What is the Eastside Express?

What is the Eastside Express?

Our basic plan for improving transit in Portland revolves around three key pillars: reliability, legibility, and minimal cost or capital investment. Reliability is knowing that a bus is coming and, additionally, when it is coming. Recent studies of transit users have shown that a system of real time bus tracking can significantly improve transit user's experience by reducing wait times and providing a measure of certainty as to how long one might be waiting. Legibility refers to how easy it is for someone who has never used transit before to begin to understand and master the network. Finally we felt it was important to craft a plan that does not rely on Trimet raising new funds or making large capital investments. The Eastside Express is our name for this plan and we invite you to learn more about the logic and rationale behind not just the plan itself but the timing of pushing for these changes now.

What is this plan?

The downtown core of Portland is an area that is seeing several transit improvements with the addition of the MAX Orange line connecting downtown and Milwaukie, the completion of the Streetcar Loop which will connect the industrial zone on the east bank of the Willamette to downtown, and the new Transit Bridge which will provide improved transit access from the SE to Downtown. In light of these substantial improvements we believe there is a compelling case for shifting some bus resources out of the current hub-and-spoke model that focuses on service downtown to a grid based network that would focus on consistent North/South and East/West service throughout the eastside. Importantly the plan was constructed to maintain service to all stops that currently receive service and does not seek major service improvements. However, the changes proposed will improve the reliability and consistency of TriMet buses and will provide a better and more efficient series of connections throughout eastern Portland.

Why push for these changes now?

The current bus network dates to 1982, four years before construction started on our first MAX line and during a period of our history where streetcars were a quaint memory rather than a downtown reality. In the time since we have built an excellent rail and streetcar network that is very efficient at carrying people into downtown. With the impending completion of the MAX Orange line and the inner Streetcar Loop there is an opportunity to remake our transit system to reflect and take advantage of these new resources. In particular the high capacity section of the MAX stretching from the Gateway TC to Downtown is served by no fewer than three Lines (Blue, Red, and Green), the bus system can and should be re-oriented so as, where appropriate, to connect riders to this arterial transit line to downtown rather than carrying passengers downtown themselves. While it takes time, energy, and political will to change any system we believe that now is the time to work together to create a transit system that serves everybody equitably.