Faster Bus to Gresham Would Not Be So Fast

The $200 million that has been spent to develop speedier bus service through Southeast Portland to Gresham apparently failed to develop a key piece of information - the service would actually not be quicker than what is currently in place.

The bikeportland.org blog - which first reported the problem with the plan - now says that the plan is on hold while officials work to fix the problem.

The blog reports that the project "is in limbo after project managers realized that it wouldn't actually make it faster to ride the bus.

"Even using 2015 levels for auto traffic, riding the #4 from downtown Gresham to downtown Portland is 8 to 11 minutes faster than riding the proposed “bus rapid transit” would be."

The 22 member Powell-Division Transit and Development Project steering committee - which helps guide the project, meets Monday March 22 at the LDS Church at 9901 SE Caruthers to discuss the latest.