A streetcar named undesirable

Portland's vaunted transportation system becoming another haven for crime

My wife and I have bought combined Streetcar/TriMet bus/light-rail passes for many years. As seniors, we paid $308 each in March 2025, bringing the total to at least $6,000 over those years. But we will not renew our passes this year. While we only used the streetcar occasionally, we wanted to support our Portland public transportation system for many good reasons.

So why no more? We have watched how streetcar platforms stops and streetcars themselves have become another shelter for drug dealing and drug use, defecation, and trash and property damage. Why would we fund this? Not only do the above issues matter to us, but feeling safe at the stops and on the streetcars is important to us all, let alone sitting on seats that have been urinated on or watching individuals melt down on drugs or have severe mental health episodes while on board.

Portland was the poster child for streetcars. Everyone thought they were so cool, until the lack of legal and fare enforcement made the entire system a joke. No major city has a “volunteer” fare system like Portland, with little enforcement on streetcars. Doesn’t that sound familiar as we watch broken-down cars, motorhomes and other vehicles take up parking spots with very slow enforcement action or fines, even in parking metered zones? Of course, if you or I stay over five minutes at a metered site, we are likely to get a $75 ticket, and we actually pay it!

The total lack of accountability is a real problem in Portland. It creates doubts about the government’s ability to enforce fare collections and system rules. How much is this costing Portland in ridership fees and increased maintenance costs? Many of the same issues are also on the light-rail system, which costs taxpayers likely millions of dollars annually.

So where do we go from here? Enforce the rules, city councilors! Quit wasting the billions of dollars invested in Portland’s public transportation system with unaccountability and lack of enforcement. Just as cutting traffic policing reduced ticket revenues by over $5 million a year (at least equal to 40 police officers), the lost revenue from low ridership, increased maintenance costs due to the degradation of streetcar assets and safety concerns should be enough to change the discussion at City Hall. Get inspectors on those streetcars and at those streetcar stops, remove rule violators and enforce fares. Maybe then we will renew our annual passes.