The 18-mile extension of MAX Blue Line from Downtown Portland to Hillsboro reaches its 25th anniversary on Sept. 12

The first public riders to make a MAX Blue Line trip all the way from Gresham to Hillsboro did so on a warm Saturday in September. It was 1998— 12 years after the first stretch of the Blue Line opened, which linked Downtown Portland to Gresham. Construction of the new 18-mile Westside extension had proven to be its own massive undertaking, lasting for more than five years at an overall cost of $963 million. After all that time waiting, following a robust period of public outreach, September 12, 1998, was its own momentous and long-awaited occasion.

As TriMet reaches the 25th anniversary of the grand opening of the Westside MAX Blue Line Extension, we look back and celebrate a project that has helped relieve congestion, develop communities and improve the quality of life for people across our region, for the past quarter century. 

For Washington County, the impacts have been monumental.

“To me, the 25th anniversary is really a special milestone. I’ve been able to see… how valuable the Westside expansion of MAX has been to our individual lives as well as our collective community lives,” Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington said. “It enabled Downtown Beaverton to further develop, as well as Hillsboro—and not just downtown Hillsboro. In order for us to seek federal funding for the Westside MAX, we had to show that we were offering more housing.”

“Extending MAX west to Washington County was the fulfillment of a promise TriMet and local leaders had made decades before, and it set an example for expansions of the MAX system that would come later,” TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. said. “Over the past 25 years, we have been committed to building and maintaining the most efficient and reliable light rail system possible, taking cars off the road, helping people reach their destinations and supporting the growth of the community.”

Planning pays off

To start at the beginning, you have to go back to 1979.

Superman was the top-grossing movie, “My Sharona” topped the music charts and 60 Minutes—yes, a televised news magazine—was the highest-rated television program. It was also the year the seeds were planted for a light rail line to Washington County.

Originally, there had been some discussions for the first MAX line to follow the Sunset Highway west, but instead, funds from the defunct Mount Hood Freeway were transferred to a package of regional transportation priorities that included the Banfield light rail project. That first MAX line was completed in 1986. But once done, there was little time to wait for the next move. It was westward-ho, with planning for the Westside extension kicking off in 1988. Then, in November 1990, voters approved Ballot Measure 26-1 by a 3-1 vote, allowing the issuance of bonds to help pay for the project.

During the project’s planning phase, community members had an opportunity to weigh in. TriMet has made community engagement a cornerstone of all major service decisions to give residents an opportunity to share their voices and learn more about our projects. As a resident, Washington County Chair Harrington said she attended several of the neighborhood association meetings that occurred to discuss the planning of Westside stations, including Willow Creek and Sunset Transit Center.

Looking back on the project now, she’s proud that it accomplished what planners said it would.

“It has really unlocked a lot of potential,” Harrington said. “It has exceeded people’s (initial) vision. People want to know how future MAX lines will build on the community, with walking and biking access and improved transportation all throughout the area.”

Challenges and solutions underground

The Westside MAX Blue Line Extension’s biggest construction challenge was more than 16 million years old. Rock—metric tons of it—mainly volcanic basalt, had been lying dormant since the Miocene era. But this basalt wasn’t alone. Also underground were soft silt deposits that were scattered sporadically, making the earth under the West Hills an inconsistent mix of brittle, mushy and hard—the geological equivalent of baklava.

Before digging could commence, engineers had to gather as much information as they could about what to expect. TriMet spent years researching and engineering the Westside tunnel, with geologists drilling 25 test holes up to 300 feet down to sample soil, rock and ground water. These holes, and the bounty of information they produced, acted as the engineers’ eyes, allowing them to produce maps of an underground world no one had ever seen. With this information, engineers chose to give the tunnel curves, allowing miners the best digging conditions possible.

It would take 18 months of blasting and boring to punch three miles through the hillside. Later came construction of the Washington Park MAX Station. It would come to feature art displays referencing the geological history of the location. The main display, running the length of a wall on the eastbound platform, remains a site of interest 25 years later. It’s a long transparent tube containing a core sample. On the wall, the various geological eras are etched, allowing riders to walk along and track the progression of time.

The station would become, and still remains, the deepest subway tunnel in North America. Care and thought were also given to the surface-level plaza, connecting to the Washington Park Zoo, World Forestry Center and Hoyt Arboretum 260 feet above—the equivalent of going to the top of the Umpqua Bank Plaza.

Twenty-five years after opening, what are now the Robertson Tunnel and Washington Park MAX Station continue to be modern-day marvels, where a marriage of engineering and artistry come together to help people travel efficiently and in style.

