound economized by deleting the field representative in their Portland office. Agency stations then became fewer and a bus stop sign only was issued if it was requested.
I think you'd be rudely awakened by the state of most bus services in this country. Here in CT it's rare to find a stop without a sign, but also rare for it to have the route number. If you find a shelter or bench, that's a gold mine.
Sorry, I forgot to answer this question. I actually have four cameras --- my Android (which I used for videos before May, mostly), a flip phone (which is good for when my other cameras have run out of battery), a Nikon camera (which is water and shock proof, and which I use to take mostly stills where I might drop it---it is so sturdy, I accidentally had it in my pocket when it went through the wash, and 30 minutes in a washer didn't damage it at all), but, most of my recent videos were taken on a relatively entry-level Sony Handycam. It cost 250 dollars, but it was worth it. Last summer, I bought a generic video camera for like 80 dollars, but it just didn't work right, and it eventually stopped working at all. The Sony is relatively easy to operate, and it came with everything. I would recommend it.
). So, like a lot of Streetcar systems, it seemed to be a cute way to attract suburbanites to a downtown area. But over the years, it expanded, and it now is long enough that it makes visiting certain places a lot faster. And I just checked---in 2019, it carried 5 million people a year, which makes it about half as busy as, say, Sacramento's "Real" Light Rail system. (Even compared to Portland's MAX system, it is considerable, carrying about 1/8th as many passengers). So I was pleasantly surprised to see how useful the Streetcar could be. One thing that amazed me when I lived in Israel in 1971-2 was that every dinky rural bus stop in the middle of nowhere not only had a sign with the route number and destination of the bus, it also had the bus schedule. And nearly all the stops had a paved pull-out with a proper platform. And back then, I think Israel was still considered a "developing country." I'm not sure what it's like today, as a larger percentage of the population drives cars.
An interesting note: the Division line on the East Side was never a rail line. Most of Portland's frequent service lines include former streetcar or interurban routes.
I mentioned the amount of single family homes and low density retail (and also, I don't mention it, but there is a dental clinic visible), because I want to show what the light rail is like outside of downtown. Much of the coverage of the MAX focuses on downtown Portland and tourist spots, so this video shows what it looks like in a mostly residential area.
They obviously haven't been on co-op or condo boards - the most conflict and strive ridden organization ever (I say this as a board member).
And I obviously can't spell "strife" either.....
There are transit advocates who believe that transit is the solution to all social problems. I am a transit advocate myself, of course. But there are people who blame car culture and suburban living for all problems, and think that all social problems will be solved if we all just lived in row houses along rail lines.
One problem with BRT is that it looks good financially for an initial investment, being cheaper than an equivalent Light Rail system but will cost more in the long run since buses do not last as long as LRVs and don't carry as many passengers so you need more buses and especially drivers so labor cost is higher.
A lot of transit systems are stuck in the position of having to settle for a solution that is less than ideal because they lack financial and political capital to do the long-term solution. But that is kind of a general problem with life for everyone!
I can understand your point, but I would have to think about that in theory and practice.
That's true. What we need to do is rebuild our cities and towns to have neighborhoods where people don't need to drive to engage in their daily activities. That includes incentivizing or even regulating developers to build using New Urbanist principles and actively working to rebuild the older and denser parts of existing cities and towns. And even if you do that and somehow magically reduce traffic on the roads, there will be more congestion and crowds on mass transit. New York subways anyone?
