Portland (OR) opens aerial tram
 

This week-end marks the opening of Portland's new aerial tram...hope Scarlett checks it out for us before she heads to South America!

http://www.koin.com/Global/story.asp?S=5998815

I will definitely be checking it out!

People from out of town are bound to ask 'What is that thing that looks like an oil rig on the south side of Portland near the waterfront?"

Portlandtramdotorg is the website for the tram, sounds like a nice way to see Portland! ***kim*** ((f))

Yes, this was already mentioned in a thread a week or two ago. My husband was on it right when it opened, since he had meetings at OHSU.

www.portlandtram.org

http://tinyurl.com/yorzy9

eurotraveller, lol...
personally BTilke, you cannot get me on one of those ( or any other aerial tram) if you paid me great amounts of money :D
(<i>something about heights and hanging from wires)</i>
We have taken the road up to OHSU and that is scary so I understand how wonderful this is going to be for patients, nurses and doctors and workers going to and from OHSU.

kim, it is not really a sightseeing tram, you do get a great view from it as well as from the Hospital (where it goes) so I think you might enjoy the Portland City Grill more..I think you mentioned that you would like to go there.

Yes, the tram was not meant for tourists. It was built as a means of transportation between facilities. However, now that they went so far over budget on it, they are scrambling to find ways to pay for it. So they are trying to play upon visitors to help offset the costs. If I didn't live here, and were visiting, it would not be high on my list (yes, pun intended, lol!) of things to do. Maybe if it went somewhere besides a hospital...

I have been on the freeway a few times when it has happened to be directly above me. Yesterday morning DH and I were in that situation and I told him it really makes me uneasy. I notice that when that happens, people are looking up at it, not at the road. Of course that doesn't make me feel any better, lol!

We have neighbors who lived in this bldg and moved to one of the new glass towers on the South Waterfront..He think it is great for getting to doctors appts..but She says she feels safer in the car lol..<i>I am not alone~</i>

Sorry to hijack this thread but for you Portlanders, check out the thread I posted directed to Portlanders. I am trying to organize a Portland GTG towards the end of Feb.

Cheers!

I've shot lots of pictures of the tram already (but have not yet been on it!). Check 'em out:

http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,0,...nd-oregon.html

Andrew, your photos are fabulous..they made me hang on to the desk just looking at them ! lol

Nice photos, Andrew, thanks for sharing those! ***kim*** ((*))

Thanks, Scarlett and Kimamom!!! I'm anxious to ride on the thing now. I decided to skip the crowds for this opening weekend and will just pay the $4 to ride it this week - although it will be free Fri and Sat nights through the month of February.

You are welcome, Andrew. You have always been so helpful to me with my photos etc, everyone should know what a great photographer you are.

I will come down and wave to you as you go overhead , waving a hankie LOL

I was just on eurotraveller's thread, and now I find this one. I went down there today, just to roam around, and talk with the groups who had tables at the Waterfront. Trimet had mass transit info, and the PDC had lots of printed material on the development of the district.

They did have some tickets for people who hadn't already reserved a spot, so I took a shot. It was no problem getting on. The thing was so crowded, it was an advantage to me. I was in the middle of the car, and couldn't get nervous, knowing how high I was. It did sway when we got to the middle tower, and people reacted to that. On the return, it seemed easier. Maybe it's just because I expected it. I got back down to the waterfront a little before five, and they were still taking people up the hill.

At OHSU, they had some of the employees at tables, promoting various aspects of the hospital's healing and teaching missions. They offered us cider and cookies (we even had special &quot;tram&quot; cookies with a drawing of the tram on them!). I walked the skyway, too, over to the VA and back.

As the Portlanders on this board know, it was a beautiful day. Blue sky, some wind, and the mountains were out, making for a stunning view. The observation deck (outdoors at the new Kohler Pavilion) is a great spot to take photos. (You can also reach the pavilion by driving up the hill to the hospital, if you like).

The employees at OHSU and the tram operators were in a fine mood, glad to show us the place, and it was fun to be a tourist in my own back yard. This is definitely a place to show to tourists, and any visitors I have from out of town.

Merseyheart, thanks for the update! my sister is a nurse at &quot;Pill Hill&quot; and she is very excited about the tram. I will ride it next month, for sure!

A friend of mine took it up a few days ago and said the view was spectacular.

Well Scarlett, the family isn't going to get me on the tram either. I don't &quot;do&quot; trams, lol. And I stay away from hospitals too! Andrew your photos were spectacular as usual. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the update Merseyheart, it sounds like you had a great time! ***kim*** ((f))

We'll try it next time we're in town. I can even call it a tourist activity by visiting OHSU's museum of interventional radiology (Charles Dotter Museum).

The NYT has a nice write-up of the tram:
http://tinyurl.com/3548j9

I love the quote &quot;I would like it even more if it was 20 times slower and served cocktails.&quot; ((D))

Cool read, BTike, thanks! ***kim*** ((f))

A tram with an observation deck up there in the sky! What a great way to see Portland from above, and it's only $4 RT? Too bad it's closed on Sun and holidays...

Yep, only $4 RT, which I heard won't be sufficient to even cover operating costs, not to mention the $57 million construction costs. Sometimes, you just have to laugh.

