A Pioneering Spirit Drives Us
By Tia York, Manager of Media Relations, TriMet Public Affairs Division
Throughout its 55+ year history, TriMet, Oregon’s largest transportation provider, has always led with innovation.
For anyone who knows of Portland, it should come as no surprise that the city has always been at the leading edge of innovation and change. After all, our rallying cry is “Keep Portland Weird.” Being a bit different is in our DNA.
Humans have called our region home for more than 11,000 years. The Clackamas, Kathlamet, Multnomah and Tualatin occupied lands along the Columbia River long before white people arrived. Settlers ventured west along the Oregon Trail to what would become Portland in the 1840s.
Our transit roots run deep
Portland was incorporated in 1851 and in the early days grew so fast that the city earned the name “Stumptown.” The moniker paints a mental picture of what you would see at that time – tons of tree stumps left visible by a tidal wave of development.
As the city began to bustle, public transportation became a no-brainer. By 1872, Portland had taken delivery of its first trolleys, which arrived via steamship from San Francisco. Those trolleys, which would be drawn by horse or mule, formed the foundation of one of the nation’s most extensive systems of streetcar and interurban routes at that time, supplemented by marine railroads and river ferry crossings.
As the city flourished, and our modern transportation system took root, the pioneering spirit never wavered.
From bud to full bloom
Founded in 1969 from the remains of the floundering, private “Rose City Transit Company,” TriMet, the Tri County Metropolitan District of Oregon, has been a driving force in the Portland metro region for more than five decades. With modern-day modes including bus, MAX light rail, WES commuter rail and LIFT paratransit, and a service area covering 533 square miles across Oregon’s three most populous counties, TriMet provided more than 60 million rides in 2024. We also partner with the City of Portland to help operate and maintain the Portland Streetcar, a three-line system serving the central city.
When no leads to yes
Decisions made around the region’s transportation system during the 1960s and 1970s set the course for Portland and paved the way for TriMet’s innovation. One of the most significant decisions stopped a major freeway construction project that would have divided and destroyed Portland neighborhoods. Opposition to highway expansion led to state and local support for MAX, Metropolitan Area Express, our regional light rail service. Today it spans five lines and 60 miles of track, connecting suburban communities from one end of the region to the other.
“We want you to visit our State of Excitement often. Come again and again. But for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live. Or if you do have to move in to live, don’t tell any of your neighbors where you are going.” — Gov. Tom McCall, R-Oregon, 1971-1975
Leading the way
TriMet opened our first MAX line in September 1986. At the time, it was one of only three light rail systems in the country. Our first line was built along Interstate 84, the Banfield Freeway, with service for 15 miles between Downtown Portland and the suburb of Gresham, now Oregon’s fourth-largest city. Over time, we moved to a color-coded naming convention, and the first line was renamed MAX Blue Line.
More than a decade would pass before we would expand the system. Once the politics were settled, a decision was made to take the line 18 miles west through the suburbs of Beaverton and Hillsboro, home to the Silicon Forest.* The goal was to create a 33-mile, one-seat ride connecting some of the most vibrant and economically important communities in our region. But first, engineers had to conquer another big challenge, one that was 16 million years in the making.
*It was around this time that the City of Portland hosted Regional Rail Summits to involve citizens in the vision for the MAX extension. These summits evolved to become the national Rail~Volution conference, now known as Mpact Transit + Community.
A tunnel runs through it
Rock—metric tons of it—stood in our way. Volcanic basalt and underground deposits of soft silt make the earth within the Tualatin Mountains, more commonly known as Portland’s West Hills, an inconsistent mix of brittle, mushy and hard—the geological equivalent of baklava.
Geologists suggested using dynamite to blast through the westernmost mile of each tunnel. They recommended an impressive 278-foot-long tunnel-boring machine, affectionately named “Bore-Regard,” to drill the two miles from the east portal. But difficulties arose almost as soon as construction began. The fractured rock didn’t hold its shape as geologists had expected: It was like trying to tunnel through a hill of popcorn kernels.
After nine long months, an engineer from Italy came up with the winning strategy, and the boring machine carved a path through the mountain. TriMet’s MAX Blue Line marched westward-ho and would eventually share the track with MAX Red Line trains. Today, both lines serve the Washington Park MAX Station–-the deepest transit station in North America.
Stop and smell the roses
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! Today, the underground Washington Park MAX Station and TriMet’s Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People, are some of the region’s most spectacular architectural landmarks, and they can’t be traversed by car.
Built as part of the MAX Orange Line, which opened in 2015, Tilikum Crossing was the first new bridge to span the Willamette River in more than 40 years. But what makes it truly unique is who can use it: No cars allowed! Open to trains, buses, streetcars, cyclists, pedestrians and emergency vehicles, TriMet’s Tilikum Crossing was the first bridge of its kind in the U.S.!
The Washington Park Tunnel and Tilikum Crossing are amazing structures that are more than beautiful, they are integral parts of our regional transit system. They are where form meets function, giving buses, trains and the people who ride them an advantage–a faster, more reliable trip, with a one-of-a-kind view.
“Tilikum symbolizes coming together. It conveys connections, in not only the relationships between people, but in the connections we will make as we ride, walk, run and cycle across this beautiful new bridge.”
— Chet Orloff, naming committee chair and historian
“The power to shape Oregon’s future remains where it has always been – in our collective hands.”
— Gov. Ted Kulongoski, D-Oregon, 2003-2009
Keep Portland Weird
If one-of-a-kind is what you call weird, we’ll take it. Nestled in the heart of Portland, TriMet has always strived to be better and to do better by our community. TriMet innovations keep people moving, throughout our region and around the world!
- First train-to-plane service on the West Coast! TriMet’s MAX Red Line opened in 2001, providing a new connection between the Portland International Airport, Downtown Portland and Beaverton. It was built through a unique public-private partnership. TriMet extended the MAX Red Line to Hillsboro in 2024, as part of our A Better Red MAX Extension and Improvements Project.
- Collaboration brings you Google Transit! In 2005, Google and TriMet partnered to develop the GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification), now a worldwide standard for sharing transit data. So, it should come as no surprise that TriMet was the first transit system on Google Transit.
- Long-time sustainability champion! In 2006, TriMet became the first transit agency in the U.S. to use B5 biodiesel in all fixed-route buses. Another major improvement came in 2021 when we further reduced our carbon footprint by transitioning all fixed-route diesel buses to R99 renewable diesel.
- Buses powered by wind! In what was believed to be a U.S. transit industry first, TriMet unveiled our first five electric buses in 2019, powered 100% by wind energy.
- Hop Fastpass(R) makes waves! On the heels of launching our next-generation transit fare card, Hop Fastpass(R), TriMet worked with technology giants like Apple and Samsung to make the system easier to use. In 2019, we became the first agency in North America to launch a transit fare card in Apple Wallet.
At TriMet, the spirit of innovation is who we are, and it’s what we do. It’s an important part of our mission statement, to “be an innovative leader in delivering safe, convenient and sustainable mobility options for our region to be recognized as one of the world’s most livable places.” The 2025 Mpact Transit + Community conference also supports our march toward this goal. We extend a warm welcome to the conference and all attendees who will be joining us this fall! Plan your trips on trimet.org, our progressive web app, while in town. and track your bus or train in real-time.
