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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 (96.1km). 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.
In addition to rail lines, TriMet provides the region's bus system, as well as LIFT paratransit service. There are 688 buses in TriMet's fleet that operate on 85 lines. In 2018, the entire system averaged 310,000 rides per weekday and operates buses and trains between the hours of approximately 5a.m. and 2a.m. TriMet's annual budget for FY 2018 is $525.8million, with 30% of resources coming from a district-wide payroll tax and 10% from fares.[2] The district is overseen by a seven-person board of directors appointed by the state's governor. As of 2022[update], the agency has around 3,428 employees.[6]
General information
TriMet operates a light rail system (MAX Light Rail), the Portland Streetcar, and a commuter rail line (WES Commuter Rail).
TriMet is "a municipal corporation of the State of Oregon", with powers to tax, issue bonds, and enact police ordinances and is governed by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the Governor of Oregon.[8] It has its own boundary, which currently encompasses an area of about 533 square miles (1,380km2).[2] The TriMet district serves portions of the counties of Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas; it extends from Troutdale to Forest Grove east to west, and from Sauvie Island to Oregon City and Estacada north to south.
For more than 30 years the agency called itself Tri-Met, but it formally dropped the hyphen from its name in 2002, as part of a new corporate identity strategy involving a redesigned logo and new color scheme for its vehicles and other media.[9]
A real-time display of schedule information at a stop on the transit mall in 2009
TriMet was formed in 1969 after disputes between the Portland city council and Rose City Transit Company, the private company that previously operated the bus system serving the city (but not its suburbs).[5] The new public agency was created by an ordinance of the Portland city council, under provisions of a law enacted by the 1969 Oregon Legislature, and took over all of Rose City Transit's service and fleet effective December 1, 1969.[10] Bus service in the suburban portions of the metropolitan area was operated by four smaller private companies which had a common union and were collectively known as the "Blue Bus" lines: Portland Stages, Tualatin Valley Buses, Intercity Buses and Estacada-Molalla Stages. These were taken over by TriMet on September 6, 1970.[11] Eighty-eight buses owned by the four suburban companies were transferred to TriMet,[12] but many were found to be in poor condition[13] and the TriMet board soon took action to replace them with new buses.[14]
TriMet's first paint scheme was this orange and white, worn by all vehicles from 1971 until 1980 and by a portion of the fleet (the oldest buses) until 1991.
As of January 2024, TriMet operates a total of 695 buses on 84 routes,[citation needed] 145 MAX light rail cars on five lines, and 253 LIFT paratransit vehicles.[2] Each of the five MAX and 17 of the bus lines are designated as "Frequent Service" lines, scheduled to operate at headways of 15 minutes or less for most of the service day (service is less frequent in the early morning and late evening).[15]
TriMet connects to several other public transit systems:[16]
Long-range transportation planning for the metropolitan area is provided by Metro, an elected regional government. Metro also has statutory authority to take over the day-to-day operations of TriMet, but has never exercised that power, as past studies of such a merger have found it to be problematic.[18]
MAXtrain traveling on the Yellow line (Interstate Avenue)
TriMet runs the MAX Light Rail (short for Metropolitan Area Express) system, and contracts with Portland and Western Railroad to operate the WES Commuter Rail line (short for Westside Express Service). Fares on MAX (as well as WES) are the same as TriMet bus fares, and fare collection uses a proof-of-payment system (or honor system) with ticket vending machines at each station. Fare inspectors patrol the system randomly. Incidents of violence on the system have led to calls for more security,[19] and some have argued that more thorough checking of fares would improve riders' overall feeling of safety.
