Staff reports
A 61-year-old man tired of taking the Portland Streetcar realized he can actually walk faster to his destination than taking the trolley.
“I’ve been taking that damn trolley for three years now,” says Jim “The Shuffler” Shuffleton. “It takes so long and those announcements drive me absolutely bat-shit crazy: ‘This stop is brought to you by some real estate company that I don’t know and frankly don’t care about.'”
Shuffleton is petitioning others in his building in Northwest Portland to ditch the streetcar and to walk instead. “My mother, who is 93, could outpace that 10-ton piece of crap,” says Shuffleton.
Asked if he thought the city was wasting its time on a streetcar line on Portland’s Eastside, Shuffleton says, “Sure, if you want to be late to just about anything, then you’ll love it.”
City officials say they absolutely love the streetcar, but never use it.
“Portland’s streetcar is something we should all be proud of,” says Charlie Hales, former Portland City Commissioner and current mayoral candidate. “Living in Washington for the past few years, I came to realize how much I missed it.” Asked how often he commutes on the streetcar he says, “I don’t know, twice a year. It’s great!”
Street Roots asked several riders how they felt about paying for the streetcar and most didn’t realize there was a fee. “You are supposed to pay to ride the streetcar?” said one woman. “I’ve never paid, or seen anyone pay for the streetcar in more than two years of riding.”
Officials with the city say they can’t afford to enforce people paying for the rail line that is supposed to pay for the costs to maintain current and future streetcar lines. “We’re at a loss,” says a 22-year-old transportation staffer with hipster glasses at city hall.
I’ve got my cane,” says Shuffleton. “I’m walking.”
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