Fareless Square

Last updated
Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

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 [1] 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. [2] The TriMet board decided in June 2012 to discontinue the Free Rail Zone [3] 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 [4] which also included service reductions and fare increases. [3] The Free Rail Zone ended on August 31, 2012.

Contents

Boundaries

The boundary of the westside portion of Fareless Square (and later the Free Rail Zone) started at the west foot of the Marquam Bridge, ran northwest along Interstate 405 to Northwest Irving Street, east to the Steel Bridge, then southward along the western shore of the Willamette River. The boundary of the eastside section, added in 2001, started at the east foot of the Steel Bridge, ran northwest to North Interstate Avenue to Multnomah Street, then east to the 1400 block of Northeast Multnomah Street, south to Northeast Holladay Street, and west to the Steel Bridge. By implication the entirety of the Steel Bridge was within the fare-free zone.

According to the TriMet code, the free-ride zone was "within Zone 1" and did not constitute a separate fare zone. TriMet discontinued all fare zones effective September 1, 2012, and no longer uses a zonal, or distance-based, fare system.

History

Adopted in 1975 to combat limited parking and air pollution, [5] Fareless Square initially encompassed the area of downtown Portland between Hoyt Street and Market Street, and from the Willamette River west to I-405. On April 3, 1977, [6] it was expanded southward from Market Street to the point where I-405 meets the river at the Marquam Bridge. A minor adjustment of Fareless Square occurred during the 1990s in order to include the stops for Union Station (Amtrak), by extending the northern limits of the area by one block to Northwest Irving Street.

In 2001, Fareless Square was extended again, this time across the river to the Lloyd District. [7] Included were MAX stations along Holladay Street and bus stops on NE Multnomah Street from the Rose Quarter, past the Oregon Convention Center to the Lloyd Center shopping mall. This was a panhandle-shaped addition to the original free-fare zone, and consequently Fareless Square was, strictly speaking, no longer square-shaped, but it retained its name. In 2007, a pair of stops directly in front of Union Station, added with Portland Mall construction and north of Irving Street, were added to the zone. In its last years, the free-service area covered 1.35 square miles (3.5 km2). [5]

"Free Rail Zone"

In January 2009, TriMet again raised the idea of reducing the validity of Fareless Square or possibly imposing a discounted fare, of $1, in the area concerned, this time in conjunction with a need to trim its budget in response to a regional economic downturn. [5] [8] [9]

The proposals were refined into one that would eliminate fareless service on buses but keep rail service free. Proponents of this change argued that, with MAX light rail being added along the Portland Transit Mall in 2009, most transit users riding solely within the fareless area would be served by MAX and the Portland Streetcar, and therefore still travel for free. [9] TriMet stated that 93% of all trips made within the fareless zone could be made via the rail system, following the 2009 expansion of MAX coverage within downtown.[ citation needed ] In addition, bus drivers complained about passengers boarding buses for rides lasting only a few stops within the fareless area, slowing down longer distance riders. In addition, to alleviate concerns about seniors and the disabled in the downtown losing access to free service, a photo ID card would be provided to residents living within the fareless boundaries to ride transit within the current boundary for $10 for two years. [10]

The Portland Business Alliance and tourism bureau supported the move. At that time, the estimated loss of revenue attributed to free rides on buses in the fareless zone was $800,000. [9] In August 2009, the TriMet board approved an ordinance to discontinue the fareless zone on buses but retain it for MAX and the Portland Streetcar. The change took effect in January 2010, with the zone renamed the Free Rail Zone. [2] [11] [12] [13]

TriMet's fiscal year 2013 budget proposed the elimination of the Free Rail Zone effective September 1, 2012, [4] as part of a package of service cuts and other changes intended to deal with a $12 million budget shortfall, and the proposal was approved in June. [3] [14] The fareless zone was discontinued at the end of service on August 31, 2012. [14]

Controversy

From time to time during Fareless Square's history, some in the Portland area called for it to be abolished, for various reasons.

