Portland Transit | TriMet/Mass Transit News

[PlantDad]

Originally Posted by dizflip

TriMet has got to step up its security and marketing campaign. I've seen staff ride the train more often than not lately but that's obviously not enough. The crime train perception is strong here, unfortunately. And now you have the funding deficit that will make service even less reliable...

It's a damn shame how much momentum this region had for light rail 20 years ago, only to completely f*ck it all up.

I ride transit just about every day and the safety and security onboard trains and buses is MUCH improved over the worst days in 2022-2024. I'm not sure how TriMet can increase security any more than they already do and change public perception. They have about 5x the safety and security staffing as they did pre-pandemic. I see handfuls of safety and security staff everyday I use the system and now you can text TriMet security without using the push button and draw attention to yourself. I saw someone this morning that had a potential weapon on board and was damaging TriMet property with it. I sent a text message and two stops later, security took the man off the train. The problem is, there are probably dozens, maybe even hundreds, of similar demented individuals that are literally roaming around in between drug episodes with varying degrees of sanity and one moment away from causing harm to someone else. What happens to that guy after he's taken off the train and who's to stop him from boarding another train or bus at a different stop? This is the same issue keeping people away from downtown Portland.

The criminal justice system is failing with a lack of public defenders, so the jails won't keep anyone behind bars after they are booked. Until that's fixed, the security situation on our streets and on public transit, or at least the perception, will remain the same.

[aquaticko]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

It’s also convenience. From my place in NE pdx it’s a 50 min trimet ride with 1 transfer (not including waiting up to 15 mins for red line due to headways). Or a 20 min uber ride, currently showing as only $23. Absolute no brainer, esp when considering more than 1 passenger ($11 for 2 passengers on max). Uber saves my family (4 people) 2 man-hours of time to get to pdx. That’s pretty crazy for a one way ride and less than 10 miles traveled.

You're complaining about waiting for the MAX to come? That's like waiting outside for your Uber to arrive and complaining the whole time; you go to the station when you'll be in time for the train, not just after one left. Can't tell if that's an honest argument or you're just being obtuse for the sake of it.

It's also--still--a lot more expensive. Say you're a cliche nuclear family of four: two kids, two adults. 2 adults, 5.60 per round trip=11.40; 2 kids, 2.80 per round trip=5.60; total fare for a family of four round trip=$17. So, you're paying almost triple the price for an Uber roundtrip, to save you an hour in total, assuming you don't hit traffic anywhere (and no one hits you while you're riding in the car? Car travel is, after all, much more dangerous than transit)? On days when, if you're flying, you probably don't have much else planned?

Sorry, that doesn't exactly say "screaming deal" to me.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by aquaticko

You're complaining about waiting for the MAX to come? That's like waiting outside for your Uber to arrive and complaining the whole time; you go to the station when you'll be in time for the train, not just after one left. Can't tell if that's an honest argument or you're just being obtuse for the sake of it.

It's also--still--a lot more expensive. Say you're a cliche nuclear family of four: two kids, two adults. 2 adults, 5.60 per round trip=11.40; 2 kids, 2.80 per round trip=5.60; total fare for a family of four round trip=$17. So, you're paying almost triple the price for an Uber roundtrip, to save you an hour in total, assuming you don't hit traffic anywhere (and no one hits you while you're riding in the car? Car travel is, after all, much more dangerous than transit)? On days when, if you're flying, you probably don't have much else planned?

Sorry, that doesn't exactly say "screaming deal" to me.

Who waits outside for their uber to come, you literally know where they are en route and are pulling up? Lucky I live in NE, so traffic is literally never an issue for us NE folks. No highways involved and myriad routes to take. Waiting in my house or waiting at a bus stop for 15 minutes are not remotely the same thing.

I just looked this AM. It’s 1 hour via transit, 20 minutes to drive. 2.6 man hours (!!!) for my family. With kids and luggage, that $20 (current price) is so worth it for the majority of folks. The price of a single bowl of ramen and it makes my life significantly easier.

Transit is better for when you are near a station and don’t need to transfer. Especially true with luggage and kids. If I was in a downtown hotel? Sure, I’d check the train time.

I guess we just value our time differently.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Who waits outside for their uber to come, you literally know where they are en route and are pulling up? Lucky I live in NE, so traffic is literally never an issue for us NE folks. No highways involved and myriad routes to take. Waiting in my house or waiting at a bus stop for 15 minutes are not remotely the same thing.

