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The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections of Portland; the communities of Beaverton, Clackamas, Gresham, Hillsboro,
Milwaukie Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the c ...
, and Oak Grove; and Portland International Airport to Portland City Center. Service runs seven days a week with
headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...
s of between 30 minutes off-peak and three minutes during
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: o ...
s. In 2019, MAX had an average daily ridership of 120,900, or 38.8 million annually. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, which impacted public transit use globally, annual ridership plummeted, with only 14.8 million riders recorded in 2021. MAX was among the first second-generation American light rail systems to be built, conceived from
freeway revolts Highway revolts (also freeway revolts, expressway revolts, or road protests) are organized protests against the planning or construction of highways, freeways, expressways, and other civil engineering projects that favor vehicles. Many freew ...
that took place in Portland in the early 1970s. Planning for the network's inaugural eastside segment, then referred to as the Banfield Light Rail Project, began in the mid-1970s following a study of mass transit alternatives using funds diverted from the canceled
Mount Hood Freeway The Mount Hood Freeway is a partially constructed but never to be completed freeway alignment of U.S. Route 26 and Interstate 80N (now Interstate 84), which would have run through southeast Portland, Oregon. Related projects would have cont ...
and
Interstate 505 Interstate 505 (I-505) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. It is a spur auxiliary route of I-5 that runs from near Dunnigan south to I-80 in Vacaville. I-505 is primarily a ru ...
(I-505) projects. Construction began in 1982, and service commenced between downtown Portland and Gresham on September 5, 1986. The original 27-station, line has since been expanded to a 94-station, network, with the latest extension completed in 2015. Current plans involve improving Red Line service with new tracks and an extension to by 2024. MAX is one of three
urban rail transit Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, ...
services operating in the Portland metropolitan area, the other two being the Portland Streetcar and WES Commuter Rail. It provides direct connections to these rail services as well as to other modes of public transportation, including local and
intercity buses InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at ma ...
at most stations and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
at
Portland Union Station Portland Union Station is a train station in Portland, Oregon, United States, situated near the western shore of the Willamette River in Old Town Chinatown. It serves as an intermediate stop for Amtrak's '' Cascades'' and ''Coast Starlight'' ro ...
. Trains operate at a maximum of two-car consists due to downtown Portland's short
city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...
s, and vehicles and platforms are fully accessible. Fares are collected through the
Hop Fastpass Hop Fastpass is a contactless smart card for public transit fare payment on most transit modes in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area including MAX Light Rail, WES commuter rail, Portland Streetcar, The Vine, and all TriMet and C-TRAN bus ...
payment system.


History


Predecessors

In the early 20th century, privately funded
interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...
s and
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
s gave the Portland metropolitan area one of the largest urban rail systems in the
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
, with lines that once extended from Forest Grove to Troutdale and
Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...
to Eugene.
Ben Holladay Benjamin Holladay (October 14, 1819 – July 8, 1887) was an American transportation businessman responsible for creating the Overland Stage to California during the height of the 1849 California Gold Rush. Ben Holladay created a stagecoach ...
brought over Portland's first trolleys from
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
in 1872; they were drawn by
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
s and
mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two po ...
s. In 1890, the first electric streetcar opened in Albina while the first cable car began running along 5th Avenue in Portland; these lines marked the start of an era of major streetcar line expansion. In 1892, the East Side Railway Company opened the first long-distance interurban line—a route from Portland to
Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...
. The Portland Railway, Light and Power Company took over all local streetcars by 1906, and interurbans by 1908. In 1912, as Portland's population exceeded 250,000, transit ridership rose to 70 million passengers annually. Passenger rail services had started to decline by the 1920s with the rise of the automobile and
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...
an and
freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
development. Portland's original streetcar lines ceased operating in 1950, replaced by buses until 2001, when the modern Portland Streetcar began running. Meanwhile, the region's last two interurban lines, which went to Oregon City and Bellrose (Southeast 136th Avenue), permanently closed in 1958.


