A tram ride costs $4.00 thanks to the new-and-improved budget figures from those who designed this thing and underestimated the cost by a factor of 3 (or was it even more?). What kind of subsidy is going to be required to keep it going when the ridership falls short of what would be required at this ridiculous $4 per head price?

Oh my God; I think that the last quote pretty much sums up why this was a colossal waste of money.

Supporters were enamored by the "futuristic" and trendy aspect of the tram... they didn't care whether it was the most efficient or practical use of our transportation dollars -- because to them, it was never a transportation project! It was a multimillion dollar artsy-fartsy cocktail-sipping navel-contemplation unit!

I'm suprised they don't screen Lost in Translation on every ride.

I don't care if Portland's elite want a ridiculously expensive pod in which they can feel green and futuristic... I just resent having paid for it.

I've never heard of a freeway interchange being built to assuage the monumental ego of a medical school president and shorten the commute of a bunch of doctors and researchers by 5 minutes.

$56 million is in the ballpark of the cost of an average freeway interchange. ... Given that, I'm not sure it's such a bad deal.

Well, don't we have to pay for one of those (an I-5 off-ramp) down there too?

"$56 million is in the ballpark of the cost of an average freeway interchange. ... Given that, I'm not sure it's such a bad deal."

That's right...and think of the one that was just constructed west of Portland mostly as a vanity project for someone in the legislature...where is the outrage for things like that?

I'll take the tram...and having been down there, you have to kind of marvel at what is being built down there. I'm tired of everyone talking about subsidies down there...as if subsidies in massive amounts do not exist for the average McMansion spread.

Last I heard, the price was $54 million, and OHSU is picking up 85% of that. That is, Portland is paying something like $8 million, which is nothing to sneeze at, but I think the tram will add that much value to the city easily. It's not just a "vanity" project, either -- my preferred commute to work was biking to the tram within a few very pleasant rides.

Frank -- Love the reference to Ernst!

I can hardly wait for all the New Yorkers to see the times and say, "My word -- a Cable Car?! Just like we have over the East River?! Well that tears it; I wasn't before, but now I'm going to spend money in Oregon!"

The reason, Kari, that a freeway interchange is so expensive is that it serves more people. Ridiculously expensive projects shouldn't have the sole function of merely "being iconic" or trying to impress the New York Times.

How many natural gas/biodiesel shuttle buses could be had for $56,000,000? Just asking.

"$56 million is in the ballpark of the cost of an average freeway interchange"

and those oil wars can run in the hundreds of billions...

For the record I actually said "It LOOKS so futuristic for a city so green."

I agree with Jeff Allworth. I was fortunate enough to be selected to go for a ride with a group invited by PDOT. The technology is really very impressive.

That being said, we must remember the lessons of the tram, and the big bait and switch which resulted in its construction.

The original premise (and promise) of the South Waterfront development was all about biotech jobs. Tens of thousands. That promise has been all but forgotten and not even OHSU is continuing to make the claim.

"And there's a plenty of game-plan afoot yet so that Homer Williams' condos --as with the streetcar in the Pearl-- won't pay a dime for the project that benefits them."

Frank,

Got any proof to back that up or are you just speculatin'

Greg C

No Longer Works for you know who and is glad of it.

Peter: has Portland decided to fight an oil war? The last I read, that was being paid for with Federal Tax Dollars, which are practically free money according to PDOT and our Elected Officials

Someday I'll be smart enough to wrap my mind around all the various public/private/gov't sides to this flightly fiscal story, but the bottom line seems to be OHSU paid most of the tab and the tram will become what the NY Times called a "visual exclamation mark" for our beautiful city.

Heck, I'd start making some new "City of Portland" postcards right now, if I were in that business.

And, yes, the "cocktail" line was a classic. Pure Portland.

Take a ride on the $60 million dollar tram, look at all the expensive cars in the reserved parking lots, marvel at the beautiful furniture, original art, and luxurious furnishing, and then ask yourself "I wonder why health care expenses are rising faster than inflation?" This is why two aspirin cost 9 bucks.

OHSU is not a private entity. They don't sell widgets in Florida or export to foreign markets. The majority of their operating funds come from the State/Federal governments and the private insurance reimbursements PAID BY OREGONIAN'S premiums. In short, the only money they have to spend is OUR MONEY.

These are the primary sources of OHSU's revenue:

Federal Grants State Grants Medicare reimbursement (Federal) OHP reimbursement (State) Private insurance reimbursement Private foundations/fundraising User Fees (payments received from patients)

Thank you, Psst.

There are so very many factors contributing to the increases in health care costs, but a $60 million tram doesn't help matters.

Next time they have to turn away some kid who's in desperate need of a bone-marrow transplant, I hope that the Make-a-Wish request is for a 20-minute ride on a futuristic cocktail bar.

Can I just say that I love how they built OHSU on top of a flippin hill and then exclaimed, "For some reason, this is more difficult to get to than we imagined... We'll need a cable car, obviously."

