Open house provides peek inside plans for TriMet FX® service on 82nd Avenue

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TriMet welcomes feedback on the plans at an in-person open house and online, starting Jan. 22

TriMet will share plans this month for faster, higher-capacity bus service on 82nd Avenue. We’re holding an open house, and people will have opportunities to provide feedback both in-person and online. On Wednesday, Jan. 22, we’re hosting an in-person open house on the 82nd Avenue Transit Project, our next TriMet FX® — Frequent Express – bus line. The event will be held at PCC Southeast. TriMet staff will be on hand to answer questions and share fact sheets and maps of the proposed route and station locations. We’ll also post the information at trimet.org/82nd, where you can leave feedback about the plan starting Jan. 22. If the project continues to move forward as planned, tens of thousands of riders along 82nd Avenue will be using the new and improved bus service in 2029.

82nd Avenue Transit Project Open House
Wednesday, Jan. 22, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
PCC Southeast – Community Hall Annex
2305 SE 82nd Ave.

A TriMet bus serves a stop near Southeast 82nd Avenue and Division Street

What is the 82nd Avenue Transit Project?

TriMet’s 82nd Avenue Transit Project will bring high-capacity bus service to 10 miles of 82nd Avenue, between Clackamas Town Center and Northeast Portland’s Cully Neighborhood. Like our first Frequent Express bus line, FX2-Division, the future FX line along 82nd Avenue will use 60-foot articulated buses with three doors for faster boarding, bike storage on board and more room for riders to relax. Buses will arrive every 12 minutes or better and help riders reach their destinations faster, with next-generation transit-signal priority improvements that keep buses moving past traffic congestion. Riders will also have access to new bus stations with weather protections, lighting and real-time arrival information.

The 82nd Avenue corridor is currently served by Line 72-Killingsworth/82nd. It is the busiest of TriMet’s 78 bus lines, with more than 65,000 weekly rides. Line 72 is also among the most delayed in TriMet’s system, due to increasing congestion along 82nd Avenue. The busy thoroughfare was a state highway until 2022 when the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) transferred ownership to the City of Portland. The transfer came with a commitment of $185 million for critical, safety improvements along 82nd that lay the groundwork for TriMet’s next FX – Frequent Express – bus line.

With more than 65,000 weekly rides, Line 72 is the busiest of TriMet’s 78 bus lines

Timeline and next steps

What’s next? TriMet will collect and review comments and take all of the feedback into consideration as plans move forward. We aim to reach 30% design of the project by mid-year. A project steering committee, which includes representatives from community-based organizations including Oregon Walks, Clackamas Resource Center, Unite Oregon and the 82nd Avenue Business Alliance, will hold a final vote on the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) at the end of the year, including routing and general station locations. Construction of the project is set to begin in 2027, with service opening to the public in the summer of 2029.

Join the 82nd Avenue Transit Project Community Advisory Committee

TriMet’s recruitment for our 82nd Avenue Transit Project Community Advisory Committee (CAC), a group that will play an important role in shaping the 82nd Avenue Transit Project, is ongoing. Members of the CAC will represent community interests and provide feedback to project decision-makers. Apply today through Monday, Jan. 27, at trimet.org/82nd.

Project funding and additional support

The total cost of the 82nd Avenue Transit Project is estimated at $320 million. TriMet expects up to $150 million to come from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Small Starts Program.

Last month, Portland’s Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) awarded TriMet $55.5 million for the 82nd Avenue Transit Project – the largest local funding allocation to date. 

The project gained momentum last summer after U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the corridor and saw firsthand, the safety and congestion challenges people who live and work along 82nd experience daily. Within weeks of the visit, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awarded TriMet a $630,000 Areas of Persistent Poverty Grant, toward the project’s design.

Also last summer, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded TriMet $39 million to purchase up to 14 zero-emissions hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses and related infrastructure for the project. TriMet received an additional $25 million USDOT grant to develop our Columbia Operations Facility, where the fuel-cell electric buses will be based, and to support our goal of a 100% zero-emissions bus fleet.

Special thanks to our partners

Thanks to the continued support of project partners who coordinated planning efforts and funding opportunities, including Metro, the City of Portland, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Multnomah County, Clackamas County and Port of Portland.