The TransitTracker system uses satellite tracking on buses and sensors in the MAX tracks to predict arrival times at stops and stations.[20] Additionally, TriMet is partnering with Google Maps to install Bluetooth low energy beacons on MAX platforms, allowing nearby Android device users to directly receive schedule and alert information.[21]
From 1991 until 2014,[22][23] TriMet also operated the Portland Vintage Trolley service, which ran on a portion of the MAX system on most weekends.[24] It was reduced to only seven dates per year in 2011 and was discontinued entirely in July 2014.[22][23]
Additionally, the Portland Streetcar system, which is owned and managed by the City of Portland, not TriMet, is operated and maintained by TriMet under contract with the City of Portland.[25] TriMet also provides a portion of the funding for the streetcar lines.
Bus service
A bus stop sign of the current design (2000-present) with frequent service.A typical TriMet bus stop shelter
As of September 2018[ref], TriMet operates 85 bus routes.[1] Each route is identified by both a number and a name. The numbers are mostly in the range 1–99, but there are currently five routes with three-digit numbers.[1] From 1969 until 1973, TriMet bus routes were named but not numbered, a practice inherited from Rose City Transit and the "Blue Bus" lines, but route numbers were assigned to all routes in August 1973.[26][27]
Seventeen bus routes are designated as "Frequent Service Lines", which the agency defines as having a headway of 15 minutes or less most of the service day (service is less frequent in the early morning and late evening).[15] Fifty-eight percent of all bus trips are on the frequent service lines.[15] Bus stops that are served by a frequent service line are identified with an additional green sign.
The bus system includes 17 transit centers, that allow passengers to transfer between bus routes and, at many transit centers, MAX routes.
TriMet buses began carrying bicycles on the front in 1992, on a trial basis on eight routes;[28] the experiment was judged a success and within three years the entire bus fleet had been fitted with bike racks.[29]
TriMet added a temporary free shuttle service connecting between Rose Quarter Transit Center and a temporary bottle redemption facility in industrial district in Northwest Portland specifically to address people redeeming empty containers while grocers have been relieved from the Oregon Bottle Bill during the COVID-19 pandemic. This service was created at the request of Governor Kate Brown[30] and it went into service on April 29, 2020.[31]
TriMet uses a flat fare system, with a single price (for each category of rider: adult, youth, senior or disabled) regardless of the distance of the trip. Single-fare tickets permit unlimited transfers to other routes within 2½ hours, and passes are valid until end of the service day.
Several different methods of fare payment are available. On buses, riders can pay with cash, but no change is given.[33] On the MAX Light Rail system, in common with most other North American light rail systems[34] and on the WES Commuter Rail line, TriMet uses a proof-of-payment fare system, requiring riders not already in possession of a valid fare to purchase or validate one before boarding.[33]Ticket vending machines at MAX and WES stations accept cash and credit and debit cards.[35] For both bus and rail riders, a number of other payment methods are available as an alternative to cash.
TriMet tickets and passes are also valid on the Portland Streetcar, which is owned by the City of Portland but operated mostly by TriMet personnel under a contract with the city.[25]
TriMet also has a mobile ticketing app, allowing riders to purchase and use tickets for buses, light rail, and commuter rail on their smartphones.[36] The app, called TriMet Tickets, was developed by Portland startup GlobeSherpa (now Moovel Transit) and released in September 2013 at no cost to TriMet. Instead, Moovel Transit will take a commission on every ticket sale through the app.[37]
An e-fare system named "Hop Fastpass" was introduced in July 2017.[38] Developed by INIT (Innovations in Transportation)[39] for TriMet, the City of Portland, and C-Tran, at a cost estimated (in 2015) to be about $30million,[40] the new Hop Fastpass system enables riders to pay with a fare card, using card readers on buses and train platforms and, as of August 2017, using a smartphone equipped with NFC (near field communication) via a digital wallet.[41][42] The name is said to evoke both the speed of the rabbit and the hop plant used as an ingredient in the craft beer brewed in Portland.[40]
As of July 2022[update], TriMet's fleet included 696 buses, in lengths of either 40 or 30 feet (12 or 9 meters) for use on traditional fixed-route services.[6] TriMet also owns a fleet of 253 minibuses and 15 vans for use on LIFT Paratransit service.[2]
By March 2017, the entire active fleet of regular buses were low-floor models and equipped with air-conditioning.[43] This was the culmination of a plan launched 20 years earlier. In 1997, the TriMet board decided that all buses purchased in the future should be low-floor type and equipped with air-conditioning.[44] The decision was for a gradual phase-out of high-floor, non-air-conditioned buses as they reached the ends of their normal lifespan (about 18–20 years) and in 2013 TriMet was anticipating that by 2017 all buses would have low floors without steps.[44][45] TriMet retired its last non-air-conditioned buses in late December 2015.[46] The last series of high-floor buses in service were taken out of regular use in June 2016, but with some kept serviceable[47] through the summer for use on temporary shuttles used during construction-related disruptions to MAX service that took place between August and September.