Frank: "Baloney. You're smarter than that, TJ. The City hasn't assessed the property owners for the LID part of the tram yet, and those Tax-Increment-Financing tax dollars have yet to come rolling in."

Did I ever say the money has been collected? No. I merely identified the source, which you corroborated. It is paid for with borrowed money, yes. So's my house.

"And unlike most of our employers, who pay a Tri-Met payroll tax, OSHU's docs get to skip out on Tri-Met operating costs with their 401(1)c "non-profit" OHSU Medical Group tax-avoiding set up."

OHSU does in fact pay into Tri-Met, as far as I've been made aware.

"I'm a "regular commuter" Torrid, and I don't get to use my bus-ticket transfers on the tram. Besides, "regular commuters" from the Pearl to Pill Hill get to use a $100 per year pass for both the streetcar AND tram. My fellow commuters in SE Portland pay 6 to 8 times that for an overcrowded bus service on the #14 that no longer even takes them as far as the transit mall. We've now established a clear two-tier transit system in the City of Roses and Thorns."

Anybody who is getting a bus transfer is not a regular commuter, in my book. Most anyone who commutes regularly buys a pass. And going from Pearl to Pill Hill is not really "commuting" per se; a commute is usually defined as a trip of some distance, typical from suburb to city or vice versa. If you disagree with those formulations, I'm happy to have explained what I meant by "commute."

Glad to hear the Needle is still a draw, so much the better for the tram's longevity.

Now that we have a new haven for the mile-high club, can we have a new stadium for a baseball team??? (Who cares if Portland Public Schools are becoming derelict properties...)

Frank: thanks for the parking lot stats.

It proves what I've suspected all along: the SoWhat land grab was all about constrained parking facilities on Pill Hill. Now all those cars parked on Fairmount can relocate to the Schnitzer Park & Ride lot. Instead of Biotech Jobs, we'll get shuttle bus drivers and security guards.

The white zone is for loading/unloading of passengers only. Friends of Homer/OHSU have priority boarding: members of the public should move to the back of the Tram, for their own safety.

Wait a second, ODOT is in the process of building a 39 million dollar Bridge to sauvie Is. to serve a few 100 people and a corn maze and no one complains. The only reason the tram is getting crap is because its NEW, its bold and it scares those who resist change. Its also going to bring billions into our city. But then again corn mazes are fun. Grow up people.

Hey Lebowski, if Sauvie Island was already serviced by plenty of roads and busses I'm sure that a bridge there would draw some flack.

The point is that OHSU is not exactly cut off from the rest of the city without the tram.

And "bring billions into out city?" Where, exacty, do you get that from? That seems to be the talking point, but I think if a tourist isn't enticed to Oregon already by our brewpubs, skiing, windsurfing, Japanese Garden, kyaking, or lack of a sales tax, they're not going to swing by and visit just because we now have added a small metal pod over I-5.

"I know, I know...too much policy wonk baloney. The tram's cool, and just where the heck's my martini glass, anyway? Shaken, not stirred..."

Actually, Frank, I think that your corpus of posts suggests that you're more of a fine whine man.

Oh, the humanity.

To add to the parking issues of SoWhat, it is true that by 2009 OHSU will begin construction of a four-story above grade parking structure between SW Macadam, SW Moody, and across the street to the west from the DoggyPoop Park. It will park over 1200 cars. This will be adding to the parking garage under the OHSU Doctors Health Club building and to the block to the south (all under grade) of over 500 spaces. Remember PDOT and PDOT's Matt Brown many times expoused that SoWhat would achieve 40% transit ridership to help alleviate the "island syndrome" transportation problems of SoWhat. But making SoWhat a parking lot doesn't seem to meet this goal. The issue of Parking in the Greenway Zone, that extends from the river to Macadam, also isn't meeting the state and city Greenway Regs.

Jami, Sid Leader and others, this has been posted several times: The taxpayer's portion of the tram cost is not the $8.5M as reported. What is continually left out is the land cost (two blocks of SW Gibbs R.O.W), the financing costs, design competition costs, PDOT, PDC, city staff time/material costs; "gimmies" that were given to OHSU and OHSU Doctors Health Club within SoWhat's Amendment 8, etc. These costs over a twenty year period (interest costs-minimally)brings the tram cost to $170M.

Its called investing wizely. Sure the city could spend millions of dollars to provide better bus stops so cranky old men who produce nothing can go to city hall and rage about the good old days or it could spend millions on a bridge to an Island with a few farms and a nude beach, but those just don't give back over the long run what the Tram will. We're talking the largest employer in Portland. You can joke about them bluffing about moving to Hillsboro, but it was a viable option. They're staying now, they're expanding, they're moving assets from Hillsboro like OGI to a once industrial wasteland. We're actually turning a horrible mess into a job center and the Tram represents that progress perfectly. But then again widening an intersection so a few people in Tigard can get home 5 minutes faster for a few years sure is a tempting way to spend that money.

Its simply, the fact that the Tram is new and a brilliant solution to a problem is what has so many upset. Its Bogaski desease (lets hope OHSU can find a cure). Its all about change, some can handle it, some can't.