PT in Portland

[KJBrissy]

I am interested to get some maps and details on Heavy Rail, Light Rail, Buses and other transport modes.

Also is there a departments that looks after PT in Portland/Oregan and if so what is the website.

Cheers

[MarkDaMan]

here is TriMet's website (www.trimet.org) which has an interactive map feature of Portland's public transportation lines, coded per use.
http://www.trimet.org/interactivemap/tmMap.jsp

this system map is about five years old


here is the 'Frequent Service' map (all busses 15 minutes or better all day, everyday however there is no overnight service)




Here's the current MAX LRT map:


and with future expansions (green line and purple commuter rail under construction, yellow line to Milwaukie in development stage with $250M pledged by the state of Oregon.)


there is a map of the Portland Streetcar loop at this link:

http://www.portlandstreetcar.org/map/map_printable1.pdf

The streetcar is expected to more than double it's current service area in the next 5 to 10 years. www.portlandstreetcar.org

and lastly the Aerial Tram (www.portlandtram.org) Which only has one line running between the upcoming high density South Waterfront District and the Oregon Health and Sciences University

[KJBrissy]

Cheers...great info.

Are most of the 'cultural' places such as art galleries, music venues, clubs etc located in the CBD and the inner east?

[Pavlov's Dog]

Then theres the Eastside Streetcar loop:

image hosted on flickr

Go east, Streetcar
A new loop proposed for the central east side makes sense, although there are still questions to answer
Sunday, August 19, 2007

The Portland Streetcar inspires a level of excitement only tangentially related to its actual transportation value. But, then, you already knew that. Sleek and eye-catching as it is, it travels at the speed of traffic, so you can often get where you want to go more quickly by walking.

For civic leaders around the country, though, its speed is a mundane detail. The 80 or so other U.S. cities yearning to build a streetcar are rightfully more interested in its near-mystical effects on development. Near-mystical, we say, because a streetcar's way of sparking or speeding development can be hard to pin down -- but it's real.

We'll get back to that in a second. The overriding question about the $147 million streetcar extension proposed for Portland's east side is whether it will take the city where it needs to go. And it certainly will. The extension will help to take thousands of new residents across the Willamette River.

To meet deadlines to apply for $75 million in federal funds, the Portland City Council must decide Sept. 6 whether to support the extension's financing plan. Although there are certainly more questions to answer, a plan to draw $27 million from three urban renewal districts appears to be reasonable. The Portland City Council should unanimously support the plan for this ambitious extension, positioning Portland to win federal funds.

The new loop eventually will connect the Lloyd district to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Grand Avenue. It will take the streetcar to the east side for the first time, and that, in itself, is very important.

This extension will change the mental map of Portland's downtown. Although the streetcar is not fast, it does act as a "walk-extender," mentally collapsing distances and convincing people to walk farther than they would have walked without it. All indicators suggest that the east side extension will have this effect, too, and multiply the downtown's reach of influence.

The new extension will also keep promises to property owners in the Lloyd district and the central east side, two areas with tremendous potential, long poised for growth and banking on the streetcar's arrival. Zoning changes are going to be needed, too, and there are other problems to address. But if the right groundwork is laid, city studies suggest a streetcar will accelerate residential development dramatically.

True, the success of the first Portland Streetcar, connecting the Pearl District to Northwest Portland, may have been somewhat anomalous. It's impossible to say what would have happened without the streetcar. What is clear, though, is that developers are quicker to build when a streetcar is coming -- and they build higher.

The streetcar has a mystique that translates to marketing appeal, and also helps to create a more attractive street environment. At some point a developer's confidence turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy, momentum builds and sales take off.

We don't want to minimize the obstacles ahead, but the council should move forward confidently. Help this city catch its next streetcar.

[Pavlov's Dog]

Lest we forget our often forgotten Washingtonians we have this C-tran map. Clark County is just accross the Columbia River from Portland and has a rapidly growing population, many of whom commute to Oregon to work.



Go to http://www.c-tran.com/ to see more maps of services outside the core.

Clark County residents rejected a proposal to build the yellow line light-rail up to Hazel Dell. This time public support is positive. Expect both a yellow line and red line branch if it happens.

[Pavlov's Dog]

Informative map from nycsubway.org showing possible extensions.

[LILYuCa503]

omg I luv Portland so much, im so happy that they are adding more rail lines yes, Im like a dialy user and use the Bus/max around 40 times a week becuase im still in school (benson) but light rial somtimes goes really slow and its jammed in the morning like a pack of potatoes lol