News Update: The city of Portland called in a crane to remove the damaged streetcar from the street, Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesman Dan Anderson says.Initial reports show that the truck driver was at fault, turning into the side of the streetcar, he adds.Obviously, the crash will remove one streetcar from the line until repairs are made, although PBOT hasn't had a chance to calculate how much ...   More

News Portland Streetcar has collected a little over half the fares it projected when it installed $1 fare boxes along its lines last fall. The lack of fare revenue means the Portland Bureau of Transportation faces a shortfall in funding the streetcar's $8.9 million annual operating budget. That analysis comes from the City Budget Office, which released its analyses of all 27 city bureau budgets yesterday."The ...   More

News Former City Commissioner Charlie Hales was the most prominent advocate of the Portland streetcar and claims it as one of his biggest success stories. The eastside streetcar "loop" has recently opened, with sparse ridership and a lack of money to operate it as planned.What does Hales think about extending more streetcar lines through the city, now that he's running for mayor?In this endorsement interview ...   More

Murmurs Flummoxed by the fluoridation fight? Fluoridation opponents are adding to the confusion. The campaign to pass city ballot Measure 26-151 in May, which would authorize fluoridating the drinking wat   More

News For five months, it's been clear that the only operational American-made streetcar has a list of glitches.Now Portland knows the bill.In a contract amendment that goes before City Council on Wednesday, Portland Streetcar is asking the City of Portland for $145,000 to fix a malfunctioning propulsion system on the only streetcar that manufacturer United Streetcar has yet delivered to the city.Buried ...   More