Officials cut the ribbon in Oregon City on better bus service, part of TriMet's major Aug. 25 service update

City and county leaders joined TriMet officials outside the Oregon City Transit Center on Friday morning, Aug. 23, to highlight upcoming bus service improvements.

TriMet is adding several new bus lines and adjusting more to better meet riders' needs, starting this Sunday, Aug. 25. We were proud to celebrate these improvements Friday with some of our key partners!

Clackamas County Commissioner Paul Savas and Mayors Denyse McGriff of Oregon City, Rory Bialostosky of West Linn and Joe Buck of Lake Oswego were among those who attended the ribbon cutting.

"Regional connections are vital to ensure that all our residents can move through our county, no matter where they live or work," said Commissioner Savas. "I will continue working with TriMet and other partners to make transit in our area accessible, reliable, and convenient."

"Oregon City has been working with our partner Clackamas County to bring improved transit/bus service to Oregon City," Mayor McGriff said. "The proposed upgrades to the Transit Center and the new improved lines 34 and 76 will help improve the connectivity for our residents to get where they need to go - for both work, appointments and leisure activities."

"The top of the hill in West Linn has not ever had TriMet service in the past, so this is increasing access to a whole new segment of West Linn and several of our neighborhoods," Mayor Bialostosky said of the new improvements. "Any time we can increase connections and increase access to transit for folks, that's awesome."

"We are thankful for the continued work with TriMet and regional partners as we work together for continued improvements to the transit system that better serve our suburban community and create more connected, accessible, safe and climate-friendly transportation options for residents," said Mayor Buck. "We are moving Forward Together!"

What's new?

Starting Sunday, Aug. 25, we're adding several new bus lines, adjusting several more to better meet riders' needs, and discontinuing a few lines that overlap with new and existing service. You can find the details at trimet.org/servicechange.

In Clackamas County, TriMet is:

• Creating Line 153-Stafford/Salamo, a brand-new community connector between Lake Oswego and West Linn.
• Extending Line 34-Linwood/River Rd to serve the growing Clackamas Heights area of Oregon City
• Adding midday service on Line 29-Lake/Webster Rd, so patients can take the bus to their appointments at the new Lake Road Health Center.
• Extending hourly trips on Line 76-Hall/Greenburg to connect Washington County communities with West Linn and Oregon City.
• Providing new northbound service on Line 291-Orange Bus to Portland City Center, running in place of some late-night MAX Orange Line trips.

Among other notable improvements across our service area:

• The extended MAX Red Line will serve 10 additional stations west of the Beaverton Transit Center, providing a one-seat ride from the Hillsboro Airport to the Portland Airport.
• The extended Line 25-Glisan/Troutdale Rd will connect the Gateway/NE 99th Ave Transit Center with Troutdale and East Gresham, adding stops at Reynolds High School, Mt. Hood Community College and other destinations.
• The new Line 40-Tacoma/Swan Island will link major job centers like Swan Island and Downtown Portland with residential areas like the South Waterfront and Sellwood neighborhoods, as well as all five MAX lines.

Historic improvements

This service update has a tremendous scope - it's one of the single largest updates in TriMet's history. To prepare for it, we're working on about 550 bus stops across the tri-county area. That includes installing new stops, updating signs at existing stops and removing stops that are closing.

We're also installing new signage at about 100 MAX stations. Some of that signage is for the MAX Red Line extension. Other signage will direct late-night riders to buses running in place of the last few MAX trains of the night. This late-night service includes Line 291-Orange Bus, as well as new bus lines along the MAX Blue, Red and Yellow lines. Find more information at trimet.org/maxbus.

Plan your trip now at trimet.org. Just select a date on or after Sunday, Aug. 25, and find the best way to reach your destination on transit.

Forward Together

Partnerships and public input are central to TriMet's Forward Together service concept.

Our goal with Forward Together is to increase ridership and improve service and connections for people, especially those who rely on transit to get where they need to go. We're guided in this by the feedback we receive, from community members and leaders alike.

Our partners specifically requested some of the improvements included in next week's service update - for example, midday service on Line 29 to the Lake Road Health Center, which was a key priority for Clackamas County.

We appreciate our partners! We count on their support and involvement as we provide high-quality transit service across the tri-county area, and we work closely with them to make that service even better. Like Mayor Buck said, we truly are moving Forward Together!

We are excited to roll out the latest Forward Together bus improvements next week, including more community connections for Clackamas County and more service for workers, students and more throughout our region. Look out for additional improvements later this year, into 2025 and beyond.

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