Plans for light rail service to Portland International Airport surfaced in the 1980s, and efforts were accelerated during the airport's expansion in the 1990s. The Airport MAX project was conceived from an unsolicited proposal by Bechtel in 1997, and it was designed and built under a public–private partnership between a consortium of Bechtel and Trammell Crow, the Port of Portland, and local governments. Construction of the four-station, 5.5-mile (8.9 km) branch line began in 1999 and was completed in under two years due to the use of local and private financing and existing public right-of-way.
The Red Line began operating between the airport and downtown Portland on September 10, 2001. It was extended west along existing MAX tracks to Beaverton Transit Center in 2003. In 2024, the A Better Red project eliminated two single-track segments along the Airport MAX and extended Red Line service farther west to Hillsboro Airport and Westside Commons, formerly Washington County Fairgrounds, in Hillsboro.
History
Background and partnership agreement
Cascade Station shopping center, which Bechtel developed in exchange for building the Airport MAX
In 1975,[3]Multnomah County leaders negotiated reducing the number of car lanes along a future nine-mile (14 km) section of the controversial Interstate 205 (I-205) freeway and replaced it with a separated transit busright-of-way;[4][5] this right-of-way was realized as the I-205 busway,[6][7] but it was never utilized by buses.[3][8] The Portland metropolitan area's regional government, Metro, began a study in 1985 for the Port of Portland and Clackamas County, who proposed a light rail line using the I-205 busway. They envisioned the line running from Portland International Airport to Clackamas Town Center and connecting with the then-nearly completed Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) line, which traveled perpendicularly between Portland and Gresham.[9][10] Metro had recommended construction by 1995,[11][12] but in 1987, the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) separately identified the Westside Corridor from downtown Portland to Washington County as the "next priority corridor for major investment".[13][14][15] Metro and the regional transit agency, TriMet, subsequently called on local governments and businesses in Clackamas County to pursue alternative funding sources for the I-205 line,[16] which Clackamas County officials disputed.[17] As a compromise, Metro published a transit plan in 1989 that reasserted the Westside Corridor's priority and commissioned preliminary work for the I-205 proposal.[18][19]
In April 1991, the Port of Portland approved a master plan for Portland International Airport—a 20-year, $300 million phased expansion of the passenger terminal—to serve predicted passenger traffic growth through 2010.[20][21] The plan included a long-term goal for an extension of light rail to the airport and thus reserved space for a light rail station near the southern end of the terminal's arrivals hall and baggage claim area.[20][22] By 1993, however, the airport had already served 8.5 million annual passengers—a growth rate of 18 percent, which exceeded the Port's projection for the year 1997.[23][24] Meanwhile, environmental studies conducted in the early 1990s caused Metro planners to shift plans away from the I-205 corridor in favor of a north–south route farther west, closer to downtown Portland;[25] this route, between Hazel Dell, Washington and Clackamas Town Center, became known as the "South/North Corridor".[26]: 80 Voters rejected local funding proposals for the South/North project in 1995 and 1996. Seeking alternative sources of funding, Metro proposed combining the South/North project with a locally and privately funded airport light rail extension, as doing so would allow Metro to ask for more federal matching funds.[27][28] TriMet, however, opted to ask Portland-area voters for funding instead, who declined in a 1998 ballot measure.[29]
In 1997, engineering firm Bechtel, wanting to acquire property near the airport, submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop the airport light rail line.[26]: 82 The Port expressed its support of the proposal,[23] and a preliminary engineering study commenced in December.[30] After long deliberations, agreements were made between Bechtel, the Port, TriMet, and local governments and agencies in October 1998.[31][32] A part of the agreements authorized Bechtel to design and build a 5.5-mile-long (8.9 km) light rail extension to the airport in exchange for development rights to the 120-acre (48.6 ha), commercially zoned Portland International Center situated east of the airport. Bechtel later developed this property and renamed it Cascade Station.[33] The following month, the Associated Builders and Contractors filed a petition in Multnomah County Circuit Court claiming that the contract awarded to Bechtel may have violated Oregon procurement laws.[34] The court ruled in favor of TriMet with the judge declaring that the contract was awarded fairly.[35]
Funding and construction
The south portal of the tunnel that was built in the late 1970s as part of the I-205 busway and was first brought into use by the Red Line