Building boom, boon to economy

In preparing for the Westside MAX Extension, planners chose an alignment that would take trains past undeveloped parcels—most notably in Washington County, but in Portland as well. The end result was the project being a catalyst for $825 million in residential and commercial development. Prominent developments that sprung up include Orenco Station, one of the high-density, mixed-use developments that began planning in conjunction with the Westside MAX Blue Line Extension. It was in addition to the “The Round,” a civic plaza built around Beaverton Central, Centerpointe, apartments near Beaverton Creek and Stadium Station apartments, near Goose Hollow.  

The Westside MAX Blue Line Extension created a more direct and attractive connection between two major employment centers: Downtown Portland on one end of the line; the Silicon Forest on the other. Today, MAX Blue Line serves more riders than any other MAX line, providing around 30,000 trips every weekday. And because it covers an extensive 33 miles, between the heart of Gresham and  Downtown Hillsboro, the line also covers more ground for riders than any other bus or MAX line, with about 176,000 passenger miles made every day. It’s one of many examples of how decades of forward-thinking and planning are paying off for tens of thousands of riders a quarter century later!

MAX extension continues with Better Red

The lessons of the past are being applied today.

The MAX Red Line was built just a few years after the Westside MAX Blue Line Extension, completed in 2001. It fulfilled another longstanding promise, this time to bring light rail to Portland International Airport, part of regional master planning that started in the 1980s. Now, more than two decades after opening, TriMet is working on improvements to the line to make it more efficient—and to provide improved service to riders between Portland and Washington County. The project will extend the Red Line 10 stations west, from Beaverton Transit Center to Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport.

It’s also adding another track and additional infrastructure near Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport to improve train movement and keep trains moving throughout the MAX system. TriMet is doing this to continue meeting the growing demands of the region and foster even better connections among our riders.

A multi-year project scheduled to complete next year and fully open to the public in fall 2024, A Better Red is now about 70% completed. For more information on the project, visit trimet.org/betterred.

With data now showing trips on FX are faster, the Institute of Transportation Engineers honors TriMet and partner agencies with special recognition

With the one-year anniversary of TriMet FX® – Frequent Express – fast approaching, an important aspect of the service has come into focus: FX buses are more efficient, thanks in large part to next-generation transit-signal priority. The cloud-based system, which uses artificial intelligence to give buses more green lights and fewer reds, is among the latest advancements TriMet has made to improve travel time, reliability and the overall customer experience.

Experts nationwide are taking notice of the benefits of this first-of-its-kind system as well. 

A new study commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration affirms that TriMet’s next-generation transit signal priority system speeds up buses by making changes to signal timing. The system’s algorithm adapts signals to give buses an edge as they approach intersections.

TriMet and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) conducted the study with the oversight of Kittelson & Associates, a Portland-based transportation engineering, planning and research firm. The study was performed in late May by running through different scenarios after the system had been turned off, then comparing those to when the system was turned back on.  

Part of the Division Transit Project, which laid the groundwork for our FX—Frequent Express–service, the next-generation transit signal priority system was implemented specifically for FX2-Division buses, which run between Downtown Portland and Gresham. While the new system is not part of the FX2-Division’s downtown segment, which also serves other bus lines, it does operate at 57 signals along Division Street, covering roughly 11 miles, the majority of the 15-mile route. When added up across a one-way trip, the new system reduces the time buses would spend waiting at those 57 intersections, between Southeast 11th Avenue and Cleveland Avenue in Gresham, by around four minutes.

With the system proving itself to be more flexible and reliable than previous versions of transit-signal priority, which rely on line-of-sight emitters and receivers, it’s gained attention and major recognition from transportation engineers from across the country. Four agencies and one consulting company involved in the Division Transit Project received the 2023 Transportation Achievement Award in the Transportation Systems Management & Operations category at this year’s Institute of Transportation Engineers Annual Meeting, which was held this August in Portland.

Award winning transit engineering

Presented in five categories, the Transportation Achievement Awards recognize excellence in the advancement of transportation to meet human needs. In its recognition, the Institute of Transportation Engineers said the Division Transit Project leveraged “the most advanced signal technology available to deliver better buses to residents living along one of the region’s most diverse—and historically, most dangerous—arterial corridors.” Also involved in the Division Transit Project were PBOT, the City of Gresham, the Oregon Department of Transportation and engineering consultants DKS Associates.

The project was designed to increase bus reliability and performance. It does so by improving transit capacity and efficiency, with next-generation transit-signal priority aided further by longer buses with room for 60% more riders. There are now bus-only lanes at some intersections, which give buses green lights first ahead of all other vehicles. The project also brought elevated bus stations to the route, with level boarding at multiple doors for briefer stops, along with onboard bike storage and stations located where rider demand is greatest.

Based on the early success of FX2-Division, our first FX line that celebrates its one-year anniversary on Sept. 18, we look forward to pursuing ways to further improve it in the future.

