Editing MAX Light Rail (section)

==Services==

From Monday to Thursday, MAX trains run for 22{{frac|1|2}} hours per day. Additional late-night trips are provided on Fridays. Except for additional late-night trips on Saturdays, weekend service runs on a slightly reduced schedule.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trimet.org/max/index.htm#lines |title=MAX Lines & Schedules |publisher=TriMet |access-date=March 5, 2020 |archive-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222120957/http://trimet.org/max/index.htm#lines |url-status=live }}</ref> TriMet designates all MAX lines as "Frequent Service" routes, which ensures service runs on a 15-minute headway for most of each day.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trimet.org/maps/pdf/frequentservice.pdf |title=Frequent Service |publisher=TriMet |access-date=August 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509013853/http://trimet.org/maps/pdf/frequentservice.pdf |archive-date=May 9, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the early morning and late evening hours, trains operate with headways of up to 30{{nbsp}}minutes. During [[rush hour]]s, headways can be as short as three minutes, particularly in the central section of the system where lines overlap.<ref name="power-signals"/> At many stations, a live display shows the destination and time-to-arrival of the next several trains using data gathered by a [[vehicle tracking system]] installed on the light rail tracks.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trimet.org/tools/transittracker.htm |title=TransitTracker |publisher=TriMet |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302173524/https://trimet.org/tools/transittracker.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Ridership===
{| class="wikitable sortable" align="right" style="border-spacing: 1px; text-align:center; margin-left:1em;"
|-
|+ Annual MAX boardings
|- 
! style="border-bottom:1px solid black"| Fiscal year !! style="border-bottom:1px solid black"| Ridership !!style="border-bottom:1px solid black"|  {{abbr|%±|Percent change}}
|-
|1987<ref>{{cite conference |url=https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr221/221.pdf |title=Lessons Learned from New LRT Start-Ups: The Portland Experience |last=Gerhart |first=Richard L. |year=1988 |publication-date=1989 |publication-place=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[Transportation Research Board]] |book-title=Light Rail Transit: New System Successes at Affordable Prices |page=325 |conference=National Conference on Light Rail Transit |access-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-date=October 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005210032/https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr221/221.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|{{formatnum:7200000}}
|{{nbsp}}—
|- 
|2000
|{{formatnum:21165600}}
|{{change|7200000|21165600|disp=out|dec=1}}
|- 
|2005
|{{formatnum:31920000}}
|{{change|21165600|31920000|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2010
|{{formatnum:38390400}}
|{{change|31920000|38390400|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2015
|{{formatnum:37746000}}
|{{change|38390400|37746000|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2016
|{{formatnum:40019560}}
|{{change|37746000|40019560|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2017
|{{formatnum:39699760}}
|{{change|40019560|39699760|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2018
|{{formatnum:38906694}}
|{{change|39699760|38906694|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2019
|{{formatnum:38817600}}
|{{change|38906694|38817600|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2020
|{{formatnum:30780230}}
|{{change|38906694|30780230|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2021
|{{formatnum:14798155}}
|{{change|30780230|14798155|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2022
|{{formatnum:18647585}}
|{{change|14798155|18647585|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2023 
|{{formatnum:21899720}}
|{{change|18647585|21899720|disp=out|dec=1}}
|-
|2024
|{{formatnum:24069880}}
|{{change|21899720|24069880|disp=out|dec=1}}
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="3" style="border-top:1px solid black; font-size:85%; text-align:left" |Source: TriMet<ref name="trimet-ridership">{{cite web |title=TriMet Service and Ridership Information |url=https://trimet.org/about/pdf/trimetridership.pdf?v=0225 |publisher=TriMet |date=October 30, 2024 |access-date=April 22, 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250422144253/https://trimet.org/about/pdf/trimetridership.pdf?v=0225 |archive-date=April 22, 2025}}</ref>
|}