While most of TriMet's fleet uses diesel motors for propulsion, the agency has also experimented with hybrid electric buses. The first two hybrid buses entered service in 2002,[48][49][50] but in 2008 TriMet stated that the buses had not performed sufficiently better than its newest diesel buses to justify the estimated 50-percent-higher purchase cost, and that consequently the agency had no plans to purchase additional hybrid buses at that time.[51] These first two hybrid buses were retired in 2012.[50] However, with hybrid technology having improved since that earlier purchase, TriMet acquired four new hybrid buses in 2012 and placed them into service in January 2013 on line 72,[50][52] a long, mostly level north–south route. TriMet acquired four more hybrid buses in 2015 with even greater electronic technology on board.[53]
Since October 30, 2006, all TriMet buses and paratransit minibuses have been fueled by a B5 biodiesel blend.[54] Plans to increase to a B10 or higher mix were later put on hold as a result of cost increases and problems experienced in a trial use of B10 blend in about one-quarter of the fleet.[55]
The agency delayed new bus purchases for four years due to the recession of 2008 and the resulting decrease in income from taxes.[56] In 2012 TriMet began to replace buses on an accelerated schedule.[57] By that time some of the buses in the fleet were more than 20 years old and had become more expensive to maintain and less reliable. The first order of 55 40-foot Gillig buses began to enter service in fall 2012,[58] followed by 70 buses in 2013,[59] 60 in the summer of 2014,[60] followed by another 30 in October 2014.[61] In early 2015, TriMet received its first new 30-foot buses in more than 20 years.[62] These 22 Gillig buses are similar to the rest of TriMet's new buses, but their shorter length allows them to serve routes with tighter turns and difficult terrain.[62]
By mid-2016 TriMet planned to have 326 buses on the road under four years old, which would allow the agency to meet the industry standard of an average age of eight years. TriMet's 3900-series buses, an order of 64 diesel buses built in 2018 and 2019 and entering service in February 2019, introduced a new paint scheme for the agency, of all-over blue with a trio of semi-upright orange stripes near the rear on each side.[63]
The Frequent Express service operates a fleet of 60-foot (18.3m) articulated buses;[64][65] they were manufactured by Nova Bus in Plattsburgh, New York. Each bus can carry up to 115 passengers, 60% more than TriMet's standard 40-foot (12.2m) bus,[66] and features all-door, right-side boarding via three doors along the front, middle, and rear.[67] Up to two bicycles can be stored inside the bus using roll-in racks located near the rear.[68]
TriMet's buses operate out of three garages:
Center Street Garage (in inner Southeast Portland); current facilities opened in 1978, replacing former RCT facilities at same site[69]:25
Merlo Garage (in Beaverton to the west); opened in 1980[69] with temporary facilities, and full-service maintenance building opened in 1983[70]
Powell Garage (located in East Portland); opened in 1977;[69]:25 completely rebuilt 2018–2022 (with main building and most other structures replaced)[71]
TriMet's fleet includes 145 light rail vehicles, of 5 general types: TriMet Type 1, Type 2/Type 3 (almost identical), Type 4 and Type 5.[73][74] The first two cars of Type 5 entered service in April 2015.[75] TriMet placed an order for new cars to replace the Type 1 trains in 2019.[76] The first car arrived in December 2022, to be tested.[77][78]
↑ TriMet's "Type 5" cars were model S70 when purchased and placed in service, but in 2020 were retroactively rebranded as model S700 by Siemens.[81]
Notes on capacities:
The capacities given are for a single car; a two-car train has double the capacity.
