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.
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.
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.
East 162nd Avenue station is a MAX light rail station on the boundary between Portland and Gresham in Oregon, USA. It serves the Blue Line and is the 18th stop eastbound on the current Eastside MAX branch.
East 102nd Avenue station is a MAX light rail station in Portland, Oregon. It serves the Blue Line and is the 15th stop eastbound on the current Eastside MAX branch.
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.
Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue, until 2024 also known as Hollywood Transit Center, is a light rail station in the MAX Light Rail system and a bus transit center, located in the Hollywood District of Portland, Oregon. Hollywood/NE 42nd Ave is the 11th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX main line, and is served by the Blue, Green and Red Lines. The transit center's bus area, served by three routes, is temporarily closed for construction.
Old Town/Chinatown station is a MAX Light Rail station served by the Blue and Red Lines. It is located in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood in Portland, Oregon and is currently the 6th stop eastbound on the Eastside MAX. It is also the last stop before crossing the Willamette River. It is next to the Portland Downtown Heliport. The station was previously also served by the Yellow Line, from 2004 to 2009, until that line's relocation to the Portland Transit Mall.
Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue and Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue were a pair of light rail stations in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. Built into the sidewalk at Southwest Yamhill and Morrison streets between 4th and 5th avenues in downtown Portland, the Mall stations were served by the Blue and Red lines upon closing. They had also been served by the Yellow Line from May 2004 to August 2009.
Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street is a former light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States, which was served by the Blue and Red lines of TriMet's MAX Light Rail. The station was situated within the Goose Hollow neighborhood. Its incorrectly punctuated name refers to the hillside to the west of the station, which has historically been referred to as King's Hill. A section of King's Hill, which contains many historic buildings, qualified for inclusion within the King's Hill Historic District, the easternmost boundary of which is at SW 21st Avenue.
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 at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, they occupy the sidewalk on Yamhill and Morrison streets between Broadway and 6th Avenue. The stations consist of one side platform each; trains traveling eastbound stop at Pioneer Square South while trains traveling westbound stop at Pioneer Square North.
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 Airport/Fairgrounds, formerly Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport, is a light rail station on the MAX Blue and Red lines 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.
Portland Airport is a light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. Situated at Portland International Airport, it is the eastern terminus of the Red Line, which connects the airport, Portland City Center, Beaverton, and Hillsboro. The station is located on the ground floor of the airport's main passenger terminal near the southern end of the arrivals hall and baggage claim area.
The MAX Green 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 State University (PSU), Portland City Center, Northeast Portland, Southeast Portland, and Clackamas. The Green Line travels 15 miles (24.1 km) from the PSU South stations to Clackamas Town Center Transit Center and serves 30 stations. It is the only service that interlines with all of the other MAX services, sharing the Portland Transit Mall segment with the Orange and Yellow lines and part of the Eastside MAX segment with the Blue and Red lines. South of Gateway Transit Center, the Green Line branches off to Clackamas Town Center. Service runs for 21 hours on weekdays and 20 hours on weekends with headways of up to 15 minutes. It is the third-busiest line in the system with an average of 13,030 riders per day on weekdays in September 2024.
The I-205 busway was a partially built busway along the right-of-way of the Interstate 205 freeway in Portland, Oregon. Although it never opened as a busway, its right-of-way has been in use by light rail lines partially since 2001 and fully since 2009.
TriMet: 12, 19, 20
