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Oregon government-owned corporation responsible for public transit in the Portland area From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 208,900 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
 | Parts of this article (those related to documentation) need to be updated. (September 2018) |
| TriMet | |
|---|---|
 | |
.jpg) .jpg) .JPG) .jpg) TriMet's major forms of service, clockwise from top left: bus, Frequent Express bus, MAX Light Rail, and WES Commuter Rail. | |
| Overview | |
| Locale | Portland metropolitan area, Oregon |
| Transit type | |
| Number of lines |
|
| Number of stations | |
| Daily ridership | 208,900 (weekdays, Q2 2024)[3] |
| Annual ridership | 62,055,600 (2023)[4] |
| Website | trimet.org  |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | December 1, 1969[5] |
| Number of vehicles | |
| Technical | |
| System length | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
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 5 a.m. and 2 a.m. TriMet's annual budget for FY 2018 is $525.8 million, 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]
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 (1,380 km2).[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]
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]
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]
TriMet also links to various local shuttle services operated by the following: Ride Connection, which serves Banks, Gaston, King City and North Plains; the Swan Island Transportation Management Association; the Tualatin Transportation Management Association; Intel; Nike; and Oregon Health & Science University, including the Portland Aerial Tram.
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]
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]
TriMet trains operate using reporting mark TMTC.
TriMet's rail lines include:
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.
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]
On September 18, 2022, TriMet started its FX (Frequent Express) service, a limited-stop bus route with some bus rapid transit features. FX replaced the 2-Division, the sixth busiest bus route in the system, and features articulated buses, all-door boarding, transit signal priority, bus lanes and frequent service (12-minute headways all day).[32]
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 $30 million,[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]
.jpg)
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 (18.3 m) 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 (12.2 m) 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:
| Make | Model | Year built | Length | Fleet Numbers | Qty. | Fuel Type | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillig | Low Floor BRT | 2012 | 40' | 3052–3055 | 4 | Diesel-electric hybrid | .jpg) |
| 2015 | 3056–3059 | 4 | |||||
| 2012 | 3001–3051 | 51 | Biodiesel | .jpg) | |||
| 2013 | 3101–3170 | 70 | |||||
| 2014 | 3201–3260 | 60[60] | |||||
| 2014 | 3301–3330 | 30[61] | |||||
| 2015 | 3261–3268 | 8 | |||||
| 2015 | 3501–3577 | 77[72] | |||||
| 2016 | 3601–3650 | 50 | |||||
| 2017 | 3701–3757 | 57 | |||||
| 2015 | 30' | 3401–3422 | 22[62] |  | |||
| 2018 | 40' | 3901–3964 | 64 | | |||
| 2019 | 4001–4071 | 71 | |||||
| 2020 | 4201–4239 | 39 | |||||
| Low Floor Plus | 2021 | 40' | 4301–4305 | 5 | Battery electric |  | |
| 2024 | 4401–4424 | 24 | |||||
| New Flyer | D40LFR | 2008 | 40' | 2901–2940 | 40 | Biodiesel |  |
| Xcelsior CHARGE | 2018 | 40' | 3801–3805 | 5 | Battery electric | | |
| Nova Bus | LFSA | 2022 | 62' | 4501–4531 | 31 | Biodiesel | _bus.jpg) |
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]
| Image | Designation | Car numbers | Manufacturer | Model | First used | No. of seats/overall capacity[a] | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Type 1 | 101–126 | Bombardier | N/A | 1986 | 76/166[79] | 26 |
 | Type 2 | 201–252 | Siemens | SD660 | 1997 | 64/166 | 52 |
.jpg) | Type 3 | 301–327 | SD660 | 2003 | 64/166 | 27 | |
_(mulDA0008a).jpg) | Type 4 | 401–422 | S70 | 2009 | 68/172[80] | 22 | |
 | Type 5 | 521–538 | S700[b] | 2015 | 72/186[82] | 18 | |
 | Type 6 | 601–630 | S700 | 2024 (expected) | 66/168[78] | 30[83] |
Notes on capacities:
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 Budd RDC diesel multiple-unit railcars, of which two have entered service and are used as a backup.
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]
 |
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.
| Project | Transportation Mode | Status | Description | New
stations |
Length | Planned
opening |
Projected
Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (mi) | (km) | |||||||
| Southwest Corridor[126] | MAX | Suspended[127] | 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] | 13 | 11 | 18 | 2027 | $2.6-2.8 billion[132] |
| Downtown Tunnel[133] | MAX | Proposed | Constructs a tunnel beneath downtown Portland from Goose Hollow to the Lloyd Center.[133]: 7 [134][135] | — | — | — | — | $3–4.5 billion[133]: 7 |
| Forward Together[136] | Bus | In-Progress | 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] | — | — | — | — | — |
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:
The following cities and unincorporated communities (*) are in the TriMet service area:
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 15 percent 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]
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 $1.8 million 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]
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]
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]
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