April 11, 1990 Portland Observer Page 9
'T
In ancient Rome, they might have
had to wait a bit for the odd chariot to
pass, but traffic wasn’t a problem.
Rome is still one o f the world’s
great cities, but it now has one of the
world’s greatest traffic nightmares.
Great cities attract people, and
today they bring their cars with them.
Not yet. O ur traffic problems
right now aren’t as serious as Rome.
O r Los Angeles, San Francisco and
Seattle.
But then there was a time when
these traffic-choked cities didn’t think
their traffic was too bad either.
The point is, gridlock could hap­
pen here too.
To be sure, MAX has helped alle­
viate congestion on the Bantield and
parallel eastside streets. And close to
half o f downtown’s rush hour com­
muters use the bus or MAX.
But look around. The Sunset
Highway is crowded beyond capacity,
and downtown Beaverton is strangled
with traffic.
Traffic's getting worse, and with
the number o f jobs here projected to
increase by 46% in just 20 years, we
haven't seen anything yet.
iffic coni
ited fu
■tion In M n it»
ly.lW»»X>
Portland's M A X iiyfit rail system, widely
acknowledged as one o f the nation's tnosl
successful, played a hey part in
Tri-Met Iteiny named America ’s f ± 3 m
best transit system this year.
ThrMct keeps
over tOO.ftfH) cars
o ff ouraltrccts and highways
/ v e r y workday,
I enough to fill
1-5 firom Portland to Eugene
f
and back.
M ax Is P art O f T he
S olution .
A strong mass transit system is a
necessity if we want to remain one of
America's most liveable cities.
That's why the state's highway
builders have named the westside
MAX line their top priority. I hey
know that just adding more highway
lanes won't solve our traffic problems.
MAX enjoys overwhelming
approval because it makes sense. For
one tiling, it carries a lot more people
than cars or buses.
Then too. it's cost efficient. It costs
Tri-Met about 30% less to carry a
MAX passenger than it does a bus
passenger.
W e C an P revent A T raffic
N ightmare .
Portland is one of the most live­
able cities in the country because we
care about our fragile quality of life,
and our roads aren't choked with
gridlock.
Rome, Los Angeles. San Francisco
and. most recently. Seattle are beauti­
ful cities that have let their traffic con­
gestion get out of control.
The dream of our great city could
become a traffic nightmare too. We
can prevent that.
If you'd like information about
Tri-Met's plans to help keep the Port­
land area one of the nation’s most
liveable, please call us at 23H-4926.
TRI-MET
R
We're here
to get you there
N u m b e r O ne I n A S e r ie s
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