TriMet offered free advertising on its tri-county transit system to Portland Saturday Market, a leading critic of the agency’s proposal to close four downtown MAX stations, as one way to “address their concerns.”
Howie Bierbaum, executive director of the quirky Old Town Chinatown institution, said TriMet offered free advertising in hopes of changing his mind about opposing the Skidmore stop’s closure. He said TriMet also offered to place signs to help direct patrons from nearby stations to the market, and on-the-ground “goodwill ambassadors” to help direct people to the waterfront market.
“I thought it was completely weird,” Bierbaum said in an interview. He said the market pulled $15,000 in advertising from the system after that meeting and it doesn’t plan to advertise on MAX anytime soon. “‘I felt like James Comey,” Bierbaum said, citing the former FBI director. “This is not what I came here for. I came here to reach a compromise.”
TriMet is considering eliminating as many as four light rail stations on the Blue and Red lines west of the Willamette River as part of what officials say is a broader effort to speed up MAX trains throughout the tri-county system. There are 14 stops on the Red and Blue lines bunched together through downtown and Goose Hollow, the oldest part of the MAX system.
Bierbaum said the free advertising offer, in particular, took him off-guard. He already pays to advertise on TriMet, he said, and the offer felt “underhanded.” The offer came during a small Jan. 25 meeting with TriMet executive director of public affairs Bernie Bottomly and a University of Oregon representative.
TriMet confirmed Bottomly made the offer, and said officials continue to talk with “organizations and residents near the stations proposed for closure to address concerns.”
Roberta Altstadt, TriMet’s spokeswoman, said the agency has offered free marketing to other community groups or nonprofits, such as the Portland Winter Lights Festival, in the past. The organization designs its own ad and agrees to include TriMet logos on brochures and social media, and TriMet pays to run the banners on trains and buses.
“We have another such advertising partnership with the Portland Picnic in return for their promotion of getting to the event by TriMet,” she said in an email.
Last fall, TriMet said it was considering closing four downtown stations, some of which are about 500 feet away from the nearest stop, as a way to cut two minutes off a train ride between Old Town Chinatown and Goose Hollow. The other three stops included on the list are Mall/SW 5th Ave, Mall/SW 4th Ave, and Kings Hill/SW Salmon stations.
Closing the Mall stations, which are close to the Pioneer Courthouse Square stops, has thus far garnered no opposition.
Including the Kings Hill station on the list prompted backlash from the Multnomah Athletic Club, which paid $150,000 in the mid-1990s to build the station, along with Lincoln High School students and nearby residents, who say it’s more visible and safer location, especially at night.
The Kings Hill station has the lowest weekday ridership, at 1,357, of any of the four stations being considered for elimination. But proponents argue additional development in the area will likely boost ridership.
The Skidmore station stop sees its ridership boom on weekends, when the market is in season. The stop had the second highest weekend ridership this spring of any of the downtown Red and Blue stations, behind only the Providence Park stop. Some 6,413 riders used the station on average each weekend.
TriMet said it is still evaluating whether it could shut the Skidmore stop during the weekday and offer weekend-only trains.
The Skidmore station sits underneath the Burnside Bridge and nestled between Mercy Corps Northwest and UO’s White Stag building. On a visit Monday, the platform smelled strongly of urine and signs stating the station “may close” in September were displayed, with a link to a website for public comment and a map showing the two nearby stations.
Bierbaum acknowledged the stop, which is periodically cleaned and maintained by the chamber of commerce’s Downtown Clean and Safe program and UO and the Saturday Market, may not be visually appealing, but he says TriMet can do more to make it presentable.
The UO said it plans to base additional campus security officers from its office space on the west side of the train platform to patrol the area and its nearby buildings. The university’s Portland campus has night and weekend events and wants more of a physical presence there, a spokeswoman said. The school opposes the proposed station closure.
Thomas Lauderdale, leader of the Portland-based band Pink Martini, said he met with Bierbaum and TriMet’s General Manager Doug Kelsey in March to air grievances.
Lauderdale said he made his own free offer: Pink Martini would create and record a free public safety announcement or jingle for TriMet to educate riders about how to property board and disembark buses and trains.
“Portlanders really don’t know how to board the bus or the MAX,” Lauderdale said. They clog the doors and it takes up time.
Lauderdale said his offers have not been heard. “It would be absurd to not say, ‘that sounds like a great idea,’” he said of the PSA idea.
Lauderdale said while he opposes the station closures altogether, he would still offer to produce a free jingle or ad for TriMet regardless.
“They haven’t even acknowledged it,” he said of the offer.
Altstadt said TriMet does appreciate Lauderdale’s interest. “We haven’t taken him up on his offer as that is not the issue slowing trains,” she said in an email. “Trains have a minimum dwell time at a station so they cannot leave earlier.”
She said TriMet is working with cities and counties across the metro area to try and speed up buses and trains.
TriMet’s board is expected to take up the station closure plan at its June meeting.
-- Andrew Theen
503-294-4026
@andrewtheen
Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.