TriMet estimated the cost of the Airport MAX extension to be $125 million, but additional costs to purchase train sets and build related infrastructure raised this total to $182.7 million.[36] The project's timeline was accelerated with the formation of a public–private partnership, which excluded Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding and thus eliminated a requirement for FTA approval.[26]: 82 [37] Under U.S. federal regulations along with authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Port was only able to fund a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) stretch within airport property.[32] To ensure funding for the entire project, the Port divided financing into three parts and assumed responsibility for that segment. The next 1.4 miles (2.3 km) of track, which ran through Cascade Station, in turn went to private funding, while the final 2.9 miles (4.7 km) along I-205 was covered by TriMet, Metro, and the City of Portland.[38]
The Port contributed $28.3 million for construction and $20 million for terminal and road improvements; these funds were drawn from a $3 ticket fee levied on travelers.[1][36]Delta Air Lines, Reno Air, and United Airlines had opposed the use of ticket fees, arguing that the extension would serve few airline passengers,[39] but the FAA approved it in May 1999.[40] Additional funds came from Cascade Station Development, a private consortium of Bechtel and real estate developer Trammell Crow, who provided $28.2 million for the project and $13.1 million for the construction of an interchange over I-205 and Airport Way.[41] TriMet released $27.5 million for construction, which was funded by $30 million in bonds,[1][36] and procured six new rail cars for $6 million each.[41][42] Metro allocated $18 million from a regional transportation fund,[1][36] and $23 million came from tax increment bonds issued by the City of Portland.[1][26]: 82
David Evans and Associates served as the prime engineer and lead designer.[43] Much of the Airport MAX extension used public right-of-way already owned either by the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Port, or TriMet. This avoided displacing private property owners and limited the project's impact only to parking spaces at Gateway Transit Center and along Airport Way.[37][41] Bechtel began construction in June 1999 on a segment next to I-205 near the Columbia Slough.[41] Bridgework over the freeway commenced the following December.[44] To minimize lane closures, workers used a cast-in-place concrete pouring method to extend the bridges' spans in 16-foot (4.9 m) increments.[45] Work progressed quickly along the freeway segment due to the existing I-205 busway right-of-way, which came with a tunnel from Gateway Transit Center to the freeway median.[45] Bechtel contracted track installation to Stacy and Witbeck,[46] whose workers placed 3,200 feet (975.4 m) of rail per day to meet the project's deadline; tracks from Gateway Transit Center to the bridge over southbound I-205 were laid by July 2000.[47]Hoffman Construction built the $8.4 million Portland Airport station,[46] and local architecture firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF) designed the station's glass-roofed shelter to complement the airport terminal's drop-off canopy, which ZGF also designed.[48][49] Bechtel began the end-to-end testing of the power, trains, and signals in March 2001, and TriMet took over the project that July to continue system testing and verify scheduling.[46]
Opening and extension to Beaverton
A Red Line train at Beaverton Transit Center in 2004
In 2000, TriMet named the new MAX service to the airport the "Red Line" to differentiate it from the established service between Hillsboro and Gresham, which it renamed the "Blue Line".[50][26]: 83 The Airport MAX extension opened on September 10, 2001.[51][52] Celebrations scheduled for September 15–16 were canceled in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks,[53][54] with the airport itself closed for three days due to a nationwideground stop.[55] Upon opening, the Red Line operated from the airport to the Library and Galleria stations in downtown Portland, where its trains turned around at the 11th Avenue loop tracks.[56] It replaced bus route 12–Sandy Boulevard as TriMet's only service to and from the airport,[53][57] while C-Tran, the transit agency serving Clark County, Washington, rerouted its bus service from its connection at Gateway Transit Center to Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center.[53] Although tested during trial runs,[46] TriMet opted to omit luggage racks from Red Line trains to maximize rider capacity.[58] By November 2001, ridership had averaged 2,300 riders and peaked at 3,800 riders a day before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. At the time, service had been using single light rail cars,[59] but the influx of riders prompted TriMet to temporarily deploy two-car consists, which it had not planned to do until 2006.[60]
On September 1, 2003, TriMet extended Red Line service farther west using the existing Westside MAX tracks to Beaverton Transit Center. This was done in an effort to increase capacity between Gateway Transit Center and Beaverton, and to provide a one-seat ride to the airport for westside riders.[61] Regular use of two-car trains on the line began in September 2005, when overcrowding prompted TriMet to change most Yellow Line service from two-car consists to single cars in order to convert the Red Line to two-car trains.[62] On March 2, 2008, three trips in each direction during the morning and evening rush hours began operating between the Hatfield Government Center and Portland Airport stations to provide further additional capacity on the Blue Line amid growing ridership.[63]
Track improvements and extension to Hillsboro
A single-track segment of the Airport MAX along I-205 in 2018. Since January 2024, this formerly bidirectional section of track is used solely by outbound trains.