As bus drivers could only request, but not require, payment of fares on bus boardings within Fareless Square, critics of TriMet alleged that the existence of Fareless Square facilitated fare evasion, and thus lost revenue, which must be made up by other means, such as taxation. In particular, riders who boarded in Fareless Square without paying a fare and then knowingly traveled beyond the zone's boundaries would be evading fare payment. Transfers were given to all passengers who paid fares within the fareless zone, which were subject to inspection by fare inspectors or drivers at the first stop outside of the fareless boundary. However, in practice, drivers did not systematically enforce fare collection on bus trips taken from points inside the fare-free zone to points outside it. (In other cities with fareless zones, pay-on-exit is used on trips leaving the fareless area, and that practice was also used by TriMet from 1975 until 1982, when TriMet went to proof-of-payment system-wide until 1984.)

On the MAX Light Rail and Portland Streetcar lines, a proof-of-payment fare system (or "honor" fare system) is used, so the application of the Fareless Square (or Free Rail Zone) meant that fare inspectors did not check passengers' fares within the free-fare zone.

In late 2007, a series of attacks against TriMet passengers, particularly on the MAX Blue Line in Gresham, led to increased public scrutiny of the security of the Portland transit system as a whole. Fareless Square was called into question as part of this inquiry, as it was alleged that the perpetrators of such offenses were often fare evaders who boarded TriMet in Fareless Square, and who then traveled to other areas (such as Gresham) without paying any fare, and that more stringent fare collection would keep such "undesirables" off the trains. TriMet's general manager proposed limiting the hours of Fareless Square to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. [15] However, others questioned the logic of linking incidents of crime in Gresham with the existence of a free transit zone located several miles away, in downtown Portland, and TriMet's own statistics showed that in 2007 the agency received very few complaints about activities such as drug dealing and panhandling in Fareless Square. [16] TriMet held two public hearings on January 16, 2008 to help determine the future of Fareless Square but, after receiving a large volume of comment from the public, decided to not make any immediate changes. [17]

boundary
coordinates
45°31′26″N122°41′10″W / 45.52394°N 122.68621°W / 45.52394; -122.68621
45°30′50″N122°41′21″W / 45.51375°N 122.68913°W / 45.51375; -122.68913
45°30′23″N122°40′54″W / 45.50638°N 122.68158°W / 45.50638; -122.68158
45°30′50″N122°40′23″W / 45.51390°N 122.67317°W / 45.51390; -122.67317
45°31′18″N122°41′07″W / 45.52168°N 122.68540°W / 45.52168; -122.68540
45°30′18″N122°40′25″W / 45.50502°N 122.67351°W / 45.50502; -122.67351
45°30′41″N122°41′18″W / 45.51152°N 122.68845°W / 45.51152; -122.68845
45°31′40″N122°41′12″W / 45.52788°N 122.68656°W / 45.52788; -122.68656
45°31′26″N122°40′09″W / 45.52388°N 122.66909°W / 45.52388; -122.66909
45°31′42″N122°40′20″W / 45.52845°N 122.67218°W / 45.52845; -122.67218
45°31′45″N122°40′04″W / 45.52923°N 122.66785°W / 45.52923; -122.66785
45°31′54″N122°39′55″W / 45.53173°N 122.66527°W / 45.53173; -122.66527
45°31′56″N122°38′57″W / 45.53236°N 122.64922°W / 45.53236; -122.64922
45°31′47″N122°38′59″W / 45.52974°N 122.64965°W / 45.52974; -122.64965
45°31′47″N122°39′52″W / 45.52962°N 122.66450°W / 45.52962; -122.66450

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAX Light Rail</span> Light rail system serving Portland, Oregon

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 lines connecting the six sections of Portland; the communities of Beaverton, Clackamas, Gresham, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, and Oak Grove; and Portland International Airport to Portland City Center. Trains run 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Streetcar</span> Streetcar system in Portland, Oregon

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TriMet</span> Oregon government-owned corporation responsible for public transit in the Portland area

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon legislature, the district replaced five private bus companies that operated in the three counties: Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas. TriMet began operating a light rail system, MAX, in 1986, which has since been expanded to five lines that now cover 59.7 miles (96.1 km). It also operates the WES Commuter Rail line since 2009. It also provides the operators and maintenance personnel for the city of Portland-owned Portland Streetcar system. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 62,055,600, or about 208,900 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C-Tran (Washington)</span> Public transit operator in Clark County, Washington

