The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections of Portland; the communities of Beaverton, Clackamas, Gresham, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, and Oak Grove; and Portland International Airport to Portland City Center. Service runs seven days a week with headways of between 30 minutes off-peak and three minutes during rush hours. In 2019, MAX had an average daily ridership of 120,900, or 38.8 million annually. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted public transit use globally, annual ridership plummeted, with only 14.8 million riders recorded in 2021.
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The 3.9-mile (6.3 km) NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. The Loop Service, which opened in September 2012 as the Central Loop, runs from Downtown to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via the Pearl District, the Broadway Bridge across Willamette River, the Lloyd District, and the Central Eastside Industrial District and added 3.3 miles (5.3 km) of route. In September 2015 the line was renamed as the Loop Service, with the A Loop traveling clockwise, and the B Loop traveling counterclockwise. The two-route system serves some 20,000 daily riders.
Fareless Square was an area within central Portland, Oregon, where all rides on TriMet buses and light rail and the Portland Streetcar were free. It primarily consisted of the downtown area and, after 2001, the Lloyd District. It existed from January 1975 through August 2012, but was briefly renamed the Free Rail Zone in January 2010 after its coverage became limited to light rail and streetcar service, with bus rides no longer being free. The TriMet board decided in June 2012 to discontinue the Free Rail Zone primarily to help fill a large shortfall in the agency's budget, and the action was one component of a package of extensive budget cuts which also included service reductions and fare increases. The Free Rail Zone ended on August 31, 2012.
The MAX Blue Line is a light rail service in Portland, Oregon, United States, operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It travels east–west for approximately 33 miles (53 km)—the longest in the network—between Hillsboro, Beaverton, Portland, and Gresham and serves 48 stations from Hatfield Government Center to Cleveland Avenue. The line carried an average 55,370 riders each day on weekdays in September 2018, the busiest of the five MAX lines. It runs for 221⁄2 hours per day from Monday to Thursday, with headways of between 30 minutes off-peak and five minutes during rush hour. Service runs later in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays and ends earlier on Sundays.
The MAX Red Line is a light rail service in Portland, Oregon, United States, operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. An airport rail link, it connects Beaverton, Portland City Center and Northeast Portland to Portland International Airport. The line serves 26 stations; it interlines with the Blue Line and partially with the Green Line from Beaverton Transit Center to Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center and then branches to the 5.5-mile (8.9 km) Airport MAX segment to Portland International Airport station. The Red Line carried an average 10,310 passengers per weekday in September 2021, the second-busiest MAX service after the Blue Line. Its trains run for 22 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes.
The Gresham Central Transit Center, also known as Gresham Transit Center, is a TriMet transit center and MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon, United States. The center is a connection point for several bus routes and the MAX Blue Line. The light rail station is the 25th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX line, which was the Portland metropolitan area's first light rail line.
Gresham City Hall station is a MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon. It serves the Blue Line and is the 24th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX branch.
Ruby Junction/East 197th Avenue is a MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon. It serves the Blue Line and is the 22nd stop eastbound on the eastside MAX line. The station is at the intersection of SE 197th Avenue and Burnside Street.
Rockwood/East 188th Avenue is a MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon. It serves the Blue Line and is the 21st stop eastbound on the eastside MAX branch. The station is at the intersection of Southeast 188th Avenue and Burnside Street, within the Rockwood neighborhood. This station is a hub for bus service to Gateway Transit Center and Gresham Transit Center.
East 181st Avenue station is a MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon. It serves the Blue Line and is the 20th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX line.
East 172nd Avenue station is a MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon. It serves the Blue Line and is the 19th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX line. The MAX system is owned and operated by TriMet, the major transit agency for the Portland metropolitan area.