The Type 2 cars originally had 72 seats, but eight seats were later removed, to make space for bicycles.[84]
All of these capacity figures are based on "normal" loading conditions (defined as 4 standing passengers per square meter by industry standards[85]); under so-called "crush" loading conditions (6-8 standees per m2), all of these cars are capable of carrying many more passengers than stated here.
The commuter rail line between Beaverton and Wilsonville is operated primarily with trains made up from a fleet of four Colorado Railcar Aero diesel multiple unit railcars. TriMet also owns four BuddRDC diesel multiple-unit railcars, of which two have entered service and are used as a backup.
Paint schemes
TriMet's pre-2002 (right) and post-2002 paint schemes illustrated on 1991 Gillig Phantom buses (a type of bus now retired in TriMet's fleet)
TriMet has had four main paint schemes during its five-decade history. The agency's first paint scheme, adopted in April 1970,[86] featured a tangerine (or orange) base with silver (unpainted metal) along the middle portion of the lower half and a white stripe below and above the windows.[86] The windshield also had a white outline around it. The white above the windows curved upward to the roof at the first door, leaving the bus's front section all orange at the roof.
TriMet's second paint scheme, which was adopted in August 1980[87] and was the agency's standard paint scheme from 1980 to 2002 (but remains in use on most of the Type 2 MAX cars in 2021), features a white base with a three-color stripe below the windows. The stripe colors are (in order from top to bottom) burgundy, red and orange,[87][88] and near the front on each side the stripe makes a sharp bend and angles upward to the roof (except on MAX cars). The logo of TriMet–which at that time was still using the hyphenated spelling Tri-Met–was shown on the front end.
TriMet's third paint scheme, of white with blue and "buttery" yellow, was adopted in August 2002.[9][89] It features a white base with a large blue semi-circle at the top, curving downward, and a smaller pale yellow semi-circle at the bottom, curving upward. This was the first paint scheme to use the current logo.
TriMet's current standard paint scheme was introduced in early 2019. It is all-over blue with three orange vertical, and slightly angled, lines in the rear portion on each side, with the middle line being thicker than the two outer lines.[63][90] TriMet's Frequent Express (FX) buses will have a similar paint scheme, but with green and blue colors.[91]
There have also been other paint scheme variations. TriMet's 3800-series battery-electric buses use an all-blue paint scheme with several blue stripes and wind turbine graphics to call attention to their being all-electric buses.[92] The WES RDCs use a paint scheme of mostly bare metal with a large white stripe along the windows, and a smaller blue stripe above the white stripe. The front of the train has a blue and yellow stripe pattern.[93]
1969 Tri-Met takes over for the nearly bankrupt Rose City Transit Company. The system has 175 buses and a daily ridership of about 65,000.
1970s
1970 Tri-Met takes over the "Blue Bus" companies, the four companies which had been providing bus service to and within Portland's suburbs,[13] adding another 88 buses to the agency's fleet.
1973 Route numbers (or Line numbers) are adopted for the first time; previously, routes had been designated only by names.[26][27]
1974 The first shelters at bus stops are installed.
1975 The "Fareless Square" is created in downtown Portland, with the goal of reducing short automobile trips within the city core and attracting more riders. Fares outside the Square are 35 cents.[94] The zone-based fare system was discontinued at that time,[94] but was reinstated less than four years later[95] and remained in use until 2012.