In October 2017,[64] TriMet, citing system-wide delays caused by two single-track segments along the Airport MAX, announced the MAX Red Line Improvements Project,[65] later renamed "A Better Red".[66]A Better Red sought double-tracking a 2,800-foot (850 m) section of track north of Gateway Transit Center and another 3,800-foot (1,200 m) section alongside Northeast Airport Way just before the airport terminal.[67] To qualify the project for federal funding, TriMet proposed extending Red Line service farther west to Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport station in Hillsboro using existing MAX tracks;[64] this would create a one-seat option from 10 additional stations to Portland International Airport. Additionally, TriMet had announced it would procure up to eight new light rail vehicles to accommodate the improvements,[65] but later purchased 30 new trains overall; four were part of A Better Red, while the remaining 26 were replacements for the original MAX fleet, which are gradually being retired.[68]
Preliminary design work began in February 2018,[69] and TriMet adopted a locally preferred alternative in April 2019.[70] Final design was completed by engineering firm Parametrix in early 2021.[71][72] The design included two new bridges north of Gateway Transit Center to accommodate the second track and a new MAX platform just north of Gateway Transit Center called "Gateway North".[66] The project cost $215 million.[73] In May 2020, the FTA announced $99.99 million for the project through the Capital Investment Grants program.[74][75] $104 million from TriMet, $8.9 million from Metro, and $2.2 million from the Port covered the local-matching funds.[73]
The project broke ground on September 28, 2021.[76]
From April 2–9, 2022,[77][78] Red Line service was suspended to make way for construction, and shuttle buses operated between Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport.[79][80] The project was completed in March 2024.[81][82]
From June 18 to October 21, 2023, TriMet suspended MAX service between Gateway Transit Center and the airport to allow for construction of the second track between the airport and Mount Hood Avenue.[83][84]
From January 14 to March 3, 2024, TriMet suspended MAX Red, Blue and Green Line service between NE 7th and Gateway Transit Center.[85] Inbound Red Line trains from PDX began serving Gateway North on March 4, 2024.[86] These projects eliminated the last bidirectional single-track sections on the MAX system.[87]
The Red Line extension to Hillsboro began service on August 25, 2024 with a soft launch, with the full launch beginning on August 28. Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport station was also renamed to Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station.[88][89]
The Red Line serves the 5.5-mile-long (8.9 km) Airport MAX segment.[a] This segment begins just south of Gateway Transit Center where it branches from the Eastside MAX segment, makes a 180-degree loop, and heads north along the east side of the I-205 freeway.[1] Near Rocky Butte, it enters a tunnel beneath the northbound lanes of the freeway and emerges along the median.[41] The line then crosses over the southbound lanes of I-205 just south of the Columbia Slough and proceeds northwest along the south side of Cascade Parkway.[90] It follows this road then crosses it just before Mount Hood Avenue station.[91] The line then continues northwest along the south side of Airport Way until it reaches its terminus at Portland Airport station.[92]
Beyond the Airport MAX, the Red Line serves parts of the Westside and Eastside MAX segments, where it interlines with the Blue Line from Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station to Gateway Transit Center and the Green Line from Rose Quarter Transit Center to Gateway Transit Center.[93]
A geographic map of the MAX Red Line (in red) relative to the rest of the network (in black) with icons marking the line's termini. The official system schematic can be viewed on the TriMet website.
Portland Airport station, the Red Line's eastern terminus
The Airport MAX project added four stations to the MAX system: Portland Airport, Mount Hood Avenue, Cascades, and Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center.[1] In March 2024, Gateway North station was added as part of A Better Red.[94] The Red Line serves these five stations in addition to 32 others, a total of 37 stations. It shares the 32 stations, from Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station to Gateway Transit Center, with the Blue Line, of which eight stations, from Rose Quarter Transit Center to Gateway Transit Center, are additionally shared with the Green Line.
TriMet designates the Red Line as a "Frequent Service" route.[102] Red Line trains operate from 3:20 am to 1:40 am the next day with headways ranging from 30 minutes during the early mornings and late evenings to 15 minutes during peak hours. End-to-end travel from Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station to Portland Airport station takes just over one hour.[103]
On September 2, 2018, TriMet reintroduced bus service to the airport, which had been replaced by the Red Line in 2001, with route 272–PDX Night Bus. Service ran in the late night and early morning hours when the Red Line was not operating. It traveled from the airport via Airport Way and 82nd Avenue to a local bus stop near Southeast 80th and Washington streets.[104][105] Route 272 was suspended on April 5, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,[106] and reinstated on August 25, 2024, as the 292–Red Bus.[107][108] Route 292 travels a longer route than its predecessor with service through Southeast Portland and downtown, terminating at Goose Hollow/Southwest Jefferson Street station.[109]
Ridership
The Red Line averaged 17,390 riders on weekdays in September 2024, the second-busiest after the Blue Line.[2] One year after opening, the line averaged 2,800 daily riders at the airport, ahead of TriMet's first-year projections of 2,300.[110] The Red Line's extension to Beaverton Transit Center in 2003 increased weekday ridership by 49 percent along the Westside MAX corridor and six percent systemwide.[111]
IKEA's opening in July 2007 helped attract more riders to Cascade Station shopping center, which was considered a failed planned development following the economic recession caused by the September 11 attacks.[112] In 2008, Cascades station recorded an eight-fold increase in traffic, from 250 passengers per week to 2,000,[113] and this figure had further grown to 6,000 by 2010.[114] The Red Line's annual ridership peaked at just over nine million passengers in 2009,[115] and it continued to fall over the next decade as part of a system-wide decline attributed to crime and rising housing costs in the Portland area.[116][117] From 8.2 million boardings in 2012, 7.4 million boardings were recorded in 2015.[1][118]
^ abTriMet publications only provide the total length of the Airport MAX extension, i.e., the 5.5-mile (8.9 km) section that was newly built. The total length of Red Line service, which includes segments of the Eastside MAX and the Westside MAX, has not been published.[1]
^This list of service connections excludes TriMet bus connections. For a complete list that includes all transfers, see: List of MAX Light Rail stations.
^Cochran, Wanda; Kohler, Vince (December 14, 1984). "Light-rail study gets approval". The Oregonian. p. C7. Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2022 – via NewsBank.
^Kohler, Vince (July 11, 1985). "Light-rail line study under way". The Oregonian. p. D4. Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2022 – via NewsBank.
^Kohler, Vince (May 23, 1988). "Joint efforts of business, government could spur rail line; both groups need to finance, back line along I-205, panel says". The Oregonian. p. B5.
^Green, Ashbel S. (October 6, 1988). "County officials debate light-rail routes". The Oregonian. p. W1.
^Bodine, Harry (January 14, 1989). "Metro OKs $1.5 billion transit plan". The Oregonian. p. D1.
^Mayer, James (April 9, 1989). "Tri-Met looks to the future: The success of MAX sparks dreams of expanding". The Oregonian. p. A1.
^ abMayes, Steve (April 11, 1991). "Portland's airport for the future only needs a $300 million ticket". The Oregonian. p. A1.
^Hamburg, Ken (December 10, 1992). "Port of Portland speeds pace of airport terminal expansion". The Oregonian. p. E10.
^Tomlinson, Stuart (December 3, 1999). "Construction detours bottleneck I-84 traffic". The Oregonian. p. C3.
^ abStewart, Bill (December 17, 1999). "Don't look up, but MAX bridge going in over I-205; strict safety measures are in place to protect motorists, and as the span is built, tracks will start going in on Airport Way". The Oregonian. p. A1.
^ abcdStewart, Bill (July 10, 2000). "Airport's MAX station will be special". The Oregonian. p. E4.
^Stewart, Bill (June 12, 2000). "Workers are busy making tracks toward Airport MAX 2001 deadline". The Oregonian. p. E4.
^Gragg, Randy (May 28, 2000). "Airport canopy works, but not as it could; the structure signals an end to the worst phase of construction but it could – and should – have been done better". The Oregonian. p. F4.
^"Systems News [regular news section]". Tramways & Urban Transit. Ian Allan Publishing. December 2000. p. 471. ISSN1460-8324. With the light rail system due to expand to two services in September 2001, and three in 2004 (with all three using the same routing and stops in the city centre), Tri-Met has decided to assign route colours as follows ...
^Oliver, Gordon (September 11, 2001). "Portland now 'the city that moves', mayor says [opening of MAX Red Line]". The Oregonian. p. 1.
^Oliver, Gordon (September 21, 2001). "Unknowns cloud PDX's future". The Oregonian. p. D1.
^ abcStewart, Bill (August 31, 2001). "Most Tri-Met fares rise Saturday, while route switches start Sept. 9". The Oregonian. p. B1.
^"History cancels PDX party". The Oregonian. September 15, 2001. p. D8.
^Rose, Joseph (September 17, 2001). "Even anti-noise advocates happy to hear airplanes again". The Oregonian. p. E6.
^Stewart, Bill (September 7, 2001). "Airport MAX rolls out Monday". The Oregonian. p. B1.
^McKinney, Kevin (May 2024). "Rush Hour [transit news section]". Passenger Train Journal. Vol. 48, no. 2 – Second quarter 2024. White River Productions, Inc. pp. 68–69. ISSN0160-6913.
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