The MAX Yellow Line is a light rail service in Portland, Oregon, United States, operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It connects North Portland to Portland City Center and Portland State University (PSU) with 17 stops from Expo Center station to PSU South/Southwest 6th and College station. The line travels from Portland Expo Center in the north, south to the Rose Quarter through a 5.8-mile (9.3 km) light rail segment along the median of Interstate Avenue. From the Rose Quarter, it crosses the Willamette River via the Steel Bridge and enters downtown Portland, where it operates as a northbound-only service of the Portland Transit Mall on 6th Avenue. Service runs for approximately 21 hours daily with a headway of 15 minutes during most of the day.
The Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center, commonly known as Gateway Transit Center, is a TriMet bus transit center and light rail station on the MAX Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the 14th stop eastbound on the current Eastside MAX. This station is where all three lines split, with Blue Line trains proceeding east to Gresham, Green Line trains proceeding south to Clackamas, and Red Line trains proceeding north to Portland International Airport. When opened in 1986, it was the busiest station on the Portland–Gresham MAX line, the only line in the system at that time, and was the terminus of 11 bus lines. Currently seven bus lines serve the Gateway Transit Center.
Northeast 60th Avenue is a light rail station on the MAX Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon. It is the 12th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX line. It is located on the boundary between the North Tabor and Rose City Park neighborhoods.
The Northeast 82nd Avenue station is a light rail station on the MAX Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon. It is the 13th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX. It serves the neighborhoods of Rose City Park, Roseway, Madison South, Montavilla and Mount Tabor.
Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue Transit Center, also known as Hollywood Transit Center, is a light rail station in the MAX Light Rail system and is located in the Hollywood District of Portland, Oregon. It is the 11th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX main line. It is served by the Blue, Green and Red Lines, of TriMet. It is also a transit center, served by three TriMet bus routes.
Pioneer Square South and Pioneer Square North are a pair of light rail stations in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. Situated directly west of the Portland Transit Mall on the perimeter of Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, facing Yamhill and Morrison streets between Broadway and 6th Avenue, the pair are the 21st and 7th stations eastbound on the Blue Line and the Red Line, respectively. They consist of one side platform each as MAX operates in a one-way pair along this segment; trains traveling eastbound stop at Pioneer Square South while trains traveling westbound stop at Pioneer Square North. With connections to the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines, the Pioneer Square stations, along with the Pioneer Courthouse/Southwest 6th and Pioneer Place/Southwest 5th stations located one block east, mark the only transfer point in the MAX system where riders can board any of the five existing lines.
Like transportation in the rest of the United States, the primary mode of local transportation in Portland, Oregon is the automobile. Metro, the metropolitan area's regional government, has a regional master plan in which transit-oriented development plays a major role. This approach, part of the new urbanism, promotes mixed-use and high-density development around light rail stops and transit centers, and the investment of the metropolitan area's share of federal tax dollars into multiple modes of transportation. In the United States, this focus is atypical in an era when automobile use led many areas to neglect their core cities in favor of development along interstate highways, in suburbs, and satellite cities.
Portland is "an international pioneer in transit orientated developments."
Orenco is a light rail station in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It is the seventh station eastbound on the Blue Line, situated between the Quatama and Hawthorn Farm stations. The two-track, island platform station serves the Orenco Station neighborhood, which is considered a model for smart growth and transit-oriented development. It features a 125-space park and ride, a bike and ride, and connections to TriMet bus route 47–Baseline/Evergreen and Ride Connection's North Hillsboro Link.
The MAX Green Line is a light rail service in Portland, Oregon, United States, operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It is 15 miles (24.1 km) long and serves 30 stations from the PSU South stations to Clackamas Town Center Transit Center; it connects Portland State University (PSU), Portland City Center, Northeast Portland, Southeast Portland, and Clackamas. The Green Line is the only service that shares parts of its route with the four other MAX services, sharing the Portland Transit Mall with the Orange and Yellow lines and the Banfield segment of the Eastside MAX with the Blue and Red lines. Southbound from Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center, it operates the Interstate 205 (I-205) segment through to Clackamas Town Center. Service runs for approximately 211⁄2 hours daily with a headway of 15 minutes during most of the day. It is the third-busiest line in the system, carrying an average of 19,160 riders per day on weekdays in September 2019.