1977/78 The 22-block Portland Transit Mall opens on downtown's Fifth and Sixth Avenues.[96][97] The mall includes bus-only lanes and provides a hub to make it easier for riders to make connections. Tri-Met also introduces the seven "sector symbols", for different areas of the transit district, used at stops on the new mall: Brown Beaver (SE), Green Leaf (S), Yellow Rose (SW), Orange Deer (W), Red Fish (N), Purple Raindrops (NE) and Blue Snowflake (E)
1978 After 3½ years using a "flat" fare system, a zonal fare structure is reinstated, with three fare zones.[95] Zone 1 consisted of downtown Portland and extending about one to two miles (3km) out. Zone 2 was a ring around Zone 1 out two to three more miles. Zone 3 wrapped around Zone 2 and consisted of the rest of the system within the suburbs of Portland.
1980s
1981 24-hour recorded schedule information becomes available over the phone.
One of TriMet's first series of articulated buses, in service 1982–99.
1982 Tri-Met introduces articulated buses for the first time.[98] The buses were manufactured by Crown-Ikarus, a now-defunct partnership between Ikarus, of Hungary, and Crown Coach, of California, but they proved to be sufficiently trouble-plagued that the agency later sues the manufacturer to recover expenses tied to excessive repairs;[99][100] a settlement was reached in 1987. The last bus was retired in 1999 and TriMet did not purchase articulated buses again until 2019 (for the Division Transit Project, to enter service in 2022).
1982 In September, Tri-Met introduces a proof-of-payment (or "self-service") fare system for all service,[101] but discontinues it in June 1984, due to fare evasion, high equipment repair costs and other problems.[102]
1983 Completion of the installation of two-way radios on the entire fleet; 100 buses already had radios by 1980, and all others were equipped in 1982–83.[103][70]
1986 As part of a package of budget cuts,[104] Tri-Met discontinues its all-night "Owl" service,[105] making Portland the second largest U.S. city without all-night transit service. Seven regular (daytime) bus routes also were eliminated.[105]
1986 The 15-mile (24km) long MAX Light Rail line between Portland and Gresham opens. It reintroduces rail transit service to the Portland area, missing since the 1950s.
For more than 40 years, until 2015, TriMet's fleet included buses built by Flxible, an example of which is the 1992 Flxible Metro shown in this 2013 photo.
1990s
1992 The first bike racks are installed on the fronts of some Tri-Met buses, as part of a one-year trial project.[28]
1995 Tri-Met's website goes online, hosted by local ISP Teleport (which eventually becomes acquired by OneMain.com, later to become part of Earthlink). At the time when Internet access was less ubiquitous, Tri-Met also offered a dial-up information service through Teleport using a Unix shell and Lynx.
1996 Tri-Met begins to equip its bus fleet with vehicle tracking system equipment, to enable monitoring of buses in service, using GPS technology.[107]
1997 The first low-floor buses and light-rail cars go into service.[108][109]
1998 Westside MAX (now known as the Blue Line between Portland and Hillsboro) opens. Tri-Met also establishes bus lines that come every 15 minutes or sooner everyday, lessening the need to consult a schedule when using them.
1999 Satellite-assisted bus arrival time displays (later to be named Transit Tracker) are installed at select major bus stops in North Portland and downtown.
2000s
2001 Fareless Square is expanded to a small portion of Northeast Portland between Lloyd Center and the Steel Bridge. Airport MAX (the Red Line) begins service on September 10 after a public/private partnership, prompted by a proposal from Bechtel Corporation, enables its construction years ahead of TriMet's plans for the use of public funds. Bechtel received exclusive development rights to 120 acres (486,000m2) near the entrance to Portland International Airport. The original MAX line began to be referred to as the MAX Blue Line upon the opening of the Red Line. Bus sector symbols began to be phased out from maps and publications.
2002 With the September schedule change, Tri-Met launches a new corporate identity strategy. It is renamed TriMet (without a hyphen) and a new logo and blue, white and yellow livery are introduced.[9] An improved automated phone service is introduced.
