TriMet , more formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon , is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 by the Oregon legislature, the district replaced five private bus companies that operated in the three counties; Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas. TriMet started operating a light rail system named MAX in 1986, and opened new lines in 1998 (Westside), 2001 (Airport), 2004 (Interstate Ave.), and 2009 (Clackamas), as well as a commuter rail line in 2009. It also runs the Portland Vintage Trolley on light rail lines in Downtown Portland and operates the City of Portland owned Portland Streetcar.
In addition to rail lines, TriMet provides the region's bus system, as well as LIFT paratransit service. There are 660 buses in TriMet's fleet that operate on 81 routes. In Fiscal Year 2009, the entire system averaged almost 325,000 rides per weekday and operates buses and trains between the hours of approximately 5 a.m. and 2 a.m. with no "night owl" service. TriMet's annual revenues total $404 million, with over half of the revenues coming from a district-wide payroll tax. The district is overseen by a seven-person board of governors appointed by the state's governor.
General information
TriMet is "a municipal corporation of the State of Oregon", with powers to tax, issue bonds, and enact police ordinances and is governed by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the Governor of Oregon. It has its own boundary, which currently encompasses an area of about 575 square miles. The TriMet district serves portions of the counties of Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas; it extends from Troutdale to Forest Grove east to west, and from Sauvie Island to Oregon City and Estacada north to south.
For more than 30 years the agency called itself Tri-Met , but it formally dropped the hyphen from its name in 2002, as part of a new corporate identity strategy involving a redesigned logo and new color scheme for its vehicles and other media.
TriMet was formed in 1969 after disputes between the city and Rose City Transit Co., the private company that previously operated the bus system serving the city of Portland. The new public agency was created by an ordinance of the Portland city council, under provisions of a law enacted by the 1969 Oregon Legislature, and took over all of Rose City Transit's service and fleet effective December 1, 1969. Bus service in the suburban portions of the metropolitan area was operated by four smaller private companies which had a common union and were collectively known as the "blue bus" companies or the "blue lines": Portland Stages, Intercity Buses, Tualatin Valley Buses and Estacada-Molalla Lines. These were taken over by TriMet on September 6, 1970. Eighty-eight buses owned by the four suburban companies were transferred to TriMet, but many were found to be in poor condition and the TriMet board soon took action to replace them with new buses.
The TriMet district is currently divided into three fare zones, with fares based on the number of zones in which a passenger travels. Zone 1 consists of the Portland city center out one to two miles. Zone 2 is a ring around Zone 1 out two to three more miles. Zone 3 wraps around Zone 2 and consists of rest of the system within the suburbs of Portland. Within Zone 1 is Fareless Square, an area in and around downtown Portland within which all rides on the TriMet system are zero-fare. TriMet tickets and passes are also valid on the Portland Streetcar, which is owned by the City of Portland but operated mostly by TriMet personnel under a contract with the city.
In Fiscal Year 2009, TriMet operated a total of 654 buses on 81 lines, 105 MAX light rail cars on three lines, and 269 LIFT paratransit vehicles. MAX and 12 of the bus lines are marketed as "Frequent Service" lines, scheduled to operate at headways of 15 minutes or better for most of the service day, seven days a week.
TriMet connects to several other mass transit systems:
- The Portland Streetcar, which, as noted, is owned and managed by the City of Portland;
- C-TRAN, which provides service to Vancouver, Washington and surrounding Clark County;
- four systems providing service to cities which withdrew from the TriMet District: Canby Area Transit (for Canby), Sandy Area Metro (for Sandy), South Metro Area Regional Transit (for Wilsonville) and South Clackamas Transportation District (for Molalla);
- work site shuttles such as Clackamas Link Shuttle (serving Clackamas Town Center) and Swan Island Evening Shuttle
- two systems providing service to outlying counties: the Tillamook County Transportation District, and Yamhill County Transportation; and
- several shuttles providing specialized services.
Long-range transportation planning for the metropolitan area is provided by Metro, an elected regional government. Metro also has statutory authority to take over the day-to-day operations of TriMet, but has never exercised that power, as past studies of such a merger have found it to be problematic.