MAX carried over 38.8{{nbsp}}million total passengers in 2019, an average of 120,900 riders per day on weekdays. This is slightly lower than the number of riders recorded in 2018 and represents the system's third consecutive year of fallen ridership. MAX ridership peaked in 2012, when the system recorded around 42.2{{nbsp}}million annual passengers. 2016 marks the last year ridership increased; this was due to the opening of the Orange Line.<ref name="trimet-ridership"/> TriMet attributes falling ridership to perceived crime within trains and stations and lower-income riders being forced out of the inner city by rising housing prices.<ref name="Safe">{{cite news |last=Keizur |first=Christopher |title=Safe travels? |newspaper=Portland Tribune |url=https://portlandtribune.com/go/42-news/362854-242841-safe-travels |date=June 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804050017/https://portlandtribune.com/go/42-news/362854-242841-safe-travels |archive-date=August 4, 2018 |access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Zielinski |first=Alex |title=You Know Portland's Transportation Woes Have Reached a Breaking Point When... |work=[[Portland Mercury]] |url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2018/05/18/19925551/you-know-portlands-transportation-woes-have-reached-a-breaking-point-when |date=May 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804045911/https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2018/05/18/19925551/you-know-portlands-transportation-woes-have-reached-a-breaking-point-when |archive-date=August 4, 2018 |access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref> In 2019 (prior to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]), MAX was the [[List of United States light rail systems by ridership|fourth-busiest light rail system]] in the United States after the light rail services of [[Los Angeles Metro Rail|Metro Rail]] in [[Los Angeles]], the [[MBTA subway|MBTA]] in [[Boston]], and [[Muni Metro]] in San Francisco.<ref name="APTA-2018-Q4">{{cite web |url=https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/2018-Q4-Ridership-APTA.pdf |title=Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2018 |publisher=[[American Public Transportation Association]] |date=April 12, 2018 |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-date=May 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508212304/https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/2018-Q4-Ridership-APTA.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Fares===
{{See also|Hop Fastpass|TriMet#Fares}}
[[File:TriMet ticket vending machine with Hop Fastpass branding (2019).jpg|thumb|right|A TriMet ticket vending machine with Hop Fastpass branding]]
[[File:Hop Fastpass reader at Orenco MAX station (2017).jpg|thumb|right|upright|A Hop Fastpass card and ticket reader at a MAX station]]

As is standard practice on North American light rail systems,<ref name="TRB-off-board-fare-2013">{{cite web |author1=Larwin, Thomas F. |author2=Koprowski, Yung |title=Off-Board Fare Payment Using Proof-of-Payment Verification |url=https://trid.trb.org/view/1291220 |publisher=[[Transportation Research Board]] |access-date=November 26, 2018 |date=November 2013 |quote=Since the late 1970s POP verification has become the standard fare collection technique employed by all modern light rail transit systems in North America. |archive-date=November 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126135250/https://trid.trb.org/view/1291220 |url-status=live }}</ref> MAX uses [[proof-of-payment]] for fare collection, and stations do not have ticket barriers.<ref name="fare-turnstiles"/> TriMet employs an [[automated fare collection]] system through a [[stored-value card|stored-value]], [[contactless smart card]] called Hop Fastpass,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=NXP helps the Portland-Vancouver Metro region move intelligence to the cloud with the new Hop Fastpass™ Transit Card used on Buses, the Light Rail and Streetcars |url=https://www.mifare.net/nxp-helps-the-portland-vancouver-metro-region-move-intelligence-to-the-cloud-with-the-new-hop-fastpass-transit-card-used-on-buses-the-light-rail-and-streetcars/ |work=NXP Blog |date=October 9, 2017 |access-date=July 31, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> which can be purchased from the TriMet ticket office or participating retail outlets.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://myhopcard.com/home/get-card |title=Where to Get and Reload a Hop Card |publisher=TriMet |access-date=March 25, 2022 |archive-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130165032/https://myhopcard.com/home/get-card |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rollout Continues">{{cite web |last=Altstadt |first=Roberta |title=Major retailers continue selling paper tickets as Hop Fastpass™ rollout continues |url=http://news.trimet.org/2018/02/major-retailers-continue-selling-paper-tickets-as-hop-fastpass-rollout-continues/ |work=TriMet News |date=February 8, 2018 |access-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802071507/http://news.trimet.org/2018/02/major-retailers-continue-selling-paper-tickets-as-hop-fastpass-rollout-continues/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Smartphone]] users may download a [[digital card|virtual version]] of Hop Fastpass,<ref>{{cite news |last=Altstadt |first=Roberta |title=Portland's Virtual Hop Fastpass™ transit card now available to all Google Pay users |url=http://news.trimet.org/2018/04/portlands-virtual-hop-fastpass-transit-card-now-available-to-all-google-pay-users/ |work=TriMet News |date=April 16, 2018 |access-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809021735/http://news.trimet.org/2018/04/portlands-virtual-hop-fastpass-transit-card-now-available-to-all-google-pay-users/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Romero |first=Morgan |title=TriMet adds Hop Fastpass to Apple Wallet as paper tickets are phased out |publisher=[[KGW]] |date=April 5, 2019 |url=https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/trimet-adds-hop-fastpass-to-apple-wallet-as-paper-tickets-are-phased-out/283-38e7279c-11ea-481d-ab75-3b2084bdfc4c |access-date=August 1, 2019 |archive-date=August 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801145017/https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/trimet-adds-hop-fastpass-to-apple-wallet-as-paper-tickets-are-phased-out/283-38e7279c-11ea-481d-ab75-3b2084bdfc4c |url-status=live }}</ref> while single-use Hop Fastpass tickets are dispensed by ticket vending machines at every MAX station.<ref>{{cite news |last=Altstadt |first=Roberta |title=Hop Fastpass™ fare system takes more leaps forward with ticket machine, retail store transitions |url=http://news.trimet.org/2018/05/hop-fastpass-fare-system-takes-more-leaps-forward-with-ticket-machine-retail-store-transitions/ |work=TriMet News |date=May 16, 2018 |access-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802071702/http://news.trimet.org/2018/05/hop-fastpass-fare-system-takes-more-leaps-forward-with-ticket-machine-retail-store-transitions/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ticket-machines">{{cite web |title=Ticket Machines |url=https://trimet.org/fares/ticketmachines.htm |publisher=TriMet |access-date=November 25, 2018 |archive-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103133615/https://trimet.org/fares/ticketmachines.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Smartphones with a debit or credit card loaded into [[Google Pay (payment method)|Google Pay]], [[Samsung Pay]], or [[Apple Pay]], and Portland Streetcar 2{{frac|1|2}}-hour tickets and one-day passes can also be used to board MAX.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lum |first=Brian |title=You Can Now Use Hop With Just Your Phone |work=How We Roll, TriMet |url=http://howweroll.trimet.org/2017/08/22/you-can-now-use-hop-with-just-your-phone/ |date=August 22, 2017 |access-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802101749/http://howweroll.trimet.org/2017/08/22/you-can-now-use-hop-with-just-your-phone/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="streetcar fares">{{cite web|title=Fare Info: How to Purchase Fares|url=https://portlandstreetcar.org/fares/purchasing-tickets|publisher=Portland Streetcar Inc.|access-date=March 11, 2019|archive-date=March 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311064824/https://portlandstreetcar.org/fares/purchasing-tickets|url-status=live}}</ref> Riders must tap their fare medium onto a [[card reader]] with each boarding.<ref>{{cite news |last=York |first=Tia |title=Tapping 101: TriMet coaches riders on using Hop Fastpass® |date=October 10, 2019 |work=TriMet News |url=https://news.trimet.org/2019/10/tapping-101-trimet-coaches-riders-on-using-hop-fastpass/ |access-date=December 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229210453/https://news.trimet.org/2019/10/tapping-101-trimet-coaches-riders-on-using-hop-fastpass/ |archive-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> Fares are flat rate and are capped according to use.<ref>{{cite web |last=Njus |first=Elliot |title=Hop Fastpass: The pros and cons of TriMet's new e-fare system |work=The Oregonian |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2017/07/hop_fastpass_reflections_after.html |date=July 10, 2017 |access-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802071545/https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2017/07/hop_fastpass_reflections_after.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Using Hop Fastpass, riders may transfer to the Portland Streetcar and other TriMet and [[C-Tran (Washington)|C-Tran]] services.<ref name="hop-fares">{{cite web |url=https://trimet.org/hop/fares.htm |title=Hop fares |work=TriMet |access-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809031745/http://trimet.org/hop/fares.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Late-night bus service===

On August 25, 2024, TriMet introduced four new bus routes to replace late-night MAX services, to expand the length of time available each night for routine overnight maintenance. The new routes replace the last one or two MAX trips of the night on the Blue (two bus routes), Red, and Yellow Lines, but not the Green Line.<ref name="oreg-2024aug26">{{cite news |last1=Kish |first1=Matthew |title=TriMet announces sweeping changes to light rail, bus service |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2024/08/trimet-announces-sweeping-changes-to-light-rail-bus-service.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |work=[[The Oregonian]] |date=August 26, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://trimet.org/betterbus/servicechanges-fy25august.htm |title=August '24 Transit Service Changes |publisher=TriMet |access-date=August 28, 2024 |archive-date=August 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240828154041/https://trimet.org/betterbus/servicechanges-fy25august.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Plante |first1=Aimee |last2=Salk |first2=Ariel |title=Major changes coming to MAX, bus service as TriMet completes Hillsboro Airport expansion |date=August 26, 2024 |publisher=[[KOIN]] |url=https://www.koin.com/news/trimet-max-a-better-red-line-expansion-beaverton-hillsboro-airport/ |access-date=August 28, 2024 |archive-date=August 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827082406/https://www.koin.com/news/trimet-max-a-better-red-line-expansion-beaverton-hillsboro-airport/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This practice had already been in effect on the Orange Line since its opening in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trimet.org/schedules/r291.htm |title=291–Orange Night Bus |publisher=TriMet |access-date=November 2, 2024 |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105083405/https://trimet.org/schedules/r291.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://trimet.org/alerts/service-change/2015fall/index.htm |title=Fall 2015 Service Improvements |publisher=TriMet |date=August 2015 |access-date=November 2, 2024 |archive-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920034956/http://trimet.org/alerts/service-change/2015fall/index.htm#line291 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

