I recently returned from Chicago, flying into our beautiful Portland International Airport. Recently ranked by the Washington Post as the nation’s top airport, PDX is a wonderful ambassador to Portland visitors, (“The best airport in America? You guessed it,” June 26).
Sadly, the good vibes ended there. As soon as I got on the MAX train to get home, I was confronted with open bags of food strewn about the length of the MAX car, bags of trash on the seats and homeless riders in drug-induced nods. Travelers to Portland had to step around and over all this just to find a seat without trash on it. All the while two TriMet employees leaned on kiosks, talking but doing nothing about the mess. Apparently, they could not be bothered to pick up a broom and clean up the cars. I was embarrassed for my city.
You’d think a big city like Chicago might have grittier public transit, but the Chicago Transit Authority “L” trains were clean and efficient. Here in Portland, we’ve all paid for a top-notch mass transit rail system that, just like our airport, should be the envy of others. Unfortunately, the message that Portland is a mess starts as soon as you step out of the airport…