Rail lines
See also: MAX Light Rail and Westside Express ServiceTriMet runs the MAX Light Rail (short for Metropolitan Area Express) system, and contracts with Portland and Western Railroad to operate the Westside Express Service (WES) commuter rail line. Fares on MAX (as well as WES) are the same as TriMet bus fares, and fare collection uses a proof-of-payment system (or honor system) with ticket vending machines at each station. Fare inspectors patrol the system randomly; no system is available to consistently check fares like SmarTrip in Washington, DC, or Chicago Card in Chicago, Illinois. There are currently no plans to implement such a system, despite reports of violence on the system and calls for more security.
TriMet trains operate using reporting mark TMTC .
TriMet's rail lines include:
- MAX Blue Line : Hillsboro/Beaverton/City Center/Gresham
- MAX Red Line : Beaverton/City Center/Airport
- MAX Yellow Line : City Center/Expo Center
- MAX Green Line : City Center (Portland State University)/Clackamas Town Center
- MAX Orange Line (in design): City Center/Milwaukie
- Westside Express Service : Beaverton/Wilsonville
TriMet also operates the Portland Vintage Trolley service, which runs on a portion of the MAX system and currently operates on Sundays only.
Fleet
Buses
TriMet's fleet includes 660 buses, in lengths of either 40 or 30 feet (12 or 9 meters). Currently, about half of TriMet's buses are low-floor vehicles. The agency's fleet of paratransit vehicles included 254 minibuses and 15 sedans as of mid-2009.
TriMet does not currently operate any 60-foot (18 m) articulated buses. In 1982, the agency introduced 87 such buses, manufactured by a now-defunct partnership between Ikarus, of Hungary, and Crown Coach, of California, but experienced numerous problems with them, and has not purchased any more articulated buses. The last such buses were retired in 1999. However, over the intervening years the agency has introduced and expanded its MAX light rail system, which also uses higher-capacity, articulated vehicles. In 1997, the TriMet board decided that all buses purchased in the future should be low-floor type and equipped with air-conditioning. The decision was for a gradual phase-out of high-floor, non-air-conditioned buses, as they reach the ends of their normal service lives, meaning that the transition was not expected to be completed until about 2013.
Two hybrid electric buses have been in service since 2002. However, TriMet has publicly stated its position that the hybrid buses have not performed sufficiently better than its newest diesel buses to justify the estimated 50-percent-higher purchase cost, and that consequently the agency has no plans to purchase additional hybrid buses. Since October 30, 2006, all TriMet buses and paratransit minibuses have been fueled by a B5 biodiesel blend. Plans to increase to a B10 or higher mix were later put on hold as a result of cost increases and problems experienced in a trial use of B10 blend in about one-quarter of the fleet.
In 2008 TriMet ordered 40 New Flyer D40LFR buses, which model features restyled ends, and these entered service in 2009. These buses offer better fuel efficiency and quieter operation than previous New Flyer buses while maintaining high parts compatibility. The restyled look replaces the square-shaped hea
TriMet Interactive Map
portland trimet bus rail tranist max map tripplanner
TriMet Developer Resources
Terms of Use © 2008 TriMet • Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon • Portland, Oregon
TriMet: Jobs and Employment Info - Careers at TriMet
Find a Career at TriMet. At TriMet, we work hard to keep the Portland area moving—all day, every day. We invite you to find your next job at TriMet, and see where it takes you.
TriMet: TransitTracker Stop ID
Back. What's a Stop ID? Every TriMet bus stop and MAX station has its own Stop ID number. Each number is unique and may be up to ...
TRIMET ALUMINIUM AG - Contact
TRIMET ALUMINIUM AG Aluminiumallee 1 D-45356 Essen Telephone: +49 201 3660 Telefax: +49 201 366506 Mail. TRIMET ALUMINIUM AG Branch Office Gelsenkirchen
TriMet: Public Transportation for the Portland, Oregon, Metro Area
TriMet provides public transportation in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. It's easy to get around on TriMet using buses, MAX Light Rail, WES Commuter Rail, and the Portland ...
TriMet
WELCOME TO TriMet - based in St. Louis Missouri. TriMet will focus on sales and service with the latest probing, scanning and innovative technologies for its customer base.
trimet.de: News
Decisive and in a good mood, TRIMET ALUMINIUM AG of Essen is now hoping for the recovery of the... The 2008/2009 business year: The TRIMET team masters difficult times
TriMet Developer Resources
TriMet Developer Resources. TriMet has made resources available to software developers, to promote the use of transit and information related to transit.
Tri-met Computers
Tri-Met Computers is a company that specializes in the needs of today's businesses. We work quickly to repair your broken PC, workstation, or network so ...