A smarter, better-connected transit system

The new transit-signal priority system benefits from all the information TriMet collects as part of daily operations. On a given day, we can collect as many as 500,000 stop and event data records through our automatic vehicle location and passenger counter systems, which help the new transit-signal priority system to become smarter.

Increasingly, information informs decisions that TriMet and our partners make to speed up service. Data used to better understand overall traffic patterns helps in deciding the locations of Rose Lanes, for example. TriMet also works to make more information available to our riders. In early 2022, TriMet introduced our retooled website, with several new features, including real-time vehicle tracking, that improve our riders’ trip-planning capabilities. Also, at our Transit Centers and bus stops, we have installed ePaper digital displays, which provide transit information to more locations than ever before.

For more information about FX2-Division and all the ways it’s working to speed up service, go to trimet.org/fx.

Resuming Aug. 28, the transit center elevator will provide access only to riders with valid fare

TriMet is entering the next phase of an elevator safety and reliability project, intended to cut down on misuse and the need for unplanned repairs. Resuming Aug. 28, the elevator at Hollywood/NE 42nd Ave Transit Center will only be accessible to riders with a valid fare. While there will be no charge to use the elevator, riders will need to tap their fare payment against a reader to the right of the elevator door for it to open. Riders on the platform level will also need to tap the reader for the elevator to take them to the top of the skybridge.

Earlier this summer, TriMet conducted a successful four-week trial run of the system. It helped prevent damage and reduced elevator outages. Our goal is to keep elevators as clean and reliable as possible for riders, to improve the customer experience. The Hollywood elevator will be a work in progress as we fine-tune how the access system works. The aim is to use what we’ve learned at this elevator as we look to improve other elevators in our system in the future.

“Access control tools, like the ones we’re using, give us options for all kinds of different things into the future,” TriMet Executive Director of Safety and Security Andrew Wilson said. “I think this is an important piece for us, having built a very open system, just to make sure that it’s accessible.”

Elevator access

At the Hollywood/NE 42nd Ave Transit Center, card readers used to access the elevator will be black but look similar to our Hop Fastpass readers. It’s important to remember that unlike Hop readers, the elevator’s card readers do not collect fare. Riders will need to tap another time, against a green Hop reader before boarding. Signs will also be posted near the elevator, reminding riders to tap at the elevator card reader for the doors to open.

Accessing the elevator will work with any of our traditional forms of fare:

• Plastic Hop card
• Hop ticket from a ticket vending machine
• Contactless credit/debit card
• Phone (with mobile wallet or digital Hop Fastpass enabled).

Not only is Hop Fastpass a convenient way to open the elevator, it continues to be TriMet’s best way to pay fare, allowing riders to tap, board and save, all at the same time. With Hop, riders never have to worry about overpaying, thanks to daily and monthly fare capping. Once the equivalent of a monthly pass—$100 for adult fare or $28 for those in our reduced-fare Honored Citizen program—is reached, there’s no charge again until the next month. Additional benefits of Hop include lost-card protection and auto reloading.

While the paper tickets dispensed by the ticket vending machines contain a chip inside and can be tapped against readers, paper tickets printed out on buses do not. TriMet security staff will be stationed at the transit center to help riders with those tickets access the elevator when needed.

Reliability and safety improvements

TriMet is committed to improving reliability, efficiency and the customer experience across our transit system. This not only includes buses and trains, but other services and amenities that help riders get around. Due to their public accessibility, misuse of the elevators can damage equipment, leading to unplanned outages. These outages have the greatest impact on riders who need elevators the most. TriMet will be using feedback from our Committee on Accessible Transportation to guide the project forward to help it further meet the needs of people with disabilities. CAT members have signaled their support of the project, including the height and placement of the card readers to the right of the elevator doors.

“Our goal is to make this the most accessible system in the country, and to make it accessible to everybody and user friendly,” Committee on Accessible Transportation Chair Jan Campbell said. “And I think working directly with users, the Committee on Accessible Transportation, you’re actually meeting with the users, so we can be at the very beginning of the design and the improvements.”

By working to ensure that those who are using the elevators are doing so to get to and from MAX trains, we hope to cut down on maintenance-related delays and disruptions and make the riding experience safer, more reliable and welcoming. For more information about the elevator access project, go to trimet.org/elevatoraccess. You can also sign up for Service Alerts to stay in the loop as we work toward adding card readers at other elevators in the future.

With more work to come, TriMet hits mid-point on schedule to reopen MAX Red Line Oct. 22

TriMet’s four-month-long disruption for “A Better Red” is approaching the halfway mark on schedule. In the past two months, crews have been busy with significant demolition and construction of the MAX system between the Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport. The 126-day disruption, which began June 18, is allowing crews to completely replace the Portland International Airport MAX station and install a second track along the alignment, between the new station and Air Cargo Road.