===Discontinued services===
{{Main|Fareless Square|Portland Vintage Trolley}}

From the MAX system's opening until 2012, riding trains within [[Fareless Square]], which was known as the Free Rail Zone from 2010 to 2012, was free of charge. Fareless Square included all of downtown and, starting in 2001, part of the [[Lloyd District, Portland, Oregon|Lloyd District]]. The 37-year-old fare-free zone was discontinued on September 1, 2012, as part of system-wide cost-cutting measures. As part of the same budget cuts, TriMet discontinued its zonal fares and moved to a flat-fare system. Zones had been in place since 1986; higher fares were charged for longer journeys across four paid zones.<ref name=oreg-2012aug31/><ref name="going-to-the-max"/>

The MAX Mall Shuttle operated on weekday afternoons from when it was introduced on September 14, 2009, until 2011.<ref>{{cite web|date=August 17, 2009|title=MAX Light Rail Service Begins on the Portland Mall|publisher=City of Portland's Office of Neighborhood Involvement|url=http://gettingaroundportland.org/ONI/index.cfm?c=29385&a=259162|access-date=October 10, 2009}}</ref> It acted as a supplement to the light rail service provided on the Portland Transit Mall by the Green and Yellow lines.<ref name="mall stops">{{cite web|title=Portland Transit Mall Bus Stops and MAX Stations from Union Station to PSU|year=2009|publisher=TriMet|url=https://trimet.org/portlandmall/stopsandstations.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613002419/http://trimet.org/portlandmall/stopsandstations.htm|archive-date=June 13, 2010|access-date=May 13, 2014}}</ref> The Mall Shuttle operated between Union Station and [[Portland State University]] every 30 minutes from noon until 5:30{{nbsp}}p.m.<ref name="mall stops"/> TriMet discontinued this supplementary shuttle service on June 5, 2011.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rose |first=Joseph |title=TriMet will make several seasonal bus line adjustments Sunday |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=June 3, 2011 |url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2011/06/trimet_will_make_several_seaso.html |access-date=May 13, 2014 |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007082437/http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2011/06/trimet_will_make_several_seaso.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=maxmallshuttle2011>{{cite web|title=MAX Mall Shuttle |year=2011 |url=https://trimet.org/schedules/mallshuttle.htm |publisher=TriMet |access-date=May 13, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513094806/http://trimet.org/schedules/mallshuttle.htm |archive-date=May 13, 2014 }}</ref> Along with bus services, the mall continues to be served by two MAX lines in each direction—Green and Yellow lines northbound and Green and Orange lines southbound—which provide a combined average headway of 7.5 minutes in each direction at most times.

The [[Portland Vintage Trolley]] operated on the MAX system on most weekends from 1991 until 2014, serving the same stops. This service used 1991-built replicas of 1904 Portland streetcars. Originally, the Vintage Trolley service followed a section of the original MAX line between the Library and Galleria stations and [[Lloyd Center]]. In September 2009, the service moved to the newly opened MAX alignment along the transit mall, running between Union Station to Portland State University,<ref name="ptj2010-1"/><ref name="VTsched2012">{{cite web |title=Vintage Trolley 2012 Schedule on the Portland Mall |publisher=Portland Vintage Trolley website |url=http://myplace.frontier.com/~trolley503/VTSchedule.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201170503/http://myplace.frontier.com/~trolley503/VTSchedule.html |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |access-date=February 6, 2014}}</ref> and remained on this route in subsequent seasons. In 2011, the service was reduced to seven or eight Sundays per year,<ref name="taut-apr2011">''[[Tramways & Urban Transit]]'', April 2011, p. 152.  LRTA Publishing Ltd.</ref> and in July 2014 it was discontinued entirely and the two remaining faux-vintage cars were sold to a group planning [[Delmar Loop Trolley|a streetcar line]] in [[St. Louis]].<ref name="vt-ceased">{{cite web|title=Vintage Trolley Has Ceased Operation|url=http://myplace.frontier.com/~trolley503/VTSchedule.html|publisher=Portland Vintage Trolley website|access-date=January 2, 2015|date=September 2014|archive-date=February 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201170503/http://myplace.frontier.com/~trolley503/VTSchedule.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="taut-nov2014">{{cite news|title=Portland double-track is brought into use|work=[[Tramways & Urban Transit]]|publisher=LRTA Publishing|date=November 2014|page=454}}</ref>