2004 Interstate MAX (the Yellow Line) opens along Interstate Avenue. The fleet has grown to 638 buses, 208 paratransit vehicles, and 105 trains with a daily ridership of over 300,000.
2005 TriMet introduces biodiesel fuel into its fleet, using a B5 blend (5 percent pure biodiesel, 95 percent petroleum diesel), initially on LIFT (paratransit) minibuses only. Use of B5 biodiesel was expanded to the entire bus fleet in late 2006.[54]
2007 The Portland Mall, on 5th and 6th Avenues, is shut down for rebuilding and southward extension (to PSU), including adding a second light-rail alignment through downtown. The rebuilding, to take over 2 years, is part of the MAX Green Line project, but will also replace all infrastructure for buses on the already 29-year-old transit mall.[110] Most bus routes serving downtown are detoured to other streets until 2009.
2009 The 14.7-mile (23.7km)WES Commuter Rail opens on February 2. WES (Westside Express Service) provides service between Beaverton and Wilsonville with stations in Tigard and Tualatin in between.[5]
2009 In May, the Portland Mall reopens for buses, and testing and training runs for the new Mall MAX tracks begin, for opening August 30.[111]
2009 Due to the national recession's effect on the agency's finances, the board approves a series of service reductions, to take effect in September.[112] The board votes on August 12 to discontinue Fareless Square for bus service beginning in January 2010, while retaining fare-free rides in the downtown area on MAX and the Portland Streetcar.[113]
2009 On August 30, MAX service on the transit mall is introduced, with the shifting of the Yellow Line to the new alignment.[114] September 12 brings the opening of the Green Line, also using the new transit-mall tracks, running from downtown (PSU) to Clackamas Town Center.[115] It is TriMet's first light rail line serving Clackamas County.[116]
2012 TriMet purchases 55 new Gillig diesel buses to begin replacing buses dating back to 1990. The last four of the new buses are hybrid-electrics estimated to be 20-50% more fuel-efficient[52] and produce 95% fewer emissions; they replaced hybrid buses that were in service since 2002.[50]
2012 TriMet discontinues "Free Rail Zone" (formerly known as the "Fareless Square") in Downtown Portland and ends use of three-zone, distance-based fare system.[117] Until this time, the TriMet district was divided into three fare zones, with fares based on the number of zones in which a passenger traveled.[118]
2018 After 32 years without any all-night transit service, TriMet extends service hours on lines 20-Burnside/Stark and 57-TV Highway to run 24 hours a day. The agency also establishes Line 272-PDX Night Bus to provide early-morning service between NE 82nd Avenue and the Portland International Airport.[120]
2019 TriMet introduces a new paint scheme,[63] the first such change since 2002.
TriMet works with local jurisdictions and agencies to identify and recommend priority transit projects to include in Metro's Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The 2018 RTP is Metro's latest iteration, and it lists three funding scenarios that divide the region's proposals into three priority levels. The highest priority projects, which are referred to as "2027 Constrained", are proposals the region expects to have funding for by 2027. The "2040 Constrained" lists projects that fit within the region's planned budget through 2040, while the "2040 Strategic" are projects that may be built if additional funding becomes available. TriMet also has a page on their website discussing the future plans for their rail and bus lines.
Extends MAX southwest from PSU in downtown Portland to Bridgeport Village in Tualatin via Southwest Portland and Tigard.[128] It would be served by the Green Line.[129]:191 Voters rejected Measure 26-218, a tax ballot measure that would have funded the local-area share of the project, on November 3, 2020.[130][131]
To best meet the needs of people in TriMet’s service district, the Revised Service Concept would bring bus service to 50,000 more people, weekend service to 100,000 more and significant increases to frequent buses service to connect people and jobs. Additionally, it would discontinue some lines due to low ridership.[136]
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Other proposals
TriMet has indicated that other extensions and improvements have been studied or discussed with Metro and cities in the region.[137]:17[138] These proposals include the following, with light rail and alternatives being considered:
Extension to Forest Grove via Cornelius and Tualatin Valley Highway (OR 8)
Extension to Oregon City via McLoughlin Boulevard (OR 99E)
TriMet buses and commuter rail also serve Wilsonville, Oregon, which is outside the TriMet district, in order to provide connections to transit services operated by SMART in that city.
