TriMet
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TriMet, more formally the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. TriMet provides the region's bus system, the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light rail system, as well as LIFT paratransit service required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. As of April 2004, the system averages over 300,000 rides per weekday [link].
General information
TriMet serves portions of the counties of Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas; the district extends from Troutdale to Forest Grove east to west, and from Sauvie Island to Oregon City and Estacada north to south.
TriMet was founded in 1969 after disputes between the city and Rose City Transit, the company that previously operated the bus system [link]. It is "a municipal corporation of the State of Oregon", with powers to tax, issue bonds, and enact police ordinances. TriMet is governed by a board of directors appointed by the governor of Oregon [link].
The TriMet district is divided into three fare zones, with fares based on the number of zones in which a passenger travels [link]. Zone 1 consists of the Portland city center and surrounding area. Zone 2 is a ring around Zone 1 and includes approximately the rest of the city. Zone 3 wraps around Zone 2 and consists of rest of the system within the suburbs of Portland. Within Zone 1 is Fareless Square, an area in and around downtown Portland within which all rides on the TriMet system are free.
TriMet tickets and passes are also valid on the Portland Streetcar, which is run by the City of Portland.
In 2004, TriMet operated a total of 638 buses on 93 lines, 105 MAX light rail cars on three lines, 6 special shuttles and 208 LIFT paratransit vehicles. MAX and 16 of the bus lines run every 15 minutes or better, all day, every day [link]. TriMet also has a variety of shuttle and special event services.
TriMet connects to several other mass transit systems [link]:
- C-TRAN, which provides service to Vancouver, Washington and surrounding Clark County;
- four systems providing service to cities which left TriMet: Canby Area Transit (for Canby), Sandy Area Metro (for Sandy), South Metro Area Rapid Transit (for Wilsonville) and South Clackamas Transportation District (for Molalla);
- work site shuttles such as Clackamas Link Shuttle (serving Clackamas Town Center), Swan Island Evening Shuttle, and Tualatin TMA Shuttle (for Tualatin's western industrial area);
- two systems providing service to outlying counties: the Tillamook County Transportation District, and Yamhill County Transportation; and
- several shuttles providing specialized services.
TriMet rail lines
TriMet runs MAX, or Metropolitan Area Express, rail service and has a commuter rail line under development.
- MAX Blue Line: Hillsboro/City Center/Gresham
- MAX Red Line: Beaverton/City Center/Airport
- MAX Yellow Line: City Center/Expo Center
- MAX Green Line: Final development stage, Portland State University/Clackamas Town Center
- MAX Orange Line: Design stage, City Center/Milwaukie
- Washington County Commuter Rail: Final development stage, Beaverton/Wilsonville
Timeline
The following timeline is taken from TriMet's November/December 2004 newsletter, the Rider Insider:- 1969 TriMet takes over for the nearly bankrupt Rose City Transit. The system has 175 buses and a daily ridership of about 65,000.
- 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 attract more riders. Fares outside the Square are 35 cents.
- 1976 Bus drivers are allowed to grow facial hair.
- 1978 The 22 block Portland Transit Mall opens on downtown's Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The mall includes bus-only lanes and provides a hub to make it easier for riders to make connections. As of 2005, there are plans to put light rail tracks on the Transit Mall, which are scheduled to open in September 2009.
- 1981 TriMet introduces articulated buses for the first time. 24-hour recorded schedule information becomes available over the phone.
- 1986 The 15 mile (24 km) long MAX Blue Line between Portland and Gresham opens. It re-introduces passenger rail service, missing since the 1950s.
- 1989 TriMet is named "America's Best Transit Agency" by the American Public Transportation Association.
- 1995 TriMet's website goes online.
- 1997 The first low floor bus goes into service.
- 1998 Westside MAX (the Blue line between Portland and Hillsboro) opens. TriMet also establishes "Frequent Service" bus lines: they come every 15 minutes or sooner, eliminating the need to consult a schedule when using them.
- 2001 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 got development rights to 120 acres (486,000 m²) near the entrance to Portland International Airport; as of December 2004, the development has not yet happened, delayed at least in part by an economic slowdown exacerbated by terrorist attacks which occurred the day after the line opened.
- 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.
Criticisms
- TriMet does not operate night owl buses or trains; all bus lines discontinue around 2 AM, and start up again around 5 AM. Owl service was cancelled in 1986.
- MAX light rail operates on the honor system, leading to fare evasions and other problems. Instead, TriMet has fare inspectors. There has been very little push to upgrade to a "SmarTrip" card, like Chicago, Washington, D.C., and a handful of other systems.
- The bus mall, served by most TriMet bus lines, can dramatically slow trips across town by requiring a detour through downtown. Buses stop at every other block in the mall (until mall redevelopment scheduled for January 2007).
- TriMet continues to prefer diesel buses over expanding its hybrid bus fleet of two, even though it was one of the first transit authorities to receive hybrid buses.
- There has been criticism as to whether or not TriMet should bring back 60-foot articulated buses into service. Previous buses, made by Ikarus Bus, were removed from service due to an array of problems and were rendered useless upon the "Westside" Blue Line extension. TriMet has no plans to purchase 60-foot buses as of May 2006, and some citizens believe they are needed to relieve congestion.
- Some also believe that TriMet should be investing more in express buses, sometimes additionally, and sometimes as opposed to light rail. A point in favor of this is that in areas where express buses were replaced by light rail the bus trips were equal to if not quicker than the replacement rail service.
Cities served by TriMet
- Beaverton (see also Tualatin TMA)
- Clackamas
- Cornelius
- Durham
- Estacada (see also Sandy Area Metro)
- Forest Grove
- Fairview
- Gladstone
- Gresham (see also Sandy Area Metro)
- Hillsboro
- Happy Valley
- Johnson City
- King City
- Lake Oswego
- Milwaukie
- Maywood Park
- Oregon City
- Portland (see also Portland Streetcar, Portland Vintage Trolley, Tillamook County Transit District, Tualatin TMA, Willamette Shore Trolley, C-TRAN).
- Rivergrove
- Sandy (see also Sandy Area Metro).
- Sherwood
- Tigard
- Troutdale
- Tualatin (See also Tualatin TMA).
- Vancouver, WA (Service to/from Portland only, see also: C-Tran)
- West Linn
- Wilsonville (Northern edge only, see also: SMART)
- Wood Village
External links
- [Official website]
- [2003 Transit profile] a PDF from the National Transit Database
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