Portland Aerial Tram

The Portland aerial tram.

The Portland Aerial Tram is an aerial tramway in Portland, Oregon. It connects the city's South Waterfront district with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the Marquam Hill neighborhood surrounding the university, and introduces another mode of transportation in Portland. The tram opened to OHSU employees on December 1, 2006, and to the public on January 27, 2007.

The tram travels a horizontal distance of 3300 feet in a ride that lasts thee minutes. Its upper terminal is adjacent to OHSU, 140 feet above grade, and connected to the ninth floor of a new patient care facility on the university's campus. Its lower terminal in the South Waterfront is the focal point for a mass transit center (Portland's Street Car extends from downtown to the South Waterfront) and development in the surrounding area by OHSU and others. A single intermediate tower supports the tram's cables between the two terminals, allowing the tram to rise 500 feet over Interstate 5.

The tram cars carry a maximum of 78 passengers per trip, with cars leaving every 5 minutes. Transportation officials estimate the tram will carry over 1,500 people a day initially, with up to 5,500 by 2030. On October 29, 2006, the tram's two cars arrived from Switzerland after a week-long delay.

The tram cabins are shaped and painted to look like "bubbles floating through the sky"; the surface of the cabins reflect and refract light, minimizing their visual impact to the neighborhood underneath. The cabins are designed to limit passengers' view of the Lair Hill section of the South Portland neighborhood below.

The tram has inspired a song written in its honor, penned by Portland artists The Subcons, entitled "The Twinky Tram Song."

An inaugural run of the tram was conducted on November 9, 2006. Four tram construction workers were the first to "ride" the tram while harnessed to the roof and suspending arm.

This is the single intermediate tower while it was under construction. The tower is adjacent to the northbound lanes of Interstate 5.

The tram's costs, estimated at $15 million in 2003, reached an estimated $55 million as of February 2006. The final price will be $57 million.

On January 19 2007, Portland commissioner Sam Adams announced that the tram's two cars would be named "Jean" and "Walt", after Jean Richardson (the first female engineering graduate from Oregon State University) and Walt Reynolds (the first African-American to graduate from OHSU, then known as the University of Oregon Medical school).

Early history

Downtown Portland, as viewed from the Portland Aerial Tram

In late 2001, OHSU purchased property in the South Waterfront (then known as North Macadam) area, with plans to expand there. After studying several ways, including shuttle buses, gondola lifts, tunnels, and even funiculars, to connect OHSU's primary campus with this area of planned expansion, the university sought city support of an aerial tram.

In early 2002, Portland Aerial Transportation, Inc. (PATI) was formed as a non-profit board. One of its first public actions was to request the Portland Office of Transportation, also known as PDOT [sic], to undertake an independent analysis of the connectivity options considered earlier by the university and its development supporters. In May, the city council accepted PDOT's process proposal and also accepted PATI as the project sponsor. PDOT undertook an assessment, which led to the same conclusion OHSU had reached earlier: an aerial tram was the preferred approach. PDOT also recommended a second tram linking the Marquam Hill area with a nearby transit center on SW Barbur Boulevard. The city council accepted PDOT's recommendations and asked PDOT and PATI to proceed to the design phase, including a design competition. Both were also asked to work with residents of the affected neighborhoods to identify any ways to mitigate the tram's impact and identify other desired neighborhood improvements which should accompany the project.

File:Tramfirsttrip.jpg

First trip of the Portland aerial tram, still wrapped in plastic.

The design competition started out by identifying four firms which would participate in the contest. The competition officially began in January 2003, with firms from New York City, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles/Zurich as finalists. The winner, the firm from Los Angeles/Zurich (Angélil / Graham / Pfenninger / Scholl), was announced on March 26, 2003. The construction estimates at that time were $15.5 million. By November, PATI chose Doppelmayr CTEC to design, fabricate and install the tram. The first public review of the project's status was held in November.

Cost estimates rise

In April 2004, the second public review was held, to present the projects recommendations prior to a May review by the city council. The costs by then were estimated to be $28.5 million.

In April 2005, the price was readjusted to $40 million, with a construction delay of six months. Higher steel costs, a weakening dollar, and engineering modifications are blamed for these changes.

Construction began in August 2005; by October, The Oregonian was reporting that steel costs had led to bids pushing the project's price (with contingency funds) to $45 million. The increased cost is expected to be met through South Waterfront urban renewal contributions which would have otherwise been spent on streets and parks.

According to Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams, who inherited responsibility for the project midway, a cheaper alternative, which would have changed the tower's designs to a lattice style used in electrical transmission towers, is not being considered because the result would look like an "ugly ski lift at a bad ski resort" and leave the city with what Adams called an "ugly postcard" that could last 100 years.

The spiraling costs led to a month-long independent audit and risk assessment, which was published February 1, 2006, at a point where construction was over a third complete. While complimenting the tram as "a dramatic, one-of-a-kind facility that will become a Portland landmark," the report noted the design was difficult to construct, requiring the tall, thin, complex tower and the tall, heavily loaded upper terminal to be built within very tight tolerances. Special risks cited include:

• an extremely restricted site for construction of the upper terminal
• a complex, European mechanical/electrical system with a sophisticated U.S. steel structure and infrastructure—the integration of the two has technical challenges and risks from conflicts between the two business cultures and management procedures.
• The need to install tramway cables over an interstate highway and state highways.

The audit/risk assessment increased the estimate of the final project cost to $55 million, which includes a $5 million contingency fund. This amount is after a $457,000 lower station shelter was eliminated.

The construction price will be nearly four times the initial estimate, but the operating cost—originally forecast at $915,000 annually—is expected to be $1,700,000 annually. As a result, the fare, originally estimated at $1.70, is set at $4 for round-trip riders that are not hospital visitors, OHSU employees or transit pass holders.

Controversy

The tram car "Jean" descends from the Marquam Hill station, on its journey to the South Waterfront station. The Ross Island Bridge is visible in the background as it crosses the Willamette River.

Some critics cite the tram as an example of corporate welfare for OHSU with limited public benefit. Many residents of the Corbett-Terwilliger and Lair Hill neighborhoods, over which the tram will pass, claim the cars will be an invasion of privacy and lead to lower property values. Initially residents were promised that overhead power lines would be buried as part of the project, but as cost overrides mounted, this plan was scrapped. Some view it as a gaudy attraction to bring tourists to the city. The largest source of criticism has been the rising cost of constructing the tram. This is largely an issue because OHSU initially claimed it would only need a very small amount of government funding to complete the project. While the taxpayer share has grown, OHSU is paying for 85 percent of the total cost of the tram yet it will be operated as public transit facility.

While the issues of increasing public costs are real, the importance of continued growth of OHSU for the city's economy must be factored in as well. Not only is it the largest employer in the city but OHSU is an important and effective vehicle to attract both federal funding, totaling more than 168 million dollars for 2005, and a highly skilled workforce to the area. The growth in the current campus on the Marquam Hill is limited by access roads and parking, an expansion of which would likely cause more dramatic harm to the surrounding communities.

Also, KATU questions the relative price of the tram compared to Jackson Hole's $20 million tram: the latter was built by the same company, and hauls more passengers a greater distance and height.

External links

• Official website
• Portland Office of Transportation: Aerial Tram updates (includes weekly construction photos and updates)
• South Portland Neighborhood Association
• Portland Tram is public artwork, a blog entry with videos of tram
• Diagram of Tram Car from The Oregonian website