South Metro Area Regional Transit

Last updated
South Metro Area Regional Transit
SMART ONE NEW.png
SMART 40-foot Gillig hybrid bus at Wilsonville Station transit center in 2018.jpg
Low-floor Gillig hybrid electric bus at SMART Central transit center at Wilsonville Station
Founded1989
Headquarters28879 SW Boberg Road
Locale Wilsonville, Oregon
Service type bus service, dial-a-ride
Routes7
Fleet32
Fuel typeDiesel, CNG, Hybrid, Electric
OperatorCity of Wilsonville
Website ridesmart.com

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.

Contents

History

After complaints from local business owners who felt they were having to pay too much in payroll tax to support the regional transit agency, TriMet, with little or no bus service being provided in exchange, the city decided to file a formal petition to withdraw from the TriMet district. [1] Such withdrawals were allowed, if the municipality met certain conditions, under a law enacted by the Oregon Legislature in 1987. Wilsonville's petition to withdraw from the TriMet district was approved by the transit agency's board on November 30, 1988, and the withdrawal took effect on January 1, 1989. A condition of the TriMet ordinance permitting the withdrawal was that Wilsonville had to provide replacement transit service for at least one year. [1] The change enabled the city to reduce the rate of the payroll tax levied on area businesses for transit from 0.6 percent to 0.3 percent. Initially, the city provided the required replacement service by contracting with TriMet, which in turn contracted with Buck Ambulance to give service with vans. [2] However, Wilsonville later prepared to begin managing the service directly and to increase marketing of it, in hopes of improving ridership.

Minibus on route 2X-Barbur SMART bus T3205.jpg
Minibus on route 2X-Barbur

In 1990, the city council approved naming the Wilsonville bus system WART, for Wilsonville Area Rapid Transit. [3] Aware that the name was likely to inspire a few jokes, city officials proposed using a leaping frog in a new logo to be created, in order to show they had a sense of humor. [2] The service was free at all times.

In 1993, following a city-sponsored contest to rename the transit system, the city council approved changing WART to SMART, or South Metro Area Rapid Transit. The first full-size buses were put into service later the same year. [4] Most service until then was dial-a-ride, door-to-door service. Following the acquisition of five used full-size buses, SMART introduced a new fixed route, 201, connecting Wilsonville with TriMet service at the regional agency's Tualatin Park-and-Ride lot and its Barbur Boulevard Transit Center, on November 1, 1993, and this was followed by the launching of a route to Oregon City (route 202), connecting with other TriMet routes there. [5] From 1999 to 2000, a lunchtime bus service was operated between businesses and the commercial center. [6]

30-foot Gillig Phantom bus at SMART Central transit center in 2018 SMART 30-foot Gillig Phantom bus (ex-Denver) at Wilsonville Station in 2018.jpg
30-foot Gillig Phantom bus at SMART Central transit center in 2018

Until fall 2005, no fares were charged for any SMART routes. In 2009, TriMet's Westside Express Service (WES) commuter rail line began connecting with SMART buses at Wilsonville Station. [7] SMART opened a new bus transit center next to the rail station, named SMART Central, that January. A minor change to SMART's name was made around the beginning of 2009, when "Rapid" was changed to "Regional", making the full name South Metro Area Regional Transit but leaving the acronym unaffected. Around the same time, a fleet wide color scheme change was made to reflect the new SMART logo and acronym, and to promote the new transit center and WES Commuter Rail.

On August 5, 2013, SMART began operating route 8X, [8] an express route connecting the Wilsonville Transit Center with TriMet's Beaverton Transit Center via Interstate 5 and Highway 217. [9] Because the WES commuter rail service connects the same two points, route 8X only had one trip per day in each direction (from Wilsonville at 5:20 a.m. and from Beaverton at 10:05 p.m.), [10] and was intended to provide service at times when WES did not operate. [8] The route was discontinued in 2016.

Current services

SMART Central at Wilsonville Station SMART Central at Wilsonville Station.JPG
SMART Central at Wilsonville Station

SMART has four routes that serve only Wilsonville, going east-west and north-south. However, it is noteworthy that three other express routes (delineated with the suffix 'X') go well beyond the city limits (and the entities who pay for the service). Route 1X goes south on I-5 all the way to Salem, where riders can transfer to Salem-Keizer Transit (Cherriots) and operations are shared with Cherriots; the 2X heads North to Tualatin where riders can connect to TriMet; and Route 3X goes southeast to the city of Canby, connecting with Canby Area Transit. Routes 4, 5, 6, and 7 only serve Wilsonville, but Route 5 connects with TriMet Route 96 at Commerce Circle, at the northern end of the city.

As of June 21, 2018, a Shopper Shuttle was placed to help seniors & people with disabilities go shopping from Charbonneau and Villebois.

All of SMART's routes serve the transit center SMART Central, with timed connections between routes. The system has a total of 36 vehicles in its fleet as of December 2023, including buses, vans, and a trolley-replica bus.