Since the MAX Red Line opened in 2001, this three-quarters-of-a-mile stretch has been served by one track, supporting both PDX’s inbound and outbound trains. Installation of the second track also involves upgrading all the components that support trains, such as rail crossings, signals, rail crossovers and the overhead contact wires, as well as the poles and power systems that support them. This will complete the Red Line’s double trackway between PDX and Mt. Hood MAX stations, improving efficiency by allowing trains to move past each other in both directions at once. 

During the project, shuttle buses have been serving MAX stations between PDX and Gateway Transit Center, running about every 15 minutes throughout most of the day. Due to the length of the shutdown, Customer Service representatives and additional Ride Guides have been stationed at PDX at times to help riders make their shuttle bus connections. This phase of the Better Red project is expected to finish this fall, with MAX Red Line trains returning to regular service on Sunday, Oct. 22.

New PDX station takes off

The Portland International Airport MAX Station as we knew it is no more. It was demolished during the first few weeks of the disruption to make room for the new station, designed with two parallel tracks in mind. Construction recently began on the new station, with some of the concrete foundations being formed.

The new station will be a little longer to better accommodate trains. It will also be rectangular —200 feet long and 18 feet wide—for improved train movement and rider comfort. The previous station was triangular-shaped, ending at a point where the two tracks on both sides of the platform intersected into one. This made the former platform unique among our stations. Uniformity has its upside, as not only will the new platform be more spacious end-to-end, but it will also feature two shelters, similar to those along the MAX Orange Line, stretched to provide cover across nearly the entire station. The new station will open once the project completes in October.

Major demolition, significant construction

In addition to the new MAX station, crews have been working to reconstruct the existing track between Air Cargo Road and PDX. Previously, this was the only track serving the area, with trains using it to travel in both directions. Crews have also made significant progress on the new track between Air Cargo Road and PDX, including the construction of a second at-grade crossing.

Crews are also working on the construction of a new multi-use path for bikes and pedestrians, which will also run between Air Cargo Road and PDX.

A Better Red

TriMet’s A Better Red MAX Extension and Reliability Project will extend the MAX Red Line 10 stations west, from Beaverton Transit Center to Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport. It’s also adding another track and additional infrastructure near Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport to help keep trains moving throughout the MAX system more reliably. The project has been ongoing since September 2021, with occasional disruptions necessary to allow for major construction to take place in the trackway. Now more than 70% completed, the project is expected to be closed out in the summer of 2024.

With the Better Red project covering parts the MAX Red Line from PDX to Hillsboro, crews have been working at multiple locations at once to finish the multi-phased project. Much of the work has taken place near the Gateway Transit Center, including the installation of new track and track components along with the construction of new MAX bridges. A new station for westbound trains will also be constructed just north of the Gateway Transit Center.

In Washington County, crews at Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport are working on finishing the interior of the new operator building and constructing a walkway for TriMet operators. The completed facility will have bathrooms, a small meal area and a work station. Construction on the building and walkway is expected to wrap up within the next couple months and be ready for operators’ use when MAX Red Line service is extended to Hillsboro next year.

We appreciate our riders’ patience as we continue making progress on this major project and work to get riders around the construction. For more information, go to trimet.org/bettered. 

American Public Transportation Association conferred TriMet with its highest honors for security and safety, acknowledging TriMet’s ongoing improvements to the wellbeing of our customers and the community

TriMet’s Board of Directors has approved continuing and expanding TriMet’s Safety Response Team, recognized for making a positive impact on the community and in the transit industry. The Board voted on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, to approve a new contract with Portland Patrol Inc. (PPI), the company that provides members for the Safety Response Team. TriMet’s Safety Response Team model, first introduced as a pilot in 2021, is one of two industry-leading advances in transit safety and security that led to top honors from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) earlier this year. The Safety Response Team discourages inappropriate and illegal behavior with an emphasis on riders in need, conducting social service outreach and providing referrals for housing and mental health services.

APTA Rail Security Gold Award highlights Safety Response Team, other security initiatives

TriMet has reimagined public safety and security on transit, for which the Safety Response Team plays a critical role. Our Reimagining Public Safety and Security on Transit efforts began in 2020, following candid conversations around racial injustice. TriMet earmarked nearly $2 million to kick start initiatives to identify agency-wide improvements to safety, security and the customer experience.

By 2023, our efforts to reimagine safety and security merged into an approach that emphasizes community-driven security solutions, using teams spread across TriMet’s system. Traditional security and police continue to operate on TriMet, but our new efforts call for a more holistic approach, where specialized teams act on their strengths, freeing up the Transit Police Division to respond to crimes and major incidents. Among the nearly 33,000 people the Safety Response Team has connected with, 4,582 have been welfare checks and 1,372 have been referrals to social services, including emergency and long-term shelters, addiction and mental health services, and immigration and refugee services.

