Time to get serious about MAX safety

The Forest Grove News-Times, Nov 28, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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It’s highly unfortunate that it took a public outcry over the beating of a 71-year-old man at a Gresham light-rail station earlier this month to finally rivet TriMet’s attention on safety issues. But even a long-overdue response can lead to urgently needed changes.

Much is at stake for TriMet. The regional transit agency is in the midst of major rail expansions in Clackamas County and on the downtown Portland transit mall. Next September, it will help operate a new commuter rail line connecting Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville. And in the future, the agency has plans to expand MAX to downtown Milwaukie as well as aspirations to provide service to Vancouver, Wash. and, possibly, extend the Hillsboro line to Forest Grove.

Wherever MAX goes, public safety is an essential priority. Yet growing numbers of the region’s residents are wondering whether MAX trains and bus lines serve as a conduits for crime into their neighborhoods.

The frustration had grown to the point where Gresham had decided to deploy its own police force to expand light-rail security.

Increased safety patrols in one community are only a partial answer to the larger issue of transit safety. If criminals are using trains to travel from town to town — and Gresham has compelling statistical evidence that this is the case — then every city served by TriMet must take steps to help riders feel safe on the trains and busses.

Such a regional discussion is set for this Friday at a west-side safety summit in Hillsboro to be attended by jurisdictions served by light rail. Beaverton officials took a pro-active role, asking for a security ramp-up along west-side light-rail, even before the attack in Gresham.

We encourage all jurisdictions to join this initiative. But we also believe TriMet must be willing to accept even greater accountability for safety along the MAX system.

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