BTW, nice photos, Andrew.

Well, 2 comments/thoughts after looking at Andrew's photos:

1) great way to see the city

2) what??????? you have SNOW in Portland????

Beachbum--Yup, there is a lot to laugh about with some of this;)

Yes, sometimes we do have snow in Portland :)

They've cut back on operating hours, because of the cost. But if they want to lure more tourists in, they'd better open the tram on Sundays. I hope they change the schedule, come summer.

Once again, if being on the tram makes you nervous, you can always drive up to the hospital (or take the bus!), and view the city that way. You can only buy tickets for the tram at the waterfront station.

merseyheart , I find the drive up to OHSU heartstopping also lol...I kept thinking of what the doctors and nurses do when it snows and at night, going up that winding road...

Faina, I have a nice photo of pup and I playing in the snow in the North Park Blocks, to look at some winter in sunny Argentina :D

Presumably, a lot of people take the #8 bus (chained tires) from downtown up to OHSU in bad weather; I'm sure many take the bus anyway as it's pretty convenient. Now they can take the streetcar from downtown to the Tram stop and take the tram up, although the #8 bus would probably be faster overall.

Scarlett--My husband has weekly meetings up there. He has been on the tram, but most of the time it will be quicker/easier for him to just drive. So on the dark nights, think of him driving, lol!

Well, I finally rode in the tram yesterday. Wow, the views are spectacular! Not just from the tram itself but from the top. I got some neat shots of the bridges w/Mt. St. Helens that I'd never been able to get quite the same way before.

I don't know if the tram itself was all that scary of a ride - I was so busy snapping pictures off that I was hardly even paying attention to that!!! But it did seem really smoooth.

It seems odd that it is closed on Sundays and holidays. That will have to change! (Can you imagine a better vantage point for checking out the fireworks on July 4th???) Tourists are going to want to use this thing, and the city/OHSU should exploit that to recover some of the cost of building it.

I highly recommend a ride on this thing if you get the chance. Visitors can just drive down to the South Waterfront and park near it (mostly pay parking on the street and in a lot, but there is some unposted street parking nearby). You can also take the Portland Streetcar (not the MAX) directly to it.

My DH would love it! Me not so much, as I'm prone to vertigo.

Once again, that tram was directly overhead of me today as I was driving. I swear it happens every time, lol! My husband had meetings up there again, and I asked if he took the tram this time like before. He said no, because he has a parking spot there now, so he was happy to not have to deal with it.

Hi Andrew, nice to hear you got some great photos from the tram. We will be in Portland in a few weeks and we are compiling a list of things we want to do this trip. Sounds like a nice way to get some cool photos of Portland with our new camera. :)

The Portland Art Museum is also on our list. Lovely Hula Hands sounds like a nice place to try for dinner. ***kim*** ((f)))

Kim--Interesting that you posted today about this. As you know, on TA you posted about the tram and were told what it was for. Stirring the pot a bit?

Either that or what I refer to in my teenagers as selective hearing, mms. ;-)

Try not to knock over too many patients in your efforts to get those photos, kimamom. It's not worth it. I've seen your work. /:)

http://tinyurl.com/36m5aa

As I said on the above thread, the tram is primarily transportation for hospital staff and patients.. they make Saturdays free for people who visit patients in the hospitals..
Commenting today , on Andrews post from January, is questionable, since a poster on TA was advised that they were being irresponsible in recommending taking rides for sightseeing, especially since that poster has never been on the Tram or seen the Tram and is not even in the state of Oregon.

I don't understand why tourists should not use the tram.

&quot;The Portland Aerial Tram is part of Portland's public transportation system, and is owned by the city&quot; - so it's like taking a city bus.

If bicycles are allowed on the tram, it's not only for sick people or doctors!

And if you read the website further, there is another way to get to the hospital for urgent care patients.

That's only part of the story, Faina. OHSU had to agree that the tram be publicized as part of Portland's public transportation system in order to get the city to finance the deal. So like with every other mass transit vehicle, it was a city requirement that the tram accommodate bicycles. But the fact remains that it was planned and built for the employees, patients, and visitors of OHSU.

I see this as similar to the city's requirement that Costco have a rack for customers to park their bicycles. Nobody ever uses 'em. And why should they? Ever tried to haul a 42&quot; plasma TV home on the back of a bicycle? ;-)

OHSU is a teaching hospital, many students ride bikes in town, taking buses, and streetcars and leaving their bikes on the rack on the front of the bus, inside the streetcar etc.
People visit patients in the hospital...there is a huge population of people here who do not own cars..the Tram is brilliant as a means of transportation for everyone that needs/wants to go to the Hospital.
The only point is that while yes, everyone/anyone can ride the tram to the hospital and back, it is not a tourist sightseeing tram.
If someone were to ask one of the people who lives in Portland , how to get to the hospital, they would probably suggest the Tram if you have no car.
But if someone is coming to Portland as a tourist, no one would suggest taking rides on the Tram..

Scarlett, did you mean to say that the tram is free every Saturday? I thought it was just free last month so people could sample it. I agree with Andrew that they should open it on Sundays, at least during the summer. The view from the hospital's observation deck is stunning!