“By taking a holistic approach to public safety on our system, TriMet has dramatically increased our outreach efforts, helping passengers in need across our system while making it more inviting for everyone to get on a bus, MAX or WES train,” said Andrew Wilson, Executive Director of Safety & Security for TriMet.

Safety and security are among the top issues for our riders, according to TriMet surveys. Through our reimagining process, we gathered feedback from more than 13,000 riders, frontline employees and community members across 14 languages and cultural communities. We also established a blue ribbon panel of local and national experts—our Transit Public Safety Advisory Committee—to advise us on national best practices for transit security, equity and community engagement in safety and security. By listening to community partners, experts and our riders, we’ve grown our roster of security teams over the past three years and adapted to the new challenges facing all metropolitan transit agencies.

TriMet’s reimagined security efforts helped us to diversify our security teams, using unarmed, non-police security and TriMet code enforcement personnel in most situations. This has given TriMet more flexibility with staffing and identifying the best teams needed to address incidents on our system.

Learn more about our security teams:

Safety Response Team

Customer Safety Supervisors

Customer Safety Officers

Transit Security Officers

Transit Police Division Officers

For a complete list of the teams working on TriMet’s system, go to trimet.org/personnel.

Camera-aided investigations

APTA honored TriMet with a Rail Security Gold Award not only for our diversified security teams but also for our camera-aided deployment of personnel. TriMet’s extensive camera network has more than 3,000 cameras on our light rail system, with roughly half upgraded in the past three years. This improved technology allows for monitoring the system in real time, to verify reported incidents and deploy the appropriate resources for improved outcomes. The security camera network features state-of-the-art cameras that TriMet personnel can remotely control to pan, tilt and zoom. They also record footage of incidents on or near our system and assisted our law enforcement partners apprehend suspects in 49 homicide investigations and 57 shooting cases in 2022.  It’s one more way to upgrade response times and curb unwanted and illegal behavior, and they come in addition to new violence reduction strategies that have more efficiently incorporated law enforcement resources.

In 2022, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), which oversees TriMet’s Transit Police Division (TPD), developed a violence reduction strategy called the Enhanced Public Safety Initiative. The missions focus on disrupting criminal activity, recovering stolen property and seizing illegal firearms. The missions rely on the Safety Response Team and others for support. Transit Police and partner law enforcement agencies address criminal activity with the shared goal of making communities safer by getting criminals and illegal firearms off the streets. Among other outcomes, these missions resulted in 93 arrests, 233 warnings, 25 citations and 74 exclusions from TriMet.

“It’s through strong partnerships and collaborative approaches, such as this enhanced initiative, that help us achieve our collective goal of improving safety within our community,” Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell said. “I am proud to lead the public safety work of the Sheriff’s Office, alongside TriMet, to support the transit system and make our neighborhoods around them safer and stronger.”

Calls for police services dropped in 2022 by 14% over the prior year. While these include both criminal and non-criminal calls, they represent a decrease that has allowed the Transit Police Division to continue employing its community policing model.  This came as the Safety Response Team also increased its presence to handle situations that shouldn’t require police intervention. If they do run across a dangerous situation, they have a direct line to the police, however.

Safer rail crossings

APTA also recognized TriMet’s innovative approach to crossing safety with its Rail Safety Gold Award. Safety is a core principle in everything TriMet does, influencing all of our decisions. Transit agencies across the world have to contend with unsafe behavior around their buses, trains and trackways, and TriMet is no different. We work continuously on making our rail crossings safer, often tapping into emerging technology to better understand human behavior around our tracks.

APTA recognized TriMet’s ongoing project to increase safety at rail grade crossings using video analytic data to inform a Risk Ranking Tool that will help prioritize crossing improvements. In partnership with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the new approach uses deep-learning software to improve the accuracy of data over time and better understand human behavior around our tracks. The project is cataloging pedestrian, motorized and non-motorized vehicle traffic counts, which are then compared with infrastructure, operating environment and reported incident data. The goal is to identify and categorize rail crossings, using a Risk Ranking Tool, to prioritize the most effective safety enhancements. The project is scheduled to last through 2025. The project was made possible through a cooperative agreement with the FTA.

Safety and security innovations

With a reimagined approach to security and new groups like the Safety Response Team connecting with riders, TriMet continues to adapt to the needs of the public and be an example for transit agencies across the country. Throughout the U.S., transit agencies and the communities they serve are focused on safety and security amid new challenges. TriMet has adapted, and, as we look to the future, we plan to continue innovating and applying security and safety resources effectively as we work to make our system a safe and welcoming place for everyone.