A state law that went into effect on October 1, 1987, enabled communities with a population of less than 10,000 to petition to leave the TriMet district. A petition, which needed to be signed by at least 15percent of registered voters in the affected area, must demonstrate that a community is not receiving adequate service and that TriMet's payroll tax is adversely affecting business activity for the withdrawal from the transit district to be approved.[139] The first three areas to make use of the law and withdraw from the TriMet district, effective January 1, 1989, were Damascus, Molalla, and Wilsonville.[140] The Boring area was removed from the TriMet District on January 1, 2013.[141]
Safety
TriMet employs a transit police division to patrol its services. Officers in this division normally serve with local law enforcement agencies and are assigned terms with the transit police; this partnership with local police enables the closest available unit to respond to incidents. TriMet also partners with the Transportation Security Administration, which provides a canine unit to detect explosives and deter acts of terrorism. Riders are encouraged to alert TriMet employees using on-board intercoms or to dial 9-1-1 when witnessing crime or suspicious activity.[142] TriMet operates over 4,000 security cameras. All TriMet vehicles became fully equipped with cameras in 2014.[143]
In the aftermath of the 2020 George Floyd protests, TriMet reallocated $1.8million in police contracts and established a transit public safety committee to reevaluate safety and security.[144] In June 2020, an audit by Portland's Independent Police Review concluded that accountability for the transit police, which the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) oversaw, "fell short of the community's expectations". According to the audit, PPB's management "led to some adverse outcomes with community members when they have a negative encounter with a transit officer and learn that accountability is elusive."[145] The following March, TriMet reassigned control of the transit police to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. In fall 2021, TriMet deployed a Safety Response Team on MAX. The 24-member team is unarmed and aims to "connect riders in need with social services, reduce 911 calls for non-emergencies, and provide emergency supplies to those who need them."[146]
Criticism and controversies
Operator fatigue
An investigation by The Oregonian in 2013 led to the revelation that some TriMet drivers were working as many as 22 hours in a 24-hour period. There have also been 22 reported cases of drivers falling asleep at the wheel.[147][148][149] In response, the agency adopted a new policy restricting the number of hours a driver is permitted to work within a 24-hour period.[150]
Failure rate of MAX ticket vending machines
A broken TriMet ticket machine at the Beaverton Transit Center WES platform, old design
An investigation by several local Portland news outlets found that several of the MAX Light Rail ticket machines have extremely high failure rates. Many riders have claimed that they have received a fare evasion citation after boarding the MAX train without a fare after they have attempted to pay for a ticket. The official statement from TriMet is to ride to the next MAX station, de-board the train, pay for a ticket there, and wait for the next train. That response has been deemed unacceptable both by riders and bus/rail operators. TriMet has begun replacing all of its older machines with newer machines and cites a 50% drop in complaints.[151]
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.
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.
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 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. The TriMet board decided in June 2012 to discontinue the Free Rail Zone 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 which also included service reductions and fare increases. The Free Rail Zone ended on August 31, 2012.
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/Northeast 99th Avenue 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 10,310 passengers per weekday in September 2021, the second-busiest after the Blue Line.
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.
Rockwood/East 188th Avenue is a MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon. It serves the Blue Line and is the 21st stop eastbound on the eastside MAX branch. The station is at the intersection of Southeast 188th Avenue and Burnside Street, within the Rockwood neighborhood. This station is a hub for bus service to Gateway Transit Center and Gresham Transit Center.
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.
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.
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.
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, downtown Portland, and Beaverton. The station is located at the ground floor of the airport's main passenger terminal near the southern end of the arrivals hall and baggage claim area.
