Exclusive: TriMet Conceptualizes Next 20 Years of Portland Transit Policy

In 1986, the Portland Metropolitan Area’s regional public transportation authority TriMet opened the Banfield Light Rail project connecting Gresham to Downtown Portland, commencing the operation of the country’s second modern light rail system to set the city up as a pioneer in public transportation and transit-oriented development. Since then, the MAX Light Rail System has undergone five major expansions, including the Westside MAX extension through the Tualatin Mountains to Hillsboro, the Yellow Line between Downtown and North Portland, the Red Line to the Portland International Airport, the Green Line from Clackamas to Downtown, and, most recently, the Orange Line from Milwaukie to Downtown in 2015. However, urban rail transit construction has slowed to a crawl across the country, including Portland, since the COVID-19 pandemic, as costs skyrocket and transit agencies increasingly shift their priorities to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Transit Explorer reports that American cities collectively built just 18 miles of new urban rail in 2024. In Portland, TriMet has focused its largest post-COVID ridership recovery efforts on expanding the bus system, which has 78 lines and approximately 130,000 daily riders, through the ongoing Forward Together project. This initiative has increased frequency on existing bus lines and added new service to previously uncovered areas. TriMet has also worked on improving, rather than expanding, existing light rail service through the A Better Red Project and station rehabilitation initiatives. To envision the Portland Metro Area’s long-term transit development in a post-COVID world with significantly different urban travel patterns, TriMet has developed a cost-unconstrained 20-year Strategic Transit Vision including major upgrades and changes to both the MAX Light Rail and bus systems. 

In a project update presentation given to the Metro Transit Planning Advisory Committee (TPAC) in September 2024, TriMet set out a vision for a project that was then called Forward Together 2.0. This plan was intended to provide an aspirational vision for service growth, support TriMet’s Vision 2030 climate goals, identify how to meet ridership targets, and provide a tool to seek additional operating revenue. The creation of the Strategic Transit Vision is described as a seven-step process, in which TriMet has currently finished developing its Locally Preferred Alternative for a draft network and is preparing to initiate community outreach before revising and finalizing the plan. 

Major improvements proposed in the presentation include increasing service on all MAX segments to 7.5 minute or shorter headways, bringing MAX service frequency closer to systems like the Seattle Link Light Rail, which runs up to every six minutes and the Vancouver SkyTrain that runs every two to six minutes. TriMet would also add ten more Frequent Service or Frequent Express bus lines than under Forward Together 1.0, increasing the projected percentage of 2045 service area residents living within half a mile of Frequent Service from 46% to 54% and allowing the median resident to access 69,000 jobs within 45 minutes. TriMet would revive the Southwest Corridor Light Rail project extending the MAX system to Southwest Portland down to Tualatin, and introduce a new Teal Line on the existing alignment between Clackamas Town Center and the Portland International Airport. A full draft network is available in ArcGIS. The plan has yet to reach its public outreach period, so it has not been reported in any Portland-area news media until now. However, after discovering a series of public records on the project, the Quest reached out to a TriMet spokesperson, who provided additional details about regional transit planning priorities.

TriMet spokesperson Mark Miller told the Quest, “In coming up with our Strategic Transit Vision, TriMet’s planners considered what would be the ideal way to provide bus and MAX light rail service throughout our region, including in areas where we don’t currently have fixed-route service. These considerations account for the changing travel patterns we’ve seen coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as growth trends. One important piece that did not fall within the scope of their planning, however, was identifying how these service improvements would be funded. The purpose was to come up with an aspirational vision of the service we would like to provide, without financial constraints.”

Draft 2045 network from the TriMet Strategic Transit Vision. Note the increased Frequent Service and Frequent Express bus coverage and revival of the Southwest Corridor Light Rail Project. Image courtesy of Washington County public records.

Miller explained that TriMet believes the Strategic Transit Vision is important for two main reasons. First, he said that it gives the agency a goal to aspire towards, such as identifying routes where new bus service can serve growing neighborhoods, schools, and employment centers. While these lines are still conceptual and TriMet does not have a plan to implement them, the network can grow and shift to align with the priorities set out in the Strategic Transit Vision as TriMet improves transit service throughout its service area. Some projects are already in progress, like the $330 million project to bring Frequent Express (BRT) service to 82nd Avenue. 

Second, Miller said that TriMet can use its vision to advocate for funding for service improvements and extensions from government and community partners. For example, the vision includes a revived version of the Southwest Corridor Light Rail Project, which Portland area voters turned down in a 2020 referendum because it would have increased taxes. Miller said that the revised extension proposal, which would consist of a southwestern Yellow Line expansion instead of a Green Line expansion, “reflects our continued desire to bring high-capacity transit service to Southwest Portland and Tigard, along the route we identified during the planning process last decade.” To implement the project, he said TriMet will need significant support from local, state, and federal partners, for which the Strategic Transit Vision is an important part of TriMet’s argument.

While the Strategic Transit Vision guides TriMet’s ambitions, Metro, the Portland Metropolitan Area’s regional government, typically takes the lead on regional transportation planning. Miller noted that Metro took the lead on envisioning and planning major ongoing transportation projects like the 82nd Avenue Transit Project, as well as proposed projects like the shelved Southwest Corridor Light Rail extension and MAX Tunnel Study.

“As for TriMet, we’re continually working to improve the transit and paratransit services we provide throughout our 533-square-mile, tri-county service area. To that end, we look out for opportunities to line up funding that will allow us to upgrade, extend and add service. As these opportunities present themselves in the months and years ahead, we’re hopeful our service map will look more and more like our Strategic Transit Vision,” said Miller.