C-Tran, more formally the Clark County Public Transit Benefit Area Authority, is a public transit agency serving Clark County, Washington, United States, including the cities of Battle Ground, Camas, Vancouver, Washougal, and Yacolt. Founded in 1981, C-Tran operates fixed route bus services within Clark County, as well as paratransit services for qualified persons with disabilities (C-Van) and a dial-a-ride service in Camas, Ridgefield, and La Center. C-Tran also provides express commuter services between Clark County and Downtown Portland, Oregon and regional services to the Parkrose/Sumner and Delta Park MAX Light Rail stations, and Oregon Health and Science University. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 4,738,700, or about 16,000 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gresham Central Transit Center</span> Transit center and MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon, U.S.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAX Yellow Line</span> Light rail line in Portland, Oregon

The MAX Yellow Line is a light rail line serving Portland, Oregon, United States. Operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system, it connects North Portland, Portland City Center, and Portland State University (PSU). The line serves 17 stations; it runs north–south from Expo Center station to PSU South/Southwest 6th and College station, interlining with the Green and Orange lines within the Portland Transit Mall. Service runs for 21 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. The Yellow Line is the fourth-busiest service in the MAX system; it carried an average 12,960 riders per weekday in September 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Center/Northeast 11th Avenue station</span> Light rail station in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Lloyd Center/Northeast 11th Avenue is a light rail station on the MAX Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon. It is the 10th stop eastbound on the Eastside MAX. The station is located on the 1200 block of Northeast Holladay Street in Lloyd District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast 7th Avenue station</span>

Northeast 7th Avenue is a light rail station on the Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon. It is the 9th stop eastbound on the Eastside MAX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention Center station (TriMet)</span> Light rail station in Portland, Oregon, US

Convention Center station is a light rail station on the MAX Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon. It is the 8th stop eastbound on the current Eastside MAX, having not been built when the original line opened, in 1986. It was built to serve the Oregon Convention Center, which did not exist when the MAX line opened, and was completed and opened in the same month as the Convention Center, September 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Quarter Transit Center</span>

Rose Quarter Transit Center is a light rail station in the MAX system and a TriMet bus transit center, and is located in the Rose Quarter area of Portland, Oregon, a part of the Lloyd District. It is served by the Blue, Green and Red Lines. It is currently the 7th stop eastbound on the Eastside MAX as well as the first stop after crossing the Willamette River on the Steel Bridge. Two hundred yards west of the station is the Interstate/Rose Quarter station on the MAX Yellow Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Portland, Oregon</span> Overview of movement of goods and passengers in Portland

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Portland, Oregon</span> Neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, United States

Downtown Portland is the central business district of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAX Green Line</span> Light rail line in Portland, Oregon

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAX Orange Line</span> Light rail line in Portland, Oregon

The MAX Orange Line is a light rail line serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system, it connects Portland City Center, Portland State University (PSU), Southeast Portland, Milwaukie, and Oak Grove. The line serves 17 stations and runs for 201⁄2 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. It averaged 3,480 daily weekday riders in September 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Vintage Trolley</span> Heritage streetcar

The Portland Vintage Trolley was a heritage streetcar service in Portland, Oregon, United States, that operated from 1991 to 2014. It operated on a portion of the MAX light rail system, and for a brief time also operated on the Portland Streetcar system, in downtown and nearby areas. Service was provided with replicas of a type of Brill streetcar, nicknamed the "Council Crest" cars, which last served Portland in 1950. The service was managed by Vintage Trolley Inc., a non-profit corporation, and the cars were owned and operated by TriMet, Portland's transit agency. For 18 of its 23 years, the service followed a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) section of what is now the MAX Blue Line, between Lloyd Center and the west end of downtown. In September 2009, the route was changed to a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) section of the MAX system, along the transit mall in downtown Portland, from Union Station to Portland State University (PSU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd District, Portland, Oregon</span> Neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, United States

The Lloyd District is a primarily commercial neighborhood in the North and Northeast sections of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is named after Ralph Lloyd (1875–1953), a California rancher, oilman, and real estate developer who moved to and started the development of the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Transit Mall</span> Public transit corridor in Portland, US

