Terrible 24 hours for Tri-met

First, the Sunday Oregonian reported that Tri-met is $33 million over-budget on their Westside commuter rail for which the agency knowingly dumped millions into a one-bid company that has a stark history of problems. Instead of clamping down on the failed business Tri-met kept sending more advanced funds ahead of schedule.

Second, during the snow yesterday Tri-met’s light rail switches froze causing big delays with some passengers waiting three hours for it to move. Another light rail failure happened this morning as well. Everyone understands bad weather creates problems, but light rail’s inflexible structure means they have to depend on flexible buses to bail them out.