Forward Together changes boosting TriMet bus ridership

PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — TriMet ridership is rebounding from the depths of the COVID-19 crash, thanks in large part to regional bus line realignments based on the agency’s Forward Together community planning process.

Like public transit agencies around the world, TriMet ridership fell of the cliff at the beginning of the pandemic — dropping 67% between January and April 2020 as governments shut down schools, businesses, community gatherings, and their own operations to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Bus ