- Rail for the Valley
- Green Line as an infant
Tri Met’s MAX Green Line will turn one year old this Sunday the 12th! TriMet are proud parents parents, but will keep celebrations low key this year (the posh kick-off party last year involved foie gras fig newtons and another featuring a green line dance crew).
“There’s no party,” TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetch says. “We’ll just have a sign at the end of the line saying ‘Thank you riders!’.” Ridership has grown a little but over the past year—the Green Line started off with 17,000 weekday trips when it first opened and was up to 19,000 in June.
The $575 million rail line connecting downtown to Clackamas was 30 years in the making, but investing in high capital light rail project brought criticism on opening day and now about prioritizing rail over cheaper bus service.
So, after one year to try it out, how’s the line been? Worth the cost?
Wouldn’t know, as I don’t see myself ever having a need to ride it.
$575 million is a LOT of bus maintenance.
There are a few grammatical/continuity issues with the post, FYI.
The Green Line is indispensable around our house… the kid skates to the transit center and then can MAX it down to Ed Benedict skate park. That’s one mid-90s Volvo off the road.
Note that the $575m includes the cost of putting light rail onto the bus mall downtown.
I love the Max trains! Much more than buses. But I love the buses too! I want more service! Service after 11pm. I will pay more taxes for my mass transit service!
I loved living next to the Max. But that was only because it was one block from my house and it dropped me off a few blocks away from work. I don’t use it any more since I moved. Also, I’ll bet the tourists love it for the random fights that occur on the trains. Awesome!