I just looked this AM. It’s 1 hour via transit, 20 minutes to drive. 2.6 man hours (!!!) for my family. With kids and luggage, that $20 (current price) is so worth it for the majority of folks. The price of a single bowl of ramen and it makes my life significantly easier.

Transit is better for when you are near a station and don’t need to transfer. Especially true with luggage and kids. If I was in a downtown hotel? Sure, I’d check the train time.

I guess we just value our time differently.

The better question for this would have been, how long does it take for an Uber driver to show up when you order one on the app typically? That time frame is the "wait time" for Uber that is similar to waiting for a train to show up. Though as it was pointed out, typically people know the schedule and can plan accordingly when to head out to catch a train in time which helps reduce the wait time at the station.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

The better question for this would have been, how long does it take for an Uber driver to show up when you order one on the app typically? That time frame is the "wait time" for Uber that is similar to waiting for a train to show up. Though as it was pointed out, typically people know the schedule and can plan accordingly when to head out to catch a train in time which helps reduce the wait time at the station.

It depends really on time, weather etc. I call an uber, then do wrap up tasks before I leave. Things I would need to do regardless of mode of transport.

Ultimately I’m really just trying to say that I disagree with the idea people are foolish for choosing to spend more than $5 to get anywhere, when trimet is set up as a commuting system and is fairly inconvenient for most people for most trips. Save those that can’t afford a car, or those that choose transport mode based on ideology.

[dizflip]

Just to throw in another anecdote, this is why I no longer rely on TriMet to get to the airport.

The ride from the westside already takes forever. I had a 7:00 am flight to catch, and the one time I decided to take the very first Red Line train of the day, someone caused an incident at Sunset TC that halted the train because police got involved. Had to take uber.

Going back home, took the Red Line again only to be in a car with some kids who got on at Parkrose and made the ride uncomfortable for everyone else.

This was obviously a string of misfortune, and don't get me wrong, I love that we have the MAX, just wish TriMet ran it better. And by better, I mean more reliably and with stricter rules regarding etiquette.

I'm okay riding it myself, but if say, my mom flew into PDX, I would be way more at ease picking her up myself than to have her get on the train.

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

This is an interesting stat that surprised me. I thought more riders would be avoiding transit and moving to convenient ride shares, therefore leading to the stagnant trimet number we see.

But with stagnant trimet numbers (Nov 2025 was exactly the same ridership as Nov 2023, and remains 50% below the 2018 peak), this makes me wonder, are people even leaving their houses? Or does everyone just drive everywhere now?

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025...ding-uber-and-lyft-or-calling-taxis.html

I have more than a few friends who not only work from home, shop online, and home school their kids or drive them to private schools.

The vast majority of my friends and family no longer take Trimet either - it either doesn't work for them or they view it as unsafe.

[truebaru]

I think it's worth mentioning that we're on the brink of a recession, so Uber and Lift numbers going down along with Trimet could both be consistent with broadly less economic activity.

Also worth mentioning that things are getting so bad budget wise that Trimet is proposing to cut the Green Line to only run Gateway to Clackamas TC, plus cutting or reconfiguring may bus routes: https://trimet.org/servicecuts/

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

I have more than a few friends who not only work from home, shop online, and home school their kids or drive them to private schools.

The vast majority of my friends and family no longer take Trimet either - it either doesn't work for them or they view it as unsafe.

Unfortunately, I am one of those you know that it no longer works for. My wife and I basically work 5-10 minutes from where we live and it is easier to just drive to get there and to any of the stuff we need to do.

We have been enjoying all the new things that have been going on in downtown Milwaukie, which is something we can easily walk to, which comes in handy during events.

The problem with the current transit system, especially light rail is it is very downtown focused. Probably another reason to boost the density of downtown with more housing so that it makes the MAX more useful for those living downtown rather than those living in the surrounding neighborhoods and suburbs.

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Unfortunately, I am one of those you know that it no longer works for. My wife and I basically work 5-10 minutes from where we live and it is easier to just drive to get there and to any of the stuff we need to do.

We have been enjoying all the new things that have been going on in downtown Milwaukie, which is something we can easily walk to, which comes in handy during events.

The problem with the current transit system, especially light rail is it is very downtown focused. Probably another reason to boost the density of downtown with more housing so that it makes the MAX more useful for those living downtown rather than those living in the surrounding neighborhoods and suburbs.

Transit seems to be doing a bit better in other communities without massive restructuring. San Diego's transit is nearly back to pre-pandemic ridership. Until things improve on our city streets, I doubt we can expect any uptick in transit ridership moving forward. Some of the city councilors have suggested using PCEF funding to subsidize transit. I would argue that they need to focus on policing and enforcing public order before they think that subsidizing transit will lead to more people making the choice to take a bus or train.

