MAKING HISTORY 50 Years of TriMet and Transit in the Portland Region MAKING HISTORY 50 YEARS OF TRIMET AND TRANSIT IN THE PORTLAND REGION Prepared by the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon with encouragement from Congressman Earl Blumenauer Philip Selinger, Author and Researcher Angela Murphy, Editor and Project Manager Melissa Schmidt Morley, Graphic Designer With special appreciation to reviewers, contributors and TriMet support staff: Steve Morgan JC Vannatta Roberta Altstadt Alan Lehto Bernie Bottomly Debbie Huntington Thomas Gelsinon Steve Dotterrer Richard Feeney Rick Gustafson Neil McFarlane Special thanks to TriMet’s Communications Department staff for the numerous releases, announcements and reports from which material was sourced. We acknowledge and thank the contributors from the 45th Anniversary publication: Sandy Vinci, Philip Selinger, Janet Schaeffer, Laura Eddings, Andy Cotugno, Steve Dotterrer, Richard Feeney, Rick Gustafson, Bruce Harder, Tom Markgraf, Neil McFarlane, Ann Becklund, Bernie Bottomly, Mary Fetsch, Debbie Huntington, JC Vannatta, Steve Morgan, Carl Abbott, Sy Adler and Ethan Seltzer © TriMet, Portland, Oregon, 2019. Making History: 50 Years of TriMet and Transit in the Portland Region is available at trimet.org/makinghistory. Please check the web edition for updates. 190143 • 4M • 10/19 CONTENTS Foreword: 50 Years of Transit Creating Livable Communities . 1 Setting the Stage for Doing Things Differently . 2 Portland, Oregon’s Legacy of Transit . 4 Beginnings ............................................................................4 Twentieth Century .....................................................................6 Transit’s Decline. 8 Bucking National Trends in the Dynamic 1970s . 11 New Institutions for a New Vision .......................................................12 TriMet Is Born .........................................................................14 Shifting Gears .........................................................................17 The Freeway Revolt ....................................................................18 Sidebar: The TriMet and City of Portland Partnership .......................................19 TriMet Turbulence .....................................................................22 Setting a Course . 24 Capital Program ......................................................................25 Sidebar: TriMet Early Years and the Mount Hood Freeway ...................................29 The Banfield Project ...................................................................30 Sidebar: The Transportation Managers Advisory Committee ................................34 Sidebar: Return to Sender ..............................................................36 The Oregon Transit Association .........................................................36 Service Development and Innovation ...................................................36 Zigging Instead of Zagging .............................................................40 Sidebar: TriMet Finances: Understandable and Credible ....................................43 The Arrival of MAX .....................................................................46 Meeting the Goals of Inclusivity and Accessibility . 50 First Service and Oversight .............................................................50 Committee on Accessible Transportation is Created ......................................50 Sidebar: The Committee on Accessible Transportation .....................................52 Ride Connection ......................................................................53 ADA Changes the Greater Landscape ....................................................53 Low-Floor Vehicles ....................................................................54 Shaping the Regional Vision of the 1990s . 56 A Marriage of Transit with Land Use .....................................................56 Sidebar: The Portland Region: Making The Land Use/Transportation Connection. .57 Portland Streetcar Fills a Niche .........................................................59 The Next Level of Regional Transit Planning ..............................................62 Building Out The System: Opportunities and Challenges . 65 Going West ...........................................................................67 Sidebar: Beer Party with the President ...................................................71 Sidebar: The Shark Cage ...............................................................72 Sidebar: Ann’s Down ...................................................................74 Over—Or Through—The Hills to Hillsboro ................................................74 Sidebar: MAX Construction Requires Creative Community Relations .........................77 The Bi-State South-North Proposal ......................................................80 Sidebar: Fast Work .....................................................................81 MAX Grows Wings .....................................................................82 The Interstate Line Goes North .........................................................83 The Total Transit Experience ............................................................85 Sidebar: Making Transit Better, with Open Data, One App at a Time ..........................87 Sidebar: Being Heard ..................................................................90 iii MAX in Clackamas County and Downtown Portland ......................................92 WES: Suburb to Suburb Rail ............................................................93 A Second MAX Line Into Clackamas County ..............................................95 Streetcar To Lake Oswego .............................................................97 Diversity in Contracting ...............................................................98 Working with the Railroads ............................................................98 Sidebar: Constructing MAX While Building Business ........................................99 Reaffirming the Commitment to Safety and Security ....................................100 Belt Tightening and Rebuilding: Getting Back to Basics . 101 The Great Recession .................................................................101 Labor Strife, Again ...................................................................102 Recovery and Restoration ............................................................103 Sidebar: Making Good Things Happen: An Advocacy Story .................................107 TriMet Gets a New General Manager ....................................................110 Fares Become More Fair ..............................................................110 Sidebar: The Alchemy of Success .......................................................111 Transit Access .......................................................................113 Sidebar: Hollywood Transit Center Tribute ...............................................116 Division Transit Project ...............................................................117 Southwest Corridor ..................................................................118 Innovation In Service, Technology And Policy: A Legacy Of Leadership . 121 Early Visionaries .....................................................................121 Regional Relationships ...............................................................121 Suburban Champions ................................................................122 Community Activism .................................................................122 Sidebar: Better Transit with Community Engagement .....................................123 Private Sector Partners ...............................................................124 Legislative Support ..................................................................124 TriMet Leadership and Talented Staff ..................................................126 Sidebar: A Light Rail System Designed and Built by Women ................................127 Sidebar: Running A Transit System with Generations of Employees .........................129 The Role of Academia ................................................................130 Sidebar: Portland State University’s Portland Traffic and Transportation Course. .130 Looking Ahead To The Next 50 Years . 131 TriMet in 2019 .......................................................................131 TriMet Innovation ....................................................................132 Sidebar: Tech Trend-Setter .............................................................134 Unfinished Business .................................................................135 A History of Innovation ...............................................................138 Challenges and Opportunities ........................................................140 The Need for New Leadership and Creativity ............................................141 Planning for the Next 50 Years .........................................................142 Sidebar: Building on TriMet’s History: The 50 Years Ahead ..................................144 Appendix . 145 History of TriMet Bus Fleets ...........................................................145 MAX Light Rail Vehicle Roster .........................................................147 WES Commuter Rail Vehicle Roster ....................................................147 Ridership and Productivity