| Ride Connection | |
|---|---|
 A Ride Connection minibus at Hillsboro Central Transit Center in 2014 | |
| Overview | |
| Locale | Portland metropolitan area, Oregon, U.S. |
| Transit type | Public transport bus service, paratransit |
| Website | rideconnection.org |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | May 26, 1988 |
Ride Connection is a private, nonprofit organization that provides fixed bus route and paratransit services in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was founded as Volunteer Transport, Inc. on May 26, 1988.
Volunteer Transport, Inc. (VTI) was founded on May 26,1988.Inc. (VTI) on May 26, 1988, was established to provide accessible transportation for older adults and people with disabilities in the Portland metropolitan area. In 1990, it began partnering with TriMet to offer ADA-compliant paratransit services, enhancing accessibility for those unable to use fixed-route transit. [1] [2]
Ride Connection provides paratransit services to anyone over the age of 60 or with a disability, and people with low income. [3] It complements TriMet's LIFT. [4]
Ride Connection refers to its fixed bus route services as "Community Connectors". As of 2021, it operates five separate Community Connectors in communities mostly within Washington County. Riders may schedule an off-route pick up (within 1⁄2 mile of the route) by calling in. Ride Connection also partners with the Tillamook County Transportation District by subsidizing a Wave bus route between Banks, North Plains, and Portland. All services are free to use. In May 2021, Ride Connection expanded its services in Washington County. [5] [6]
GroveLink serves Forest Grove with two routes: West Loop and East Loop. A third, less-frequent route called the Employment Loop operates in the early mornings and early afternoons. GroveLink originated from a study that discovered a need for a more local service than TriMet bus route 57–TV Highway/Forest Grove, which had operated as the only public transit service within Forest Grove with a single route along Pacific Avenue (Oregon Route 8) eastward to Hillsboro and Beaverton. [7] It began operating on August 19, 2013. [8] [9]
The North Hillsboro Link began operating on November 16, 2015. [10]
The Tualatin Shuttle serves Tualatin with three, color-designated routes, all of which connect at the Tualatin WES station, served by TriMet's WES Commuter Rail. [11] The Tualatin Shuttle began as the "Tualatin Employment Shuttle", established by the Tualatin Chamber of Commerce in 1997. [12] Ride Connection took over its operations on October 1, 2014. [13] [14] The Blue Line operates a loop route west of the WES station within neighborhoods surrounding Herman Road. The Red Line operates another loop route south and east of the WES station with stops at the Tualatin Library and Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. [15] In September 2021, Ride Connection introduced a third route that runs from Bridgeport Village, the WES station, Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center, and Borland Free Clinic. [16] [17] Service operates from Monday to Friday in coordination with WES train arrivals. [15]
Bethany Link began operating on October 14, 2024, connecting TriMet's Sunset Transit Center (and MAX Light Rail station) with the Bethany area and Portland Community College's Rock Creek campus via Cedar Mil. It operates Mondays to Fridays. [18] [19] [20]
Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, 25 miles (40 km) west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850, then incorporated in 1872, making it the first city in Washington County. The population was 21,083 at the 2010 census, an increase of 19.1% over the 2000 figure (17,708).
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 between 30 minutes off-peak and three minutes during rush hours. In 2023, MAX recorded an annual ridership of 23,446,700.
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 206,400 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
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 15,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
The MAX Blue 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 Hillsboro, Beaverton, Portland, and Gresham. The Blue Line is the longest in the network; it travels approximately 33 miles (53 km) and serves 48 stations from Hatfield Government Center to Cleveland Avenue. It is the busiest of the five MAX lines, having carried an average 55,370 riders each day on weekdays in September 2018. Service 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. It runs later in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays and ends earlier on Sundays.
The MAX Red 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 is an airport rail link connecting Hillsboro, Beaverton, Portland City Center, and Northeast Portland to Portland International Airport. The Red Line serves 37 stations; it interlines with the Blue Line and partially with the Green Line from Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station to Gateway Transit Center and then branches off to Portland Airport station. Service runs for 22 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. The Red Line carried an average 17,390 passengers per weekday in September 2024, the second-busiest after the Blue Line.
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."
Beaverton Transit Center is a multimodal 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 11th station eastbound 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.
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.
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 and the third station eastbound on the Red 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 Sacramento Regional Transit District, commonly referred to as SacRT, is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Sacramento, California area. It was established on April 1, 1973, as a result of the acquisition of the Sacramento Transit Authority. In addition to operating over 81 bus routes with connecting bus service in the Sacramento area covering 438 square miles (1,134.4 km2), SacRT also operates a large light rail system, which ranks currently as the sixteenth busiest light rail system in the United States. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 15,836,400, or about 55,000 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
The Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 is an Oregon highway which passes through the Tualatin Valley, between the cities of McMinnville and Beaverton. Between McMinnville and Forest Grove, the highway is signed as Oregon Route 47; between Forest Grove and Beaverton it is signed as Oregon Route 8. Oregon 8 becomes Canyon Road in Beaverton east of Hocken Road.
South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART) is a public transit system operated by the city government of Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. The system currently consists of seven routes and is funded by local businesses. It was created when Wilsonville petitioned to withdraw from the TriMet service district in the late 1980s.
The Westside Express Service (WES) is a commuter rail line in the U.S. state of Oregon serving parts of Washington and Clackamas counties in the Portland metropolitan area. 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 along a route just west of Oregon Highway 217 and Interstate 5 (I-5). WES 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, WES saw a daily ridership of 420 passengers or about 109,000 riders annually.
Rail transportation is an important element of the transportation network in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rail transportation has existed in Oregon in some form since 1855, and the state was a pioneer in development of electric railway systems. While the automobile has displaced many uses of rail in the state, rail remains a key means of moving passengers and freight, both within the state and to points beyond its borders.
Tualatin is a train station in Tualatin, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of WES Commuter Rail. Situated next to Hedges Green Shopping Center on Southwest Boones Ferry Road, it is the fourth station southbound on the commuter rail line, which operates between Beaverton and Wilsonville in the Portland metropolitan area's Washington County. The station includes a 129-space park and ride and connections to the Tualatin Shuttle and TriMet bus routes 76–Hall/Greenburg and 97–Tualatin–Sherwood Rd. WES connects with the Blue and Red lines of MAX Light Rail at Beaverton Transit Center.
The Blue Bus lines were a group of four affiliated privately owned companies that provided bus transit service in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in the 1950s and 1960s. The name was unofficial – no company using this or similar name existed in the Portland area – but was in common use in the 1960s, and variations included "Blue Bus lines", "Blue Lines", "blue bus" lines and "blue buses". The Blue Bus companies provided service only between Portland and suburbs outside the city, or within such suburbs, as transit service within the city of Portland was the exclusive franchise of the Portland Traction Company or, after 1956, the Rose City Transit Company (RCT). The "blue buses" were prohibited from making stops inside the city except to pick up passengers destined for points outside RCT's service area. The "blue" name was a reference to the paint scheme worn by most buses of the consortium. By contrast, city transit operator Rose City's buses wore a primarily red paint scheme.
The transportation system of Oregon is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure.
Cornell Road is an east–west street and traffic corridor in the Portland metropolitan area, in Multnomah and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It crosses the Tualatin Mountains between the Willamette Valley and the city of Portland on the east and the Tualatin Valley and the city of Hillsboro on the west.
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