A new $2,500 hiring bonus and efficiencies to TriMet’s training program have made it easier to get a foot in the door at Oregon’s largest public transit provider

James Bledsoe’s career at TriMet began with a bus, a broom and a dustpan. Now the interim director of Rail Equipment Maintenance, Bledsoe viewed his first foray into public transit as an exciting opportunity that existed few other places.

“I wanted stability,” Bledsoe said. “And I knew TriMet offered stability, good pay and benefits.”

By now, it’s no secret that TriMet is hiring more bus and rail operators, but we’re also looking to add to our ranks of maintenance workers with a new $2,500 hiring bonus. TriMet is in need of light rail vehicle technicians, bus mechanics, overhead power maintainers, body and paint technicians and more to work in our rail, bus and facilities maintenance departments.

The $2,500 hiring bonus is also offered to those who are new to jobs in transit maintenance and interested in joining our maintenance trainee and apprenticeship programs. TriMet has revamped some of our training curriculum to make it more efficient and to better prepare trainees for technician, maintainer and mechanic positions. It’s part of our larger effort to fill open positions at TriMet, bring more well-paying jobs to the region and keep our transit system operating safely and reliably.

Maintenance: a ‘contract with the customers’

Twenty-eight years after getting his start cleaning buses, Bledsoe, TriMet’s interim director of Rail Equipment Maintenance, and his crew of assistant managers, light rail technicians, trainees and service workers continue the mission of keeping a fleet of over 140 MAX trains moving. For Bledsoe, this is TriMet’s “contract with the customers.”

Bledsoe has seen opportunities within his department expand over the years, as the MAX system has grown and light rail technology has advanced. These advancements are visible on our system today, where our first-generation trains, introduced in 1986, share the same tracks with trains manufactured in 2015. Further opportunities will soon present themselves with the retirement of our first-generation vehicles and the introduction later this year of our Type 6 MAX train, outfitted with the latest technology.

Changes to how TriMet trains light rail vehicle technicians, through a more structured program with a new curriculum, also mean there’s now a shortcut on the path toward career advancement. Under TriMet’s former apprenticeship program, it could take three years for trainees to be considered proficient and productive. Using the new curriculum and training program, it’s now only eight months. Currently, TriMet has over 70 technicians who work on daily maintenance, while another 30 work to rebuild vehicles.

“When you come through the training program, you will start off with little to no knowledge about our vehicles, and we will train you from the ground up on every single system.” said James Klick, a light rail technician and trainer. “That’s basic tool handling, reading electronics schematics, car body repairs, propulsion systems and more.”

At TriMet, training is also provided for all bus mechanics, in addition to our Maintenance of Way and Facilities Maintenance staff.

Though seen less than our operators, maintenance crews, like those in Rail Equipment Maintenance, are critical to ensuring that people reach work, school and appointments on time, and TriMet’s two rail facilities operate around the clock, every day, to make sure that happens.

Jobs that grow

It takes a team to keep a community moving. Whether you have decades of experience or you’re looking for something new, exciting and rewarding, TriMet has various opportunities available—and now with expanded financial incentives. In addition to the $2,500 hiring bonus now available for maintenance employees, they are also eligible for:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance plans at low or no monthly cost
• Two retirement plans, with an 8% agency base pay contribution to employee’s 401a
• One week of paid vacation and up to 40 hours sick leave in the first year of employment, with paid time off increasing over time
• Health and dependent care spending accounts
• Access to our Employee Assistance Program with mental health and counseling services, legal assistance, financial coaching and home ownership programs
• Annual transit pass (valued up to $1200) for employee and eligible family members
• 24-hour access to five exclusive, low-cost, on-site fitness centers
• Representation by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 757

We are also hiring positions in Finance & Administrative Services; Information Technology; Engineering & Construction; Public Affairs and Labor Relations & Human Resources. For a list of all our open positions, salary information and steps to apply, visit trimet.org/careers.

The Gresham City Hall Park & Ride will close permanently on June 16 to allow Multnomah County to build a new 95,000-square-foot library

A partnership between TriMet and Multnomah County will soon breathe new life into an underused park & ride in Gresham. On Friday, June 16, 2023, the Gresham City Hall Park & Ride will close as Multnomah County prepares the site for the new East County Library.

People who use the Gresham City Hall Park & Ride can move to the nearby Gresham Parking Garage at the Gresham Central Transit Center, located at 575 NE 8th St., adjacent to the MAX Blue Line station and stops for the FX2-Division and several other bus lines. With 540 parking spaces available, the Gresham Parking Garage is our largest parking facility in Gresham, with enough vacant spots to accommodate new riders.

With potential to revitalize an underused parcel of land next to TriMet’s Gresham City Hall MAX Station, the agreement with Multnomah County was made possible through TriMet’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) program. The program looks at opportunities that will sustain regional growth, invigorate communities and increase transit ridership.

