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.
TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. 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 started 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), as well as the WES Commuter Rail line in 2009. It also provides the operators and maintenance personnel for the city of Portland-owned Portland Streetcar system. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 53,889,500, or about 173,600 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2022.
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.
Washington Park is a light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. Situated between Sunset Transit Center and Goose Hollow/Southwest Jefferson Street station, it is the 17th and 3rd station eastbound on the Blue Line and the Red Line, respectively. The station's two tracks and island platform are part of the Robertson Tunnel beneath Portland's West Hills. Its head house and surface-level plaza occupy the middle of a parking lot surrounded by the Hoyt Arboretum, Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Oregon Zoo, Portland Children's Museum, and World Forestry Center. Washington Park is the only completely underground station in the MAX system. At 260 feet (79 m) below ground, it is the deepest transit station in North America and in the western hemisphere. It is also the sixth-deepest in the world.
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.
The Sunset Transit Center is a TriMet bus transit center and light rail station on the MAX Blue and Red lines in Beaverton, Oregon. It opened for MAX in 1998 and is the 5th stop westbound on the Westside MAX. This is the first stop after the Robertson Tunnel under Portland's West Hills. Sunset TC is the second-busiest station on the Westside MAX line, with a weekday average of almost 6,000 daily riders in 2012. Though the station has a Portland address, it primarily serves residents of the communities of Cedar Hills, Cedar Mill, and Beaverton.
Beaverton Transit Center is an intermodal passenger transport hub in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. Owned and operated by TriMet, it is served by bus, commuter rail, and light rail. The transit center is MAX Light Rail's 15th station eastbound on the Blue Line and western terminus on the Red Line. It is also the northern terminus of WES Commuter Rail and a hub for bus routes mostly serving the westside communities of the Portland metropolitan area. Beaverton Transit Center is situated on Southwest Lombard Avenue, just north of Southwest Canyon Road in central Beaverton, connected by walkway to Canyon Place Shopping Center. It recorded 9,709 average weekday boardings for all modes in fall 2018, making it TriMet's busiest transit center.
Hatfield Government Center is a light rail station on the in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States, owned and operated by TriMet. The station is the western terminus of the MAX Blue Line. Opened in 1998, it is located in the same block as the Hillsboro Post Office and adjacent to the Washington County Courthouse and the Hillsboro Civic Center. The block is bounded by First and Adams streets on the east and west and Washington and Main streets on the south and north. The station is named in honor of Mark O. Hatfield, a former United States Senator from Oregon and light rail proponent. It is the furthest west light rail station in the Continental United States.
Hillsboro Central/Southeast 3rd Avenue Transit Center, also known as Hillsboro Transit Center, is a light rail station and transit center on the MAX Blue Line in Hillsboro, Oregon. Opened in 1998, the red-brick station is the 19th stop westbound on the Westside MAX, one stop from the western terminus of the line. Physically the largest station on the line, it is located at a former stop of the Oregon Electric Railway and includes artwork honoring the history of the community.
Tuality Hospital/Southeast 8th Avenue is a light rail station on the MAX Blue Line in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1998, it is the 18th stop westbound on the Westside MAX. The station has a single island platform with a passenger shelter, with the station primarily serving the campus of Hillsboro Medical Center.
Elmonica/Southwest 170th Avenue is a light rail station on the MAX Blue Line in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. Named after a former station on the Oregon Electric Railway, it is the eleventh stop westbound on the Westside MAX. The side platform stop is located between Hillsboro to the west and Beaverton to the east.
Washington/Southeast 12th Avenue is a light rail station on the MAX Blue Line in Hillsboro, Oregon. Hillsboro's West Precinct is near the station. Opened in 1998, it is the 17th stop westbound on the Westside MAX, and the last eastbound stop prior to crossing the Main Street Bridge. This is the last stop westbound to be on a grade-separated right-of-way. One block west of here, trains enter the median of Washington Avenue to run through downtown Hillsboro.
Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport is a light rail station on the MAX Blue Line in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. It is the 16th stop westbound on the Westside MAX, and the last westbound stop prior to crossing the Main Street Bridge. The station is located close to the Westside Commons – the 2019-adopted new name for the Washington County Fair Complex – and Hillsboro Airport, a major general-aviation facility in Hillsboro, and the location of the Oregon International Airshow in the summer. Bus line 46-North Hillsboro serves the station.
Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center is a transport hub in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Owned and operated by TriMet, it is a light rail and bus station. The transit center is the ninth station eastbound on the Blue Line and a hub for bus routes mostly serving Washington County in the Portland metropolitan area. It is located by the intersection of Southwest Baseline Road and 185th Avenue near the city's boundary with Beaverton. Opened in 1998, the station was originally conceived as the western terminus of the Westside MAX, but the line was extended further west into Hillsboro, due to population growth occurring at the time the line was being planned. Artwork at the stop represents a reading motif, as a library was planned for the station, but never built. Willow Creek is near the Oregon National Primate Research Center and the rest of the Oregon Health & Science University's West Campus in the Tanasbourne neighborhood.
Quatama, formerly Quatama/Northwest 205th Avenue, is a light rail station in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States, that is served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. Situated between Orenco station and Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center, it is the seventh eastbound station on the Blue Line. The two-track, island platform station includes a park-and-ride lot. Quatama Station is named after the area which includes Quatama Road to the south of the station. Opened in 1998, the stop is near high-tech industries and the Amberglen business park, which includes Oregon Health & Science University's West Campus and the Oregon National Primate Research Center. With the renaming of Northwest 205th Avenue to Northeast John Olsen Avenue by the city of Hillsboro in 2017, TriMet changed the station's name from its original, longer name.
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.
Portland International Airport, or just Airport on station signage, is a light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It serves Portland International Airport as the eastern terminus of the Red Line, which connects travelers to downtown Portland and Beaverton. The station is attached to ground floor of the main passenger terminal, near the southern end of the arrivals hall and baggage claim area. It features a wedge-shaped island platform, just beyond which both tracks join because the section approaching the terminal is single-tracked.
The Westside Express Service (WES) is a commuter rail line serving part of the Portland metropolitan area's Washington County and a small portion of Clackamas County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned by TriMet and operated by Portland & Western Railroad (P&W), the line is 14.7 miles (23.7 km) long and travels north–south from Beaverton to Wilsonville via Tigard and Tualatin, along a route just west of Oregon Highway 217 and Interstate 5 (I-5). It consists of five stations and connects with MAX Light Rail at Beaverton Transit Center. Service operates on a 45-minute headway on weekdays during the morning and evening rush hours. In Spring 2022, the service saw daily ridership of 420 passengers, about 109,000 rides annually.
Hall/Nimbus is a train station in Beaverton, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of WES Commuter Rail. It is the second station southbound on the commuter rail line, which runs between Beaverton and Wilsonville in the Portland metropolitan area's Washington County. Opened in February 2009, the TriMet-owned station is located west of Oregon Route 217 near the Washington Square shopping mall on Hall Boulevard. It includes a 50-car park and ride and connections to TriMet bus routes 76–Hall/Greenburg and 78–Beaverton/Lake Oswego. WES connects with the Blue and Red lines of MAX Light Rail at Beaverton Transit Center.