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 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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
The Rose City Transit Company was a private company that operated most mass transit service in the city of Portland, Oregon, from 1956 to 1969. It operated only within the city proper. Transit services connecting downtown Portland with suburbs outside the city but within the Portland metropolitan area were run by other private companies, mainly a consortium of four companies known collectively as the "Blue Bus" lines.
↑ "Tri-Met Takes Bus Control; Strike Averted" (December 1, 1969). The Oregonian, p. 1.
↑ "Federman, Stan (September 2, 1970). "Tri-Met Action Averts Strike Of Bus Drivers; Agency To Assume Operation Of Four Suburban Blue Lines". The Oregonian, p. 1.
↑ "Tri-Met To Get Blue Buses Sunday; New Suburban Runs To Start Tuesday" (September 5, 1970). The Oregonian, Section 1, p. 15.
1 2 "Tri-Met Takes Over Operation Of Blue Buses, Finds Rolling Stock In Bad Condition" (September 9, 1970). The Oregonian, p. 9.
↑ "Tri-Met Purchases 75 New Buses". The Oregonian. October 6, 1970. Section 1, p. 10.
↑ "Schedules & Routes". Columbia County Rider. 2014. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ Federman, Stan (January 18, 1988). "Pathway to altar for Tri-Met, Metro filled with financial, legal potholes". The Oregonian.
↑ McKinney, Kevin (February 2023). "Rush Hour [transit news section]". Passenger Train Journal. Vol.47, no.1 – First quarter 2023. White River Productions, Inc. p.69. ISSN0160-6913.
1 2 3 "Meet the New MAX". trimet.org. December 2022. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ "'Roomy, good-looking' light-rail cars please Tri-Met official". The Sunday Oregonian. November 27, 1983. p.B5.
1 2 Colby, Richard (January 12, 1975). "Tri-Met eliminates fare zones, offers free rides downtown". The Sunday Oregonian, p. A38.
1 2 Hortsch, Dan (August 27, 1978). "Tri-Met riders will start paying higher fares on Sept. 3". The Sunday Oregonian, p. B7.
↑ "Mall makes it". (December 12, 1977). The Oregonian, p. A1.
↑ "Mall enters future – and it works!" (March 19, 1978). The Sunday Oregonian, p. M11. Excerpt: "Although the Portland Mall has [now] been officially dedicated, it has been in full operation since December."
↑ Federman, Stan (January 24, 1982). "Introduction of articulated buses kicks off Tri-Met expansion". The Oregonian, p. B1.
↑ Federman, Stan (March 4, 1984). "No wonder the sour look: Tri-Met bendable buses 'lemons'". The Sunday Oregonian, p. 1.
↑ Federman, Stan (November 5, 1985). "Tri-Met sues over articulated bus defects". The Oregonian.
↑ Federman, Stan (August 29, 1982). "All eyes will be on Tri-Met's new self-service plan". The Sunday Oregonian, p. C2.
↑ Federman, Stan (June 16, 1984). "Inspectors bid goodbye to Tri-Met test". The Oregonian, p. C5.
↑ "$1.7 million grant awarded Tri-Met [for two-way radios]". The Oregonian, May 20, 1980, p. B3.
↑ Federman, Stan (May 23, 1986). "Tri-Met plans to lay off 81, cut bus lines". The Oregonian, p. A1.
1 2 Hayakawa, Alan R. (July 1, 1986). "Tri-Met approves $71.9 million budget". The Oregonian, p.B1.
↑ "Transit professionals single out Tri-Met" (September 27, 1989). The Oregonian.
↑ Oliver, Gordon (August 18, 1996). "Tri-Met adopts global technology to track bus fleet". The Oregonian, p. D1.
↑ O'Keefe, Mark (September 1, 1997). "New MAX cars smooth the way for wheelchairs". The Oregonian, p. B12.
↑ "Easy-access buses hit the streets in Portland" (December 15, 1997). The Oregonian.
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