“We’ve recovered more than 95% of our pre-pandemic ridership, which speaks volumes about the trust our riders place in MTS and the value of public transit in San Diego,” said Sharon Cooney, MTS Chief Executive Officer. “This milestone shows just how far we’ve come since the pandemic’s lowest point, and we’ll continue building on that momentum to reach even more riders in the years ahead.”

https://www.sdmts.com/inside-mts/media-center/news-releases/mts-ridership-continues-growth-streak

[mhays]

To be fair, Portland has much better transit ridership than San Diego. The Census Dept's 2024 ACS found that 3.4% of metro Portland's commuters used transit while only 1.9% of metro SD's did.

Quarterly APTA numbers show the two being pretty close, but those are apples vs. oranges. They count all trips (not just commutes) but the counting methods can be wildly different, like fares vs. motion detectors vs. rough estimates vs. who knows what.

The biggest reason for the slower recovery? My guess: In Portland transit is often used by white-collar workers, many of whom now work at home. In SD white collar workers generally don't ride transit.

SD beat Portland in walking commutes per the ACS (it's surprisingly dense) but Portland was way ahead in biking.

[dizflip]

If ever TriMet gets the budget to pursue MAX expansion projects again, they should focus on connecting Portland neighborhoods instead of the suburbs (pipe dream).

[Paige Palmer]

Structural Limitations
The project relies on self-propelled diesel cars (built by Colorado Railcar) running on existing freight tracks. While this kept initial costs lower than building new light rail tracks, it created several drawbacks:

Limited Frequency: Only rush-hour service (every 30 mins).

Interlining: Sharing tracks with Portland & Western freight limits speed and future expansion.

The "Last Mile" Problem: Most riders from Wilsonville are likely heading to Downtown Portland, meaning they must transfer to the MAX at Beaverton, adding another 20–25 minutes to their total commute.

[babs]

Originally Posted by dizflip

If ever TriMet gets the budget to pursue MAX expansion projects again, they should focus on connecting Portland neighborhoods instead of the suburbs (pipe dream).

That's what the streetcar does. Smaller and easier to move around neighborhoods.

[RedGlovesRule99]

Originally Posted by babs

That's what the streetcar does. Smaller and easier to move around neighborhoods.

The streetcars are not a suitable replacement for proper rail service. In fact I'd say the MAX isn't even the level of service we should be aiming for. The streetcars in Portland are often slower that bus service while costing far more to operate and with lower operational flexibility. We need grade separated MAX service in the central eastside to allow faster trips to downtown and better transit accessibility in some of our most desirable neighborhoods.

On top of that, we should add frequent regional rail along existing Union Pacific ROW from Union Station to St Johns and Vancouver, with ideally a branch along Columbia Blvd transferring to Yellow and Red MAX lines at Kenton and Parkrose, and an additional stop in Troutdale. The tough part is getting UP to play ball, but that kind of speedy alternative to driving is what would actually get people off I5 and I84 and onto transit.

[Paige Palmer]

1. Reliability Over Top Speed As Chicago3rd pointed out, if you're on Highway 217 at 5:15 PM, your 'top speed' is zero. You aren't just competing with distance; you’re competing with the total unpredictability of I-5 and 217 traffic. A train that takes 35 minutes every single time is more valuable to a commuter than a car that takes 20 minutes on Tuesday but 75 minutes on Thursday.

2. The Freight Factor Since these are freight tracks, the 'Class 3' or 'Class 4' track ratings determine the speed limits. We aren't just 'underengineering' it; TriMet has to work within the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) guidelines for diesel multiple units (DMUs) sharing space with heavy freight. We’re getting a top speed of 60 mph, which is actually faster than the MAX.

3. Comparison to MAX bvpcvm, you mentioned the Banfield LRT. While the MAX has more stops, it also has a lighter weight and faster acceleration/deceleration. Commuter rail cars are heavy—they take longer to get up to that 60 mph and longer to come to a full stop.

This project isn't trying to be a Japanese Bullet Train. It’s designed to provide a 'stress-free' alternative for the thousands of people currently white-knuckling it between Wilsonville and Beaverton. Once the Full Funding Grant Agreement is signed in 2006, the engineering details will be set in stone. For now, focus on the fact that Sen. Smith just saved this project from the FTA’s '11th-hour' rule change!"

[mhays]

For reliability, I'll take a bus on dedicated lanes 100x over a train on shared lanes.