In July 2022, Multnomah County agreed to purchase two-thirds of the TriMet-owned park & ride, with an eye on developing a flagship library in East Multnomah County, where roughly 40% of the county’s population now resides. The new library, scheduled to open in 2025, will rival Multnomah County’s Central Library in size and feature community amenities like an auditorium and public plaza.

Building community connections

Recharging underused facilities and TriMet-owned properties so they can better meet the needs of the community while promoting transit use is central to what Transit-Oriented Development does. While TriMet’s top priority will always be getting people to their destinations safely, we also see opportunities to help encourage mixed-use development, affordable housing and community centers. Some park & rides aren’t heavily used. Rather than allowing them to sit partially empty, TriMet wants to ensure our riders’ greater needs are addressed by bringing housing, recreation and destinations closer to where they ride.

The partnership with Multnomah County is a start in rethinking how to make the most of property owned by TriMet—especially that which is not needed for transit use. In November 2022, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a $315,000 grant award to TriMet to conduct studies around potential development opportunities at two other park & rides, at E 122nd Ave and E 181st Ave. The plans will address housing needs, economic development opportunities, community-focused investments and transit accessibility, as well as station access.

Other Transit-Oriented Development projects TriMet has partnered on with others include the recently opened Fuller Station Apartments— new affordable housing within steps of the MAX Green Line in Happy Valley—and the planned hollywoodHUB project in Northeast Portland. For more information about TriMet’s Transit-Oriented Development Program, visit trimet.org/tod.

Plan before you go and stay flexible, as city festivities are expected to impact transit and traffic

With TriMet at the wheel, traveling to the Rose Festival doesn’t have to be a thorny issue. Forget about gassing up your car and finding parking. No need to worry about the added hassle of road congestion, or finding the best route. This year, give your blood pressure a break and show a little love to the environment by taking TriMet.

Portland’s late-spring hurrah is a favorite for locals and visitors alike and is expected to draw tens of thousands to Downtown, the Lloyd Neighborhood and the Hollywood District.  The fun begins Friday, May 26, at 5 p.m. with CityFair at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. CityFair’s first night will conclude with a fireworks extravaganza, which will close the Morrison and Hawthorne bridges between 8 p.m. and midnight. During that time, buses that normally cross those bridges—including lines 6, 10, 14 and 15— will use either the Burnside Bridge or the Steel Bridge.

For trips Downtown, riders can use one of some  20 bus lines. Every MAX line also runs into downtown, some of which will drop you off just steps away from Waterfront Park. For the inner eastside, the Rose Quarter Transit Center and nearby Interstate/Rose Quarter MAX Station are convenient locations to catch a bus or train. Together, the stations are home to six bus lines and all MAX lines.

With convenient travel options at your disposal, riders can go to trimet.org/planner to find the one that works best for them. To view maps, schedules and see real-time locations of vehicles, go to trimet.org.

Beat the fleet: June 6-11

One annual tradition that’s sure to draw crowds, just as it raises bridges, is Fleet Week. During the arrival and departure of ships, TriMet encourages riders to plan an extra 30-45 minutes, especially if they’re crossing the Willamette River.

This year, ships are expected to be at the waterfront from June 6-13, starting a day earlier than in previous years. Bridge lifts will be necessary on June 6, 7 and 8 as the ships arrive, and again when they depart on June 11, which will temporarily disrupt some service.

• All MAX lines cross the Steel Bridge and will be stopped as long as the bridge is up. Since it’s not known how long the afternoon bridge lifts will last, TriMet encourages riders to be flexible and consider planning an alternate route if they can.

• During the lifts, MAX trains and buses will hold at stations and stops near the river. Shuttle buses may be necessary to get riders around the disruption. It’s important to keep in mind that the disruption near the river will affect service throughout the system, so all MAX riders and some bus riders should plan extra time during the ships’ arrivals and departures.

• Our crews will be monitoring the lifts and adjusting service as necessary.

• Please check trimet.org/alerts before heading out, as service may change repeatedly.

We thank our riders for their flexibility and patience during this year’s festivities. Watching the big ships come in has been a Portland tradition shared by generations, and we’re excited to welcome them back into the heart of the city this year.

Steeped in tradition

Fleet Week is just one of the annual traditions worth checking out this year. In the 115 years since the first seeds of the Rose Festival were planted, plenty of traditions have weathered the decades practically unchanged. But because these events take over some city roads, a number of bus lines will be affected while they’re happening.

• The Grand Floral Parade has entertained generations of Portlanders since the first official Rose Festival in 1907. This year’s Spirit Mountain Grand Floral Parade travels through the Lloyd neighborhood on Saturday, June 10, starting at 10 a.m. at Memorial Coliseum and ending at the Lloyd Center. Detoured bus lines for the Grand Floral Parade will include: lines 4, 6, 8, 17, 35, 44, 70 and 77.

