WES costs between $14 and $18 per rider to operate in subsidy. Meanwhile, because of the high costs of WES, TriMet has had to significantly cut "expensive" $3/ride bus service. So in the long run, TriMet basically told five bus riders they were less important than WES riders. Hmmm, and why has TriMet, self-proclaimed as one of the best transit agencies in the nation, been LOSING ridership while other transit agencies are increasing ridership by double-digits?

WES was projected after the first year of operation to have 2,500 daily riders. Guess what? After seven years, WES ridership has peaked off at just over 2,000 riders, and has actually dropped down to 1,900 daily riders. Many trains are routinely empty or have just a handful of riders. There are a couple trains around the 5:00 PM hour that have pretty good loads but that's about it.

The trains basically go nowhere to nowhere. Yes, Highway 217 is crowded, busy, congested, etc. The problem is very few people use 217 in isolation. They are going somewhere else and 217 is just a part of the puzzle. WES is not an effective piece of this puzzle, and requires other transit trips to complete the journey. To get to downtown Portland one would have to ride MAX, when the SMART 2X, TriMet 94 or 96 is a much more direct - and faster - ride. Yes, believe it or not, many people don't have to ride a train, they will ride a bus if the bus is good enough. To get to Intel or Nike one must use both MAX and then another bus. Meanwhile WES does not go to any of the employment centers in Tigard, Tualatin or Wilsonville, and except in Wilsonville (which was wise and broke off from TriMet years ago) there is very poor bus service (thank you, TriMet) to the employment centers - especially in Tualatin. So you get off the train and then what? Call Uber? Get a ZipCar? Ride your bike (in the rain)?

But hey, let's not criticize WES only for this. Look at Amtrak Cascades in Salem. Get off the train on a holiday or weekend and then what? There's no bus service, in Oregon's 2nd or 3rd largest (depending on the year) city. In Salem! And even when there is a bus, it's just a single bus line that you have to take to the transit center.

And in Oregon City...yup, there's no transit service to Oregon City's Amtrak station either. TriMet is a very, very long walk away. So is, well, anything else - Oregon City's train station is in a very bad location.

Eugene was smart - they placed their transit center a very long walk on the opposite side of downtown from the Amtrak station. At least there's a bus stop a block away, if you know where the buses go.

Albany has a nice intermodal station arrangement...but few buses. None on Sunday. And the local bus services are operated by different entities making it difficult to find information - the city's bus service is one, the service to Corvallis is another, and service to Lebanon and Sweet Home totally separate. There's no bus service to Millersburg, Jefferson, Tangent, or south along 99E.