Portland's public transit agency warned commuters to expect delays during a Wednesday visit from Vice President Joe Biden.
But commuters and agency officials were not prepared for the total meltdown brought on by a Secret Service miscommunication, The Oregonian reported.
Before the visit, the Secret Service and Portland police coordinated with TriMet, which runs the city's MAX light rail, on how long the trains would be held to allow Biden's motorcade to transport him to the Oregon Convention Center for a political rally.
"Originally we were told the trains would only have to hold for a short time, approximately 15 minutes, as the vice president was traveling from the airport to the [convention center] and then when he was leaving to return to the airport," TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt told the newspaper.
Secret Service also said the trains could run through a designated "sterile" zone just as long as they did not stop at the convention center's station.
Things turned ugly when Biden arrived in the city at around 1 p.m. Instead of holding the trains only once like planned, authorities told TriMet to halt the trains an extra time, causing delays throughout the entire system, Altstadt said.
Ugh! The scene at downtown #TriMet stops RT @kanewj: @pdxcommute @trimet #transitfail pic.twitter.com/8C1bL1qA8N #BidenJAM #BidenPDX
— Joseph Rose (@pdxcommute) October 8, 2014
Three hours later when Biden was preparing to leave, TriMet was ordered to hold all of the trains, including the ones in the sterile zone, The Oregonian reported. Fuming MAX riders bombarded social media with complaints of being stranded on the streets of Portland unable to go home. The city would normally provide shuttle buses but with all of the trains not running, there weren't enough buses to go around.
Finally on a train after 30 mins... @trimet pic.twitter.com/r6nGDxp5y2 — Carla (@PDXCarla) October 9, 2014
Massive @trimet delay with several trains so far too full to enter. Next one, I'm pushing in. Should have brought my tram helmet — Fred Wenzel (@fwenzel) October 9, 2014
Meanwhile, the Secret Service told TriMet that Biden would be leaving the convention in five minutes. Ten minutes later, the Secret Service said it would be another five minutes until they could run the trains.
"More time passed and we were told six more minutes, that he was held up with the crowd but should be out in just a few minutes," Altstadt told the newspaper. "Based on what we were told, we kept believing the all clear would come any minute."
It wasn't until 45 minutes later when TriMet received the green light.
As of Thursday evening the Secret Service and city police have not yet responded to the newspaper's request for comment.