• Also in 1907, an “electric parade” lit up the streets and awed onlookers with this newfangled technology. But even as the novelty of electricity waned, the lights didn’t dim, and it eventually became the Starlight Parade. It begins on Saturday, June 3, with the Starlight Run at 6:30 p.m. followed by the parade on 8 p.m. Both start on Southwest Naito Parkway before weaving their way through Downtown toward Providence Park. Detoured bus lines will include: lines 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 54, 56 and 63.

• Roots for the Junior Parade date back—unofficially at least—to 1918, when children, disappointed that the official festival had been called off due to WWI, staged their own parade. Eventually, it became an official part of the festival in 1936, and today it’s the nation’s oldest and largest children’s parade. This year’s Fred Meyer Junior Parade will travel through the Hollywood District, mainly on Northeast Sandy Boulevard, beginning at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7. Detoured bus lines for the Junior Parade will include: 12, 75 and 77.

We’re here to help

Need help getting around on TriMet’s system? Our Rider Support team is available between 7:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. daily via phone call or text message at 503-238-7433 and on Twitter at @trimethelp. We hope to see you on board as you enjoy a fun, safe and memorable Rose Festival!

New platform at Portland International Airport (PDX) will be constructed, June 18-Oct. 21, along with a second MAX Red Line track

As TriMet rolls past the 65% mark for construction of our A Better Red MAX Extension and Reliability Improvements Project, a four-month disruption to the MAX Red Line is necessary to get us closer to the finish line. During the 126-day project, lasting June 18 through Oct. 21, stations between Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport will be closed, allowing crews to access TriMet right-of-way and perform major construction. Shuttle buses will replace MAX Red Line trains and serve closed stations.

The disruption will allow for Better Red’s most intensive work yet, which includes building around half a mile of new track and demolishing and reconstructing the Portland International Airport platform.

TriMet will have extra staff—our Ride Guides—stationed at the Gateway Transit Center and PDX for the first two weeks of this latest phase of the project. Transit Security Officers and customer service personnel will be at PDX and Gateway at other times during the project and can also assist riders. Riders will want to look for signs directing them to shuttle bus stops. For more information about the project, go to trimet.org/improvements.

Shuttle buses: Gateway to PDX

From June 18-Oct. 21, the only TriMet service provided to Portland International Airport will be by bus. Shuttle buses will take riders to MAX stations between Gateway Transit Center and PDX, departing about every 15 minutes.

MAX Red Line trains will continue to run between Beaverton Transit Center and Gateway Transit Center, but will be arriving less often—every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes.

Riders will want to plan ahead, as the disruption could add up to 30 minutes to some trips. You can do that now by going to trimet.org/planner. Just remember to set your travel time for a date during the disruption period. We’re thankful to have understanding riders, and we appreciate your patience as we make these improvements. We look forward to introducing you to the new and improved PDX MAX Station when service returns on Sunday, Oct. 22.

Track and platform construction

Observant riders may notice that the Portland International Airport MAX Station looks different from most of our other rail stations. It’s triangular and tapered at the eastern end, rather than being rectangular and uniform. That has worked for the current configuration, where the track splits at the station, sending trains to either side of the platform. But we want to reduce delays and increase reliability, so we’re adding a second track and making the tracks parallel.

TriMet looked to the MAX Orange Line, featuring our newest stations, for how to design an updated PDX platform. Beyond giving riders more space, a rectangular platform will also allow for the installation of an improved shelter, providing coverage to access both MAX cars and offering people more cover.

The second track will be built along the section of MAX Red Line between Air Cargo Road and PDX. This critical part of the Better Red Project will allow trains to move around each other without having to wait for one to pass. Additionally, TriMet crews will use the time to build a new multi-use path and rail crossing at Air Cargo Road, along with nearly a dozen smaller maintenance and improvements projects along the disrupted section of trackway.

A Better Red

A Better Red is TriMet’s largest rail project since the opening of the MAX Orange Line in 2015. TriMet is adding another track for MAX Red Line trains between the Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport, building new bridges to carry these trains and a new platform north of the Gateway Transit Center. In Washington County, TriMet is extending the Red Line west 10 stations, to run between Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport and PDX

Recently, we finished tying in special track work at Gateway Transit Center. That track component is a key piece that will connect A Better Red’s various improvements together once the project is completed and opens to the public in late 2024. A Better Red is one of many ways TriMet is addressing the transportation needs of the Portland metro area. Better, more reliable transportation options mean cleaner air, improved convenience and more opportunities for everyone.

For more information on A Better Red, visit trimet.org/betterred.