With transfers, it is possible to use public transit to travel between Portland and Salem. Using SMART is cheaper than taking direct (and faster) Greyhound or Amtrak service.[ citation needed ]

On September 23, 2019, as part of other service improvements, the 2X route, which previously ran all the way North on I-5 to the Barbur Transit Center in Portland, was cut back to only go as far as the Tualatin Park & Ride. However, the line was also made free. [11] [12]

The current fixed-route lines:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaverton, Oregon</span> City in Oregon, United States

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon with a small portion bordering Portland in the Tualatin Valley. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 2nd most populous city in the county and the 7th most populous city in Oregon. Beaverton is an economic center for Washington County along with neighboring Hillsboro. It is home to the world headquarters of Nike, Inc., although it sits outside of city limits on unincorporated county land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tualatin, Oregon</span> City in Oregon, United States

Tualatin is a city located primarily in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. A small portion of the city is also located in neighboring Clackamas County. It is a southwestern suburb in the Portland Metropolitan Area that is located south of Tigard. The population was 27,942 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilsonville, Oregon</span> City in Oregon, United States

Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. It was founded as Boones Landing because of the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location; the community became Wilsonville in 1880. The city was incorporated in 1969 with a population of approximately 1,000. The population was 13,991 at the 2000 census, and grew to 19,509 as of 2010. Slightly more than 90% of residents at the 2000 census were white, with Hispanics comprising the largest minority group.

<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 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 196,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland metropolitan area, Oregon</span> Metropolitan statistical area in the United States

The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area with its core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. It has 5 principal cities the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used by the United States Census Bureau (USCB) and other entities. The OMB defines the area as comprising Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill Counties in Oregon, and Clark and Skamania Counties in Washington. The area had a population of 2,512,859 at the 2020 census, an increase of over 12% since 2010.

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

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 Red 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 Airport station. Its trains run for 22 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. The Red Line carried an average 10,310 passengers per weekday in September 2021, the second-busiest MAX service after the Blue Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaverton Transit Center</span> Transport hub located in Beaverton, Oregon, U.S.

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canby Area Transit</span>

Canby Area Transit, or simply CAT, is the public transit bus service provided by and for the US city of Canby, Oregon. As of 2015, it operates one fixed route between Woodburn, Canby and Oregon City along Oregon Route 99E, complementary paratransit, and a dial-a-ride service within the city of Canby. It has a hub at the downtown Canby Transit Center.

<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">Portland and Western Railroad</span> Class II railroad in Oregon

The Portland and Western Railroad is a 516-mile (830 km) Class II railroad serving the U.S. state of Oregon, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of shortline and regional railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming Inc. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamette and Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WES Commuter Rail</span> Commuter train system serving northwest Oregon

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.

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

Wilsonville Transit Center, also called SMART Central at Wilsonville Station, is a bus and commuter rail transport hub in Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. The transit center, which is owned and operated by the City of Wilsonville, is the hub for the South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART) bus system. The Portland metropolitan area's regional transit agency, TriMet, operates the southern terminus of its WES Commuter Rail at the facility; WES connects with the Blue and Red lines of MAX Light Rail at Beaverton Transit Center. Opened in January 2009, the transit center includes a 400-car park and ride.

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

Tigard Transit Center, formally Thomas M. Brian Tigard Transit Center, is a transport hub in Tigard, Oregon, United States, that is owned and operated by TriMet. It is a transfer facility for bus routes mainly serving the westside communities of the Portland metropolitan area and the third southbound station from Beaverton Transit Center on WES Commuter Rail. The transit center is the located in downtown Tigard just south of Oregon Route 99W on Commercial Street. It recorded 1,627 average weekday boardings in fall 2019. The facility opened in 1988 as a bus transit center, and a platform for WES was added in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tualatin station</span> Train station in Tualatin, Oregon, US

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 was approved in 2004 as part of the Washington County Commuter Rail Project, but construction was delayed following a dispute with its location and the amount of available parking. A compromise was eventually reached, and it was completed in time for the line's opening in 2009. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hall/Nimbus station</span> Train station in Beaverton, Oregon

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.

The transportation system of Oregon is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbur Boulevard Transit Center</span>

The Barbur Boulevard Transit Center is a TriMet transit center located at 9750 SW Barbur Boulevard, near the intersection with Capitol Highway in southwest Portland, Oregon. Barbur TC is proposed to be a future stop on the MAX Green Line as part of the SW Corridor MAX Project, which would extend the Green Line from its current terminus at the PSU South stations southward to Bridgeport Village in Tualatin.

The Tualatin Park & Ride is a transit center located in the Oregon city of Tualatin, served by the Portland metropolitan transit agency TriMet. It is located adjacent to the Bridgeport Village shopping center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ride Connection</span> Paratransit service in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, U.S.

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.

References

  1. 1 2 Federman, Stan (December 1, 1988). "Tri-Met approves withdrawal of three communities". The Oregonian, p. C16.
  2. 1 2 Brinkley, Pam (January 15, 1990). "Bus system may grow into WART". The Oregonian, p. B2.
  3. ↑ Brinkley, Pam (January 19, 1990). "Wilsonville names bus line WART". The Oregonian.
  4. ↑ "Wilsonville looks Smart, gives new name to transit system" (June 24, 1993). The Oregonian.
  5. ↑ Grund, John M. (October 28, 1993). "Free Wilsonville bus route is Smart move". The Oregonian (MetroWest and MetroSouth editions).
  6. ↑ McMullen, Danielle. Hungry restaurants line up for customers. (April 11, 2001) Wilsonville Spokesman .
  7. ↑ Washington County Commuter Rail Fact Sheet/October 2007. Archived 2008-10-29 at the Wayback Machine TriMet. Retrieved on April 13, 2008.
  8. 1 2 Runquist, Justin (August 8, 2013). "Wilsonville expands bus service to accommodate drove of new workers". The Oregonian . Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Route 8X -Beaverton TC". SMART. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Route 8X Schedule". SMART. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  11. ↑ "SMART System Map | Wilsonville, Oregon". www.ridesmart.com. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  12. ↑ "SMART Transit, Wilsonville". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2019-10-29.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to South Metro Area Regional Transit at Wikimedia Commons

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.