Early beginnings

At the height of local
freeway revolts Highway revolts (also freeway revolts, expressway revolts, or road protests) are organized protests against the planning or construction of highways, freeways, expressways, and other civil engineering projects that favor vehicles. Many freew ...
in the 1970s, studies for public transit began using funds made available by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973. These funds had been intended for the
Mount Hood Freeway The Mount Hood Freeway is a partially constructed but never to be completed freeway alignment of U.S. Route 26 and Interstate 80N (now Interstate 84), which would have run through southeast Portland, Oregon. Related projects would have cont ...
and I-505 projects, which were abandoned amid strong opposition from the Portland city government and neighborhood associations. In 1973, Governor
Tom McCall Thomas Lawson McCall (March 22, 1913 January 8, 1983) was an American statesman, politician and journalist in the state of Oregon. A Republican, he was the state's thirtieth governor from 1967 to 1975. A native of Massachusetts, McCall grew ...
assembled a task force that helped determine several alternative options, including a busway and light rail. Local jurisdictions originally favored the busway alternative but support for light rail prevailed following the mode's inclusion in a 1977 environmental impact statement. The proposal became known as the Banfield light rail project, named for the
Banfield Freeway Interstate 84 (I-84) in the U.S. state of Oregon is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the state from west to east. It is concurrent with U.S. Route 30 (US 30) for most of its length and runs from an interchange with I-5 in Port ...
, a segment of
I-84 Interstate 84 may refer to: * Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts) Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the Northeaster ...
that part of the alignment followed. TriMet approved the project in September 1978. Construction of the , 27-station line between 11th Avenue in downtown Portland and Cleveland Avenue in Gresham began in March 1982. Inaugural service commenced on September 5, 1986. Less than two months before opening, TriMet adopted the name "Metropolitan Area Express", or "MAX", following an employee contest. As the planning of a light rail line to the west side gained momentum in the mid-1980s, the original MAX line came to be referred to as the Eastside MAX to distinguish it from what would become the Westside MAX extension. Early proposals called for the extension to terminate just west of the BeavertonHillsboro boundary on 185th Avenue in Washington County. A dispute between TriMet and the Urban Mass Transportation Administration over a financing plan suspended the project for several years but planning resumed in 1988 and studies were completed in 1991. Staunch lobbying by local and state officials led by Hillsboro Mayor
Shirley Huffman Shirley Todd Huffman (August 30, 1928 – July 1, 2018) was an American politician and legal secretary in the U.S. state of Oregon. Raised in Dayton, Oregon, she settled in Hillsboro, Oregon, where she served on the city council before serving t ...
forced an extension of the line further west to downtown Hillsboro in 1993. Construction of the 20-station, line began that August with the excavation of the Robertson Tunnel. The Westside MAX opened in two stages following delays in tunneling: the section from 11th Avenue to Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street was opened in 1997 and the section to Hatfield Government Center—the segment's current western terminus—was opened in 1998. The resulting MAX line began operating as a single, through service on September 12, 1998. This service was renamed the Blue Line in 2001 after TriMet adopted color designations for its light rail routes.


South/North plan

At the same time TriMet was planning the Westside MAX in the mid-1980s, Metro regional government announced new light rail proposals for
Clackamas County Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Nati ...
. Its planning committee—the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT)—proposed two separate routes that would have run between downtown Portland and
Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...
via
Milwaukie Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the c ...
and between Portland International Airport and
Clackamas Town Center Clackamas Town Center is a shopping mall established in 1981Sorenson, Donald J. (March 7, 1981). "Clackamas Town Center opens its doors". ''The Oregonian'', p. A19. in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, located on unincorporated land in the ...
via
I-205 Interstate 205 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 5 * Interstate 205 (California), a connector in the San Francisco Bay Area * Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washin ...
. Further planning led JPACT to favor the I-205 corridor due to an existing
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
along the I-205 Transitway, an unfinished mass transit component of the freeway that had been built to accommodate a busway. TriMet, however, prioritized the Westside MAX during its bid for federal matching funds and the I-205 plans were put on hold. In 1989, studies for both I-205 and Milwaukie proposals received funding from the U.S.
Senate Committee on Appropriations The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committe ...
under the condition that they included potential route extensions to
Clark County, Washington Clark County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 503,311, making it Washington's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Vancouver. It was the first c ...
. Metro completed the studies in 1993, ultimately abandoning I-205 in favor of a route along the I-5 and
Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...
corridors. It finalized a single line from Hazel Dell, Washington south to Clackamas Town Center via Milwaukie, which Metro and TriMet formally named the South–North Line. Metro said it adopted the name "South/North" instead of the more conventional "North/South" word order, at the request of representatives in the southern part of the corridor after the southern leg, which had long been planned to be the next-priority MAX corridor after the Westside line, was merged with the northern leg as a single proposed project. In November 1994, 63% of Portland area voters passed a $475million
ballot measure A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption o ...
to fund Oregon's portion of the project. The following February, however, Clark County residents defeated a tax measure that would have funded Washington's share. To move the project forward, TriMet downsized the plan and abandoned the line's Clark County and North Portland segments up to the Rose Quarter. That July, the
Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of th ...
approved a $750million transportation package, which included $375 million for the scaled-back line. The funding was annulled by the
Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The legislature met again in February 1996 and passed a revised $375million package, but light rail opponents forced a statewide vote and defeated it the following November. A third proposal between Lombard Street in North Portland and Clackamas Town Center followed. This time, Metro and TriMet pursued the project without seeking contributions from either Clark County or the state, instead sourcing funds from Clackamas County and Portland. In 1998, TriMet placed a new ballot measure to reaffirm voter support for the $475million originally approved in 1994. The measure failed by 52% in November of that year, effectively canceling the proposed line.


