For less than the price of light rail with a new bridge, which no one seems to want anyway, could planning officials not figure out a way to use two train engines, one north and one south, with three or four passenger cars and figure out a schedule for maybe every hour on the hour from the Vancouver depot? To start with, begin it north of Vancouver in the I-5 and I-205 interchange area and then to the Vancouver depot and finally on to Portland — back and forth all day.
Maybe by coming up with a great price and reliability, we could have park-and-ride stations included in the ticket, with prices undercutting bus pass fees, plus there would be savings by not having to pay downtown Portland parking costs. You will also not have to sit in commuter traffic now and more in the future when any I-5 construction starts.
For less money and a much quicker commute, why would officials not look into this?
Clay McHatton
Vancouver