The Portland Transit Mall is a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) public transit corridor that travels north–south through the center of downtown in Portland, Oregon, United States. It comprises a pair of one-way streets—6th Avenue for northbound traffic and 5th Avenue for southbound—along which two of three lanes are restricted to transit buses and light rail vehicles only. As of September 2022, the corridor is served by the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines of MAX Light Rail; Frequent Express; and over a dozen local bus routes, all of which are services of TriMet, the transit agency operating within the Oregon side of the Portland metropolitan area. C-Tran, the transit agency for Clark County, Washington, additionally serves it with two express bus routes—#105 I-5 Express and #164 Fisher’s Landing Express.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station/Northwest 6th & Hoyt and Union Station/Northwest 5th & Glisan stations</span> Pair of light rail stations in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Union Station/Northwest 6th & Hoyt and Union Station/Northwest 5th & Glisan are light rail stations on the MAX Green, Orange and Yellow Lines in Portland, Oregon. They are the first stops southbound on the Portland Transit Mall MAX extension. The Union Station/Northwest 6th & Hoyt Street station is served only by the Green and Yellow Lines, and the Union Station/Northwest 5th & Glisan Street station is served only by the Green and Orange Lines. Originally, from the opening of these stations in 2009 until 2015, the Yellow Line served both, but in September 2015 the then-new Orange Line replaced the Yellow Line at all southbound stations on the transit mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest 6th & Madison and City Hall/Southwest 5th & Jefferson stations</span>

Southwest 6th & Madison Street and City Hall/Southwest 5th & Jefferson Street stations are a pair of light rail stations on the MAX Green, Orange and Yellow Lines in Portland, Oregon. It is the fifth stop southbound on the Portland Transit Mall extension.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PSU Urban Center stations</span> Light rail stations in Portland, Oregon

The PSU Urban Center stations are light rail stations on the MAX Green, Orange and Yellow Lines in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States, located adjacent to the PSU Urban Center, of Portland State University. The northbound platform is the PSU Urban Center/Southwest 6th & Montgomery station, and the southbound platform is the PSU Urban Center/Southwest 5th & Mill station. The stations opened on August 30, 2009, and for the next three years they were temporarily the southern passenger terminus of the Portland Transit Mall MAX extension, awaiting construction of the PSU South stations. The latter opened on September 2, 2012, and the change made PSU Urban Center the second stop northbound and the next-to-last stop southbound on the Portland Mall MAX lines.

References

  1. ↑ Colby, Richard (January 12, 1975). "Tri-Met eliminates fare zones, offers free rides downtown". The Sunday Oregonian, p. A38.
  2. 1 2 Rose, Joseph (October 27, 2009). "Prepare to ride 'Free Rail Zone'". The Oregonian . Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Rose, Joseph (June 13, 2012). "TriMet board kills Portland's Free Rail Zone, raises fares, cuts bus service over protesters' shouts, jeers". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "TriMet: Recommended Plan". April 2012. Archived from the original on May 21, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 "TriMet: Free Downtown Bus Rides May End". KPTV. January 29, 2009. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  6. ↑ "Tri-Met schedules confound riders". The Oregonian, April 7, 1977, p. C16.
  7. ↑ "Fareless Square Extension". TriMet. November 12, 2001. Archived from the original on February 10, 2002. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  8. ↑ Jim Redden (February 23, 2009). "TriMet wants to hear from you about possible cuts". Portland Tribune . Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 Learn, Scott (June 24, 2009). "TriMet wants to drop free bus service in Fareless Square". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Honored Citizen Downtown Portland Bus Pass". TriMet. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Better have that bus fare today; Fareless Square ends". Portland Tribune . January 3, 2010. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  12. ↑ Rivera, Dylan (August 12, 2009). "The days of a free bus ride are over". The Oregonian . Archived from the original on 2009-08-16. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  13. ↑ "Free Downtown Bus Rides End in 2010". KPTV. August 12, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  14. 1 2 Bailey Jr., Everton (August 30, 2012). "TriMet boosts most fares starting Saturday; some routes changing". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  15. ↑ Jim Redden (December 6, 2007). "Free transit rides may end". Portland Tribune . Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  16. ↑ Gillick, Jeremy (December 26, 2007). "The Square Dance". Willamette Week . Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  17. ↑ Dylan Rivera (January 18, 2008). "TriMet backs away from limit on Fareless Square". The Oregonian . Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.

45°31′11″N122°40′36″W / 45.5197°N 122.6766°W / 45.5197; -122.6766

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.