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November 27, 2009

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Letter: Don’t miss a chance to learn about light rail system

Thursday, May 28, 1998 | 11:29 a.m.

It's rather stupid to start such a system at Cashman Field to inch its way through downtown and its past failures.

Let's take a first step and turn the whole project around. Any world traveler can tell you that Clark County's first priority should be to get tourists quickly and efficiently away from the airport to their destinations. Don't worry about the cabbies. There's enough rides left for them, shuttling tourists between hotels.

I disagree with Kurt Weinrich and a first application of $20 million to complete design studies. I rather wish the RTC would spend $3 from petty cash to send to the Portland, Ore., Visitors Association for information on MAX (Metropolitan Area Express), a 15-mile light rail which travels to and from downtown, through old town, and across the Willamette River on the steel bridge to Gresham, the gateway to Mount Hood.

Trains run every seven minutes and connect cultural and shopping centers in the city and nearby areas. Portland is much like Europe, where bus lines are rapidly being replaced by light rail.

It's time for RTC to get off its duff, throw politics out the window and start moving.

Jan Storm

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