Airport and Interstate lines

Compelled by the rapid expansion of Portland International Airport in the 1990s, the
Port of Portland began exploring ways to alleviate worsening traffic congestion, including the possibility of introducing MAX service, which regional planners had not anticipated for at least another 20 years. In 1997, engineering firm
Bechtel Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the '' Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the se ...
accelerated plans by submitting an unsolicited proposal to design and build an
airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while ...
in exchange for of Port property. A
public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Adminis ...
between the company and local governments was negotiated and construction of the Airport MAX began in June 1999. With no federal assistance requested and right-of-way already secured, it was completed in just under two years. The four-station, line between
Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center The Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center, commonly known as Gateway Transit Center, is a TriMet bus transit center and light rail station on the MAX Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the 14th stop eastbo ...
and Portland International Airport station opened on September 10, 2001. Celebrations scheduled for that weekend were canceled in the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
. Red Line service originally ran between the airport and downtown, turning around at the loop tracks on 11th Avenue. On September 1, 2003, it was extended west along existing tracks to Beaverton Transit Center to relieve overcrowding on the Blue Line and to create a one-seat airport connection for the west side. In 1999, Portland business leaders and residents who were opposed to the cancellation of the South–North Line urged TriMet to revive the project. TriMet responded with a new proposal that would expand MAX solely to North Portland via North Interstate Avenue. The agency moved forward with this plan and the Interstate MAX broke ground in February 2001. To minimize costs to taxpayers, the city created an urban renewal district and federal matching funds were allocated from the Airport MAX and Portland Streetcar projects, since these projects were locally funded. The 10-station, extension from the Rose Quarter to the Expo Center opened on May 1, 2004, with its new service designated the Yellow Line. From 2004 to 2009, the Yellow Line ran from
Expo Center station Expo Center is a light rail station on the MAX Yellow Line in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the last stop northbound on the Interstate MAX extension. This station is a large park-and-ride station located on the grounds of the Portland E ...
in North Portland to 11th Avenue in downtown Portland, following the Blue and Red lines' downtown alignment from the Steel Bridge. On August 30, 2009, it was rerouted to terminate at the
PSU Urban Center stations The PSU Urban Center stations are light rail stations on the MAX Green, Orange and Yellow Lines in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States, located adjacent to the PSU Urban Center, of Portland State University. The northbound platform is th ...
with the addition of light rail to the Portland Transit Mall. In September 2012, this was extended further south to the
PSU South stations PSU South/Southwest 6th and College and PSU South/Southwest 5th and Jackson are a pair of light rail stations on the MAX Green, Orange and Yellow Lines in Portland, Oregon. Together, they serve as the southern passenger terminus—one for dep ...
, which had not been built due to the construction of nearby transit-oriented development. The Yellow Line became interlined with the Orange Line in 2015; it now only operates the northbound segment of the transit mall.


South Corridor extensions

In 2001, Metro revisited its former light rail plans for Clackamas County by reconsidering proposals similar to those of the canceled South–North Line project, with two routes extending to Clackamas and Milwaukie. This resulted in a new study, which Metro referred to as the South Corridor transportation project, that evaluated light rail among other alternatives. The study's task force recommend both light rail options in 2003 and suggested splitting the project into two phases. The first phase planned for the addition of light rail to I-205, between Gateway Transit Center and Clackamas Town Center. In October of that year, the first phase plans were amended to include adding light rail to the Portland Transit Mall following a petition from Portland business leaders. The combined project was approved for federal funding in 2006 and work began in January 2007. Light rail commenced service along the 14-station, Portland Transit Mall on August 30, 2009, first served by the Yellow Line. The opening of the eight-station, I-205 MAX and Green Line service followed on September 12. The South Corridor project's second phase initially proposed the extension of MAX between downtown Portland and Milwaukie via the Hawthorne Bridge. Studies showed that this alignment would cause severe traffic bottlenecks in downtown. As a result, Portland businesses pushed for the construction of a new bridge further upstream that led to the southern end of the Portland Transit Mall. The locally preferred alignment was finalized in mid-2008; a new bridge would carry light rail across the Willamette River from the South Waterfront to just south of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). TriMet designed this bridge, which was eventually inaugurated as Tilikum Crossing, to be "car-free" and to accommodate only transit vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Construction of the line began in June 2011. In September 2012, opponents passed a ballot initiative—with 60% of the vote—requiring all Clackamas County spending on light rail to be approved by voters. Following the county's attempt to end its involvement and a suit filed by TriMet, a circuit court upheld the project's continuation. The 17-station, Portland–Milwaukie segment and Orange Line service opened on September 12, 2015. The Orange Line, operating along the Portland Transit Mall's southbound segment, became the third service to serve this corridor.


Future plans

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.


Current projects

The 2018 RTP lists two MAX-related projects it expects will be funded by 2027; these are the "A Better Red" and Southwest Corridor projects.


Other proposals

TriMet has indicated that other extensions and improvements have been studied or discussed with Metro and cities in the region. These proposals include the following, with light rail and alternatives being considered: * Extension to Forest Grove * Extension to Oregon City via McLoughlin Boulevard (OR 99E) * Extension to Bridgeport Village via I-205 * Extension to Hillsboro via Sunset Highway (US 26) * Extension to Vancouver, Washington


Infrastructure


Lines

For MAX, a "line" refers to the physical railroad tracks and stations a train serves within its designated termini, i.e. a train "route" or "service". MAX consists of five of these lines, each assigned a color. The use of colors to distinguish the separately operated routes was adopted in 2000 and brought into use in 2001 with the start of Red Line service. All five lines traverse downtown Portland. Within downtown, the Blue and Red lines run north–south via First Avenue and east–west via Morrison and Yamhill streets. The Green, Orange, and Yellow lines run north–south via the Portland Transit Mall on 5th and 6th avenues. The Yellow Line, which began service in 2004, originally followed the same route into downtown as the Blue and Red lines. It was realigned to the transit mall in 2009 when light rail service was introduced to that corridor. In 2015, the Orange Line took over the Yellow Line's southbound services on the transit mall. All services except the Orange Line cross the Steel Bridge and serve the Rose Quarter. The Orange Line is the only service that travels across Tilikum Crossing, and the Green Line is the only service that shares parts of its route with all of the other lines.


Segments

The MAX rail network is long; TriMet typically rounds this figure up to . It was built in a series of six projects starting with the Banfield—now Eastside—alignment. A portion of the Eastside MAX between 11th Avenue and Gateway Transit Center is now served by the Blue, Green, and Red lines. A section of the Westside MAX between Beaverton Transit Center and 11th Avenue is served by the Blue and Red lines. The Green, Orange, and Yellow lines share the segment that was built as part of the Portland Transit Mall light rail project. The four remaining segments, all of which are located outside the city center, are operated by one service, often making the service and segment synonymous (e.g. Red Line and Airport MAX).


Alignment

In parts of the MAX network, particularly in downtown Portland and downtown Hillsboro, trains run on surface streets, where they operate in reserved lanes closed to other motorized vehicles. Exceptions include street
intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, thei ...
s, the Portland Transit Mall, Southwest Harbor Viaduct, and Tilikum Crossing, where transit buses and streetcars utilize the same lanes but with MAX assigned traffic priority. Elsewhere, MAX runs within its own exclusive right-of-way; this includes street medians, former railroad lines, alongside freeways and existing freight lines, viaducts, and underground. Where the tracks run within a street median, intersections are controlled by traffic signals that give trains preemption. Where tracks run on a separate right-of-way, trains are protected by automated grade crossing gates when traversing
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
s. Some segments of MAX are elevated to carry trains over busy thoroughfares and difficult terrain. A section of tracks runs beneath Washington Park in Portland's West Hills through the Robertson Tunnel, the system's longest underground segment. MAX crosses the Willamette River using the Steel Bridge and Tilikum Crossing. In studies conducted for the Eastside MAX, planners recommended using the Steel Bridge due to its former role as a river crossing for the city's historic streetcars. When MAX commenced service in 1986, trains shared the bridge's center lanes with vehicular traffic. In 2008, workers closed the bridge's upper deck to construct a junction between the Eastside MAX tracks and the newer Portland Transit Mall tracks. Upon reopening, the two inner lanes became exclusive to MAX trains, while cars, buses, and other motorized traffic were restricted to the two outer lanes. TriMet designed and built the newer Tilikum Crossing to accommodate transit vehicles (MAX, streetcar, and buses), cyclists, and pedestrians only; with the exception of
emergency responders Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal w ...
, private vehicles are prohibited. Tilikum Crossing is thus recognized as the first major "car-free" bridge in the United States.


Power and signaling

MAX is powered by a conventional 750-volt
direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or ev ...
(DC)
overhead wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...
system. Most of the system uses a dual-wire catenary, with a contact wire supported by a
messenger wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipment ...
. In central city areas such as downtown Portland, MAX uses a single contact wire to minimize the amount of overhead wiring. To further minimize its visual impact, ornamental
street light A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
poles, buildings, and bridge structures are used to support overhead wiring in lieu of additional poles. Substations, spaced approximately every apart, convert the high-voltage public supply to the voltage power used by trains. The power system can
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
any one substation so that trains can continue to operate should a substation or its supply go down. Approximately 70 percent of the MAX system uses automatic block signaling (ABS), which allows for relatively fast operating speeds—up to —and short
headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...
s. For example, between Lloyd Center/Northeast 11th Avenue station and Gateway Transit Center along the Banfield Freeway—where Blue, Green, and Red lines interline—ABS can accommodate an operating headway of two minutes. Within these sections,
automatic train stop Automatic train stop or ATS is a system on a train that automatically stops a train if certain situations occur (unresponsive train operator, earthquake, disconnected rail, train running over a stop signal, etc.) to prevent accidents. In some scena ...
s (ATS) enforce speed limits and automatically apply the
brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Backgroun ...
s should a train operator fail to do so. The remaining 30 percent of the system, which runs within city street medians, relies on traffic signals and line-of-sight operation. Speeds do not exceed in these sections.


Stations

The MAX system consists of 94 stations, of which 48 are served by the Blue Line, 30 by the Green Line, 26 by the Red Line, 17 by the Orange Line, and 17 by the Yellow Line. Of these, 32 stations are served by at least two lines and eight stations are served by three lines. The system's central stations, where all MAX services interconnect, are situated within two
city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...
s in downtown Portland occupied by the
Pioneer Courthouse The Pioneer Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built beginning in 1869, the structure is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. Along with P ...
and Pioneer Courthouse Square. They are the Pioneer Courthouse and Pioneer Place stations—served by the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines—and the Pioneer Square stations—served by the Blue and Red lines. MAX stations vary in size but are generally simple and austere. Platforms are about long as a result of Portland's short city blocks in downtown, which restrict trains to two-car consists. Like other North American light rail systems, MAX stations do not have faregates; paid fare zones are delineated but remain accessible to anyone. In 2015, TriMet proposed installing turnstiles at some stations along the Portland–Milwaukie segment but never did so. Stations are typically equipped with trash cans, shelters, and ticket vending machines. Most stations have arrival information displays that show when trains arrive and other service information. These displays were first installed at I-205 and Portland Transit Mall stations, and a federal grant in 2013 enabled TriMet to add more at other locations. Concessionaires sometimes open coffee shops at certain stations. A majority of MAX stations are at street level, correlating to the system's predominant alignment. Sunset Transit Center, , and stations along the Banfield Freeway are below street level. One station, , is elevated. Washington Park is the system's only underground station and holds the distinction as North America's deepest transit station at below ground. Many MAX stations facilitate transfers to other modes of public transit. 11 stations are transit centers with connections to multiple local and
intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
bus routes. Beaverton Transit Center is the only MAX-served transit center with a transfer to the region's commuter rail line, WES Commuter Rail, which operates between Beaverton and Wilsonville in Washington County. Within the Portland Transit Mall, trains connect with buses serving downtown Portland; bus stops take up transit mall blocks unoccupied by light rail platforms. MAX riders can transfer to the Portland Streetcar at points where MAX and streetcar lines intersect and to
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
via two stations near
Portland Union Station Portland Union Station is a train station in Portland, Oregon, United States, situated near the western shore of the Willamette River in Old Town Chinatown. It serves as an intermediate stop for Amtrak's '' Cascades'' and ''Coast Starlight'' ro ...
. The Red Line operates as an
airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while ...
with a stop at a MAX station attached to the main passenger terminal of Portland International Airport. TriMet has built a total of six infill stations. Four were built on the original Eastside MAX alignment— Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue (1990), Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue (1990),
Convention Center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...
(1990), and (2010)—while two were built on the Portland Transit Mall—PSU South/Southwest 6th and College (2012) and PSU South/Southwest 5th and Jackson (2012). On March 1, 2020, TriMet permanently closed the Mall infill stations in an effort to speed up travel times in downtown Portland. The agency also temporarily closed Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street station for a trial period ending on March 1, 2021.


Accessibility

Stations built as part of the Banfield Light Rail Project were originally fitted with electric wayside lifts to accommodate riders with mobility devices on the system's high-floor, first-generation vehicles. Each station had two lifts, one for each direction of travel. The lifts were installed on platforms rather than on trains to prevent malfunctions from delaying service. Increased use of the lifts eventually became the cause of delays, and many users felt stigmatized by the lifts' "box" design and time-consuming operation. With the passing into law of the
Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...
(ADA), TriMet developed a
paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...
plan in January 1992. Just before the start of the Westside MAX Project, MAX became the first light rail system in North America to procure low-floor vehicles after a TriMet study of European systems. The low-floor cars, which TriMet and
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
jointly developed, entered service in August 1997. MAX achieved full accessibility in April 1999. Ticket vending machines provide information and instructions in audio,
braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displ ...
, and raised lettering. Station platforms also have signs with braille and raised lettering to indicate which lines provide service and where they go. The edge of platforms have
tactile paving Tactile paving (also called tenji blocks, truncated domes, detectable warnings, tactile tiles, tactile ground surface indicators, tactile walking surface indicators, or detectable warning surfaces) is a system of textured ground surface indicat ...
to warn riders from standing too close to the edge. Non-street-level platforms may be accessed with
elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ...
s. Most light rail cars, with the exception of Type 1, are
low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
and have ramps that extend onto platforms to allow mobility devices to board. High-floor Type 1 cars are paired with low-floor Type 2 or 3 cars to maintain accessibility. In each train, an audio system and LED signs announce the name of each upcoming station. All trains have spaces and
priority seat Priority seats have been designated in public transport vehicles by certain transport operators to allow elderly, disabled, pregnant women and the injured to ride public transport with an equal degree of access and comfort as other people. Priori ...
ing areas reserved for seniors and people with disabilities, and service animals are permitted on board. In 2011, TriMet began upgrading the oldest sections of MAX to improve pedestrian safety and compliance with updated ADA standards. TriMet installed pipe barriers at Gateway Transit Center platform crossings to force pedestrians to slow down and face oncoming trains before crossing the tracks and realigned sidewalks and crosswalks at four at-grade crossings in Gresham. Other improvements made throughout the line include the installation of pedestrian warning signals and tactile paving upgrades.


Parking

Based on a report published in 2019, TriMet provides a total of 12,614 park-and-ride spaces, of which 10,219 directly serve 25 MAX stations. The agency's parking facilities are either surface lots or multi-level garages, and they are free to use. TriMet allows vehicles to park at most stalls overnight as long as they do not remain for more than 24 hours. At some locations, TriMet negotiates with nearby establishments for additional parking spaces. Westside MAX stations contain 3,643 parking spaces, the most number of spaces in a corridor. Clackamas Town Center Transit Center on the I-205 MAX segment includes a 750-space parking garage, the largest capacity of any single MAX station. Southeast Holgate Boulevard station, also on the I-205 MAX, provides the fewest parking spaces with 125 stalls. In the 2019 report, passengers originating from TriMet park and rides accounted for five percent of TriMet's total weekday ridership. In 2017, the Portland–Milwaukie segment had a 100-percent usage rate of its available spaces while the Westside MAX segment had 85 percent. The corridor with the lowest use of available parking spaces was the I-205 MAX at 30 percent; TriMet attributes this to factors such as inconvenient lot access and the Green Line's indirect route to downtown Portland compared with the availability of more direct bus routes. The cost-per-space for building park and rides is estimated at $18,000 per surface-lot space and $52,000 per structured space. TriMet additionally offers four different
bicycle parking Bicycle parking typically requires a degree of security to prevent theft. The context for bike parking requires proper infrastructure and equipment ( bike racks, bicycle locks etc.) for secure and convenient storage. Parking facilities include ...
options at its MAX stations, although not all options are available at every station.
Bike and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( r ...
s are secure, enclosed spaces that are accessible by keycard and are monitored 24 hours per day by security cameras; they are available at eight stations. Electronic bicycle lockers, or eLockers, are secure lockers that may also be accessed by keycard and are made available on a first-come, first-served basis. TriMet contracts some keycard access to BikeLink and uses its
Hop Fastpass Hop Fastpass is a contactless smart card for public transit fare payment on most transit modes in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area including MAX Light Rail, WES commuter rail, Portland Streetcar, The Vine, and all TriMet and C-TRAN bus ...
on others. Other lockers may be rented by users.
Bicycle rack The ambiguous term bicycle rack or bike rack may refer to: *Bicycle carrier, a device attached to a vehicle (e.g., to a car or bus) to which bicycles can be mounted for transport *Bicycle parking rack, a stationary fixture to which a bicycle can be ...
s are the most common form of bicycle parking.


Rolling stock

, TriMet operates five models of light rail vehicles designated as "Type 1" through "Type 5", of which two are successive upgrades of the same model. The MAX system's 145 cars vary in length, from to , and are used interchangeably on every line. Downtown Portland's downtown blocks allow the operation of only one or two consists to prevent stopped trains from blocking intersections. Type 2 and 3 low-floor vehicles may run singularly or coupled to another Type 1, 2, or 3 vehicle. Type 1 high-floor vehicles are also capable of running singularly, but doing so would constrain accessibility due to a lack of wheelchair access. Thus, a high-floor car must be coupled with a low-floor car. Type 4 and 5 cars can only be coupled to one another. Twenty-six Type 1 high-floor vehicles were produced for the Banfield light rail project by a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between Bombardier and La Brugeoise et Nivelles beginning in 1983. TriMet announced it would purchase seven additional vehicles that August, but a budget shortfall forced the agency to withdraw this proposal the following November. The cars are similar in design to Bombardier vehicles that had been used in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. Bombardier built the frames in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
but its factory in Barre, Vermont, manufactured the majority of each car, the first of which arrived in Portland in 1984. Each car is single-articulated and contains six axles. The high floors connect with the low platforms through interior steps, which necessitated platform wheelchair lifts until the arrival of low-floor cars. A car sits 76 people and has an overall capacity of 166. In 1992, TriMet officials conducted an accessibility study and determined that low-floor cars were the most cost-effective alternative to providing universal access. MAX then became the first light rail system in North America to acquire low-floor train sets when TriMet procured 39 model SD660 cars from Siemens in 1993. These Type 2 cars were equipped with doorway wheelchair ramps. They entered service during the partial opening of the Westside MAX in 1997. By 2000, TriMet had ordered 17 more Type 2 cars including six for the Airport MAX project. The system's 27 Type 3 vehicles, which the agency purchased as part of the Interstate MAX project and first brought into use in 2003, are the same model as the Type 2 vehicles but with technical upgrades and a new livery. Twenty-two
Siemens S70 The Siemens S70, its successor the S700 and European variant, the Avanto, are a series of low-floor light-rail vehicles (LRV) and streetcars manufactured by Siemens Mobility, a division of German conglomerate Siemens AG. The S70 and S700 are ...
low-floor cars, which were designated Type 4, were purchased in conjunction with the I-205 MAX and Portland Transit Mall projects, and were first used in 2009. Type 4 cars have a more streamlined design and more seating, and are lighter and more energy-efficient than the previous models. The Type 4 cars were the first in the MAX network to use LED-type
destination sign A destination sign (North American English) or destination indicator/destination blind (British English) is a sign mounted on the front, side or rear of a public transport vehicle, such as a bus, tram/streetcar or light rail vehicle, that di ...
s. The second series of S70 cars, TriMet's Type 5 vehicles, were procured for the Portland–Milwaukie light rail project. TriMet placed an order for the Type 5 cars with Siemens in 2012 and delivery commenced in 2014.''
Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthu ...
'' magazine, July 2015, p. 289. UK: LRTA Publishing. ISSN 1460-8324.
These vehicles include some improvements over the Type 4 cars, including less-cramped interior seating, and improvements to the air-conditioning system and wheelchair ramps. These introduced a new seating layout in the center section, among other changes, and Siemens later retroactively redesignated TriMet's Type 5 cars as model S700. In July 2019, TriMet placed an order for 26 Siemens S700 light rail vehicles that are intended to replace the system's Type 1 vehicles. The first car is expected to be delivered in 2021.


Maintenance

TriMet's vehicle-maintenance complexes for the MAX system are the Ruby Junction facility in Gresham and the smaller Elmonica facility in Beaverton. The Ruby Junction facility is located near Ruby Junction/East 197th Avenue station while the Elmonica facility is adjacent to Elmonica/Southwest 170th Avenue station; both are on the Blue Line. Ruby Junction began with one building that TriMet built as part of the original MAX project in the early 1980s; it had expanded to three multi-story buildings totaling occupying by 2010, and to four buildings totalling occupying by 2016. It contains 13 maintenance bays and its yard tracks have the capacity to store 87 light rail cars. In 2016, around 200 employees worked at Ruby Junction and almost 200 MAX operators operated trains that were based there. In addition to vehicle maintenance, crews who maintain the MAX system's tracks and signals are also based at Ruby Junction. In 2015, some
maintenance-of-way A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...
personnel moved into the Portland Vintage Trolley carbarn next to Rose Quarter Transit Center after Vintage Trolley service was discontinued. Ruby Junction originally housed TriMet's operations, communications, and administrative workers. The Elmonica facility was built as part of the Westside MAX Project in the mid-1990s and was completed in 1996. Its building has of space.


Services

From Monday to Thursday, MAX trains run for 22 hours per day. Additional late-night trips are provided on Fridays. Except for additional late-night trips on Saturdays, weekend service runs on a slightly reduced schedule. TriMet designates all MAX lines as "Frequent Service" routes, which ensures service runs on a 15-minute headway for most of each day. During the early morning and late evening hours, trains operate with headways of up to 30minutes. During
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: o ...
s, headways can be as short as three minutes, particularly in the central section of the system where lines overlap. At many stations, a live display shows the destination and time-to-arrival of the next several trains using data gathered by a
vehicle tracking system A vehicle tracking system combines the use of automatic vehicle location in individual vehicles with software that collects these fleet data for a comprehensive picture of vehicle locations. Modern vehicle tracking systems commonly use GPS or ...
installed on the light rail tracks.


Ridership

MAX carried over 38.8million total passengers in 2019, an average of 120,900 riders per day on weekdays. This is slightly lower than the number of riders recorded in 2018 and represents the system's third consecutive year of fallen ridership. MAX ridership peaked in 2012, when the system recorded around 42.2million annual passengers. 2016 marks the last year ridership increased; this was due to the opening of the Orange Line. TriMet attributes falling ridership to perceived crime within trains and stations and lower-income riders being forced out of the inner city by rising housing prices. In 2019 (prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
), MAX was the fourth-busiest light rail system in the United States after the light rail services of Metro Rail in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, the
MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network i ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, and Muni Metro in San Francisco.


Fares

As is standard practice on North American light rail systems, MAX uses
proof-of-payment Proof-of-payment (POP) or proof-of-fare (POF) is an honor-based fare collection system used on many public transportation systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a fare control zone, passengers are required to carry a ticket, pa ...
for fare collection and stations do not have ticket barriers. TriMet employs an automated fare collection system through a stored-value,
contactless smart card A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...
called Hop Fastpass, which can be purchased from the TriMet ticket office at Pioneer Courthouse Square and participating retail outlets. Single-use Hop Fastpass tickets may be purchased from ticket vending machines at MAX stations, and a
virtual card The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share ...
is available to
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...
users. Smartphones with a debit or credit card loaded into Google Pay,
Samsung Pay Samsung Pay (stylized as SΛMSUNG Pay) is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Samsung Electronics that lets users make payments using compatible phones and other Samsung-produced devices. The service supports contactless payments usin ...
, or Apple Pay and Portland Streetcar 2-hour tickets and one-day passes can also be used to board MAX. Riders must tap their fare medium onto a card reader with each boarding. Fares are flat rate and are capped according to use. The cost of fare for adults is $2.50 for a 2-hour ticket, $5 for a day pass, and $100 for a month pass. For youth and honored citizens, it is $1.25 for a 2-hour ticket, $2.50 for a day pass, and $28 for a month pass. Using Hop Fastpass, riders may transfer to other TriMet services, C-Tran, and the Portland Streetcar.


Discontinued services

From the MAX system's opening until 2012, riding trains within
Fareless Square 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 Ja ...
, which was known as the Free Rail Zone from 2010 to 2012, was free of charge. Fareless Square included all of downtown and, starting in 2001, part of the Lloyd District. The 37-year-old fare-free zone was discontinued on September 1, 2012, as part of system-wide cost-cutting measures. As part of the same budget cuts, TriMet discontinued its zonal fares and moved to a flat-fare system. Zones had been in place since 1986; higher fares were charged for longer journeys across four paid zones. The MAX Mall Shuttle operated on weekday afternoons from when it was introduced on September 14, 2009, until 2011. It acted as a supplement to the light rail service provided on the Portland Transit Mall by the Green and Yellow lines. The Mall Shuttle operated between Union Station and
Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two dec ...
every 30 minutes from noon until 5:30p.m. TriMet discontinued this supplementary shuttle service on June 5, 2011. Along with bus services, the mall continues to be served by two MAX lines in each direction—Green and Yellow lines northbound and Green and Orange lines southbound—which provide a combined average headway of 7.5 minutes in each direction at most times. The Portland Vintage Trolley operated on the MAX system on most weekends from 1991 until 2014, serving the same stops. This service used 1991-built replicas of 1904 Portland streetcars. Originally, the Vintage Trolley service followed a section of the original MAX line between the Library and Galleria stations and Lloyd Center. In September 2009, the service moved to the newly opened MAX alignment along the transit mall, running between Union Station to Portland State University, and remained on this route in subsequent seasons. In 2011, the service was reduced to seven or eight Sundays per year,''
Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthu ...
'', April 2011, p. 152. LRTA Publishing Ltd.
and in July 2014 it was discontinued entirely and the two remaining faux-vintage cars were sold to a group planning a streetcar line in St. Louis.


Safety

TriMet employs a transit police division to patrol MAX and other TriMet property. Most of its officers serve with local
law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEA ...
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 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
, which provides a canine unit. Riders are encouraged to alert TriMet employees using on-board
intercom An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building or small collection of buildings which functions independently of the public telephon ...
s or to dial
9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency n ...
upon witnessing a crime or suspicious activity. TriMet operates over 4,000 security cameras; all MAX trains and stations became fully equipped with cameras in 2014.


2017 stabbing incident

On May 26, 2017, at approximately 4:30pm, a man fatally stabbed two people and injured a third after he was confronted for shouting anti-Muslim slurs at two teenage girls inside a MAX train. Two men—a technician and U.S. Army veteran, and a recent university graduate—died from wounds to their necks while a third victim, who is also male, survived. The attacker, who described himself as a white nationalist, was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, and other crimes. On February 21, 2020, the perpetrator was found guilty on all charges, including two counts of
first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially t ...
. This resulted in a mural being painted on the station entrance of the Hollywood Transit Center, where the stabbing occurred.


See also

* List of rail transit systems in the United States * Transportation in Portland, Oregon


Notes


References


External links

* {{portal bar, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, Trains 1986 establishments in Oregon 750 V DC railway electrification 825 V DC railway electrification Electric railways in Oregon Light rail in Oregon Passenger rail transportation in Oregon Railway lines opened in 1986 Transportation in Hillsboro, Oregon Transportation in Multnomah County, Oregon Transportation in Washington County, Oregon TriMet