Portland Transit Gets Guards

PORTLAND, Ore. —  Gov. Neil E. Goldschmidt today ordered state troopers to ride shotgun on buses and trains in the Portland metropolitan area to curb a wave of violence battering its mass transit system.

Six Oregon State Police troopers and a sergeant will begin riding Tri-Met buses and trains next Tuesday, at a cost of $31,000 per month to the state. Officials said the number of assaults on passengers reached an all-time high of 29 in June of this year and then dropped during the fall months. But they said the incidents have become more violent, and “where we used to have verbal assaults on drivers, it’s now guns and knives.”