Light rail travels in its own right of way and doesn't get stuck in traffic. Riders also like its permanence and predictability, relatively quiet operation and zero emissions—a good fit in urban settings. Not to mention the wide doors, spacious interiors and smooth ride.
The permanence of light rail and its ability to influence and support compact, mixed-use development around stations makes it an important tool that supports this region's growth management plan. Since the decision to build MAX, more than $3.8 billion in development has occurred within walking distance of the MAX stations.
The Portland area's development policies and transportation investments have created a compact region that has saved billions of dollars in public and utility infrastructure costs, including costly urban freeways, neighborhood disruptions and increased air pollution.
Light rail is part of a balanced transportation system that also includes roads, freeways, bike routes, sidewalks and other modes of transit including buses, streetcar, and—in the future—bus rapid transit (BRT). Light rail works within the existing road system, crossing local streets at grade and in coordination with the roadway signal system. About 100,000 trips are taken on MAX on an average weekday; and it carries one-third of all weekday transit trips.
© 2008 Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) • Terms
of Use | Privacy
Policy | Linking to portlandmall.org
portlandmall.org is
managed by TriMet in partnership with
the Downtown Marketing Initiative.
The I-205/Portland Mall Light Rail Project is a partnership of:
