Closure will save riders time on MAX Blue, Red lines through Downtown Portland
TriMet is speeding up the MAX Blue and Red lines through Downtown Portland.
We’re permanently closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station, starting Sunday, Aug. 24. The TriMet Board of Directors voted to close the station last year, after a yearslong process of community engagement and outreach.
MAX currently has to make three stops to serve stations spaced closely together on 1st Avenue in Downtown Portland. As a result, trains move slowly along this stretch, causing trips to take longer.
Once the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is closed, MAX trains will proceed directly between the Old Town/Chinatown and Oak St/SW 1st Ave MAX stations. Those stations will remain open, continuing to serve riders along 1st Avenue.
Saving riders time
TriMet first proposed closing four stations on the MAX Blue and Red lines in 2018. The goal was to speed up trains and reduce travel times for riders in Downtown Portland.
Three of the stations — Kings Hill/SW Salmon, Mall/SW 4th Ave and Mall/SW 5th Ave — closed permanently in 2020. Skidmore Fountain is the fourth station we considered for closure.
Since we closed the stations in 2020, trip times through Downtown Portland on the MAX Blue and Red lines have been about a minute and a half faster. Closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station will save riders another 45 seconds every trip.
In speeding up MAX service in Downtown, we focused on stations that were less than 600 feet from another station. The Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is just 500 feet from the closest station. For comparison, a two-car MAX train is about 200 feet long.
Making this decision
In 2018, when we first proposed closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station, we asked riders and the public, including employers located in the Skidmore Fountain area, for their feedback. In response to the input we received from the community, we postponed a final decision on whether to close the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station, waiting to see if ridership at the station increased.
Historically, Skidmore Fountain has been among our least used stations along the MAX Blue and Red lines in Downtown Portland. The station has not seen ridership increase over the past five years, so in January 2024, we once again proposed closing it, which our Board approved in April 2024.
Today, average weekly ridership at the Skidmore Fountain Station is less than half of what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the employers in the area have closed, moved elsewhere or transitioned to remote work.
Getting around
The Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is right in between two other MAX stations on the Blue and Red lines:
- Old Town/Chinatown MAX Station, two blocks north (about 500 feet) from Skidmore Fountain
- Oak St/SW 1st Ave MAX Station, four blocks south (about 1,000 feet) from Skidmore Fountain
If you currently use the Skidmore Fountain Station, you can use either of these stations instead. You can also access the Portland Saturday Market, held at nearby Tom McCall Waterfront Park, from these stations.
TriMet will be making changes to MAX schedules and some bus lines on Aug. 24 as well. Learn more at trimet.org/servicechanges.
Visit trimet.org to plan your trip. Be sure to set your travel date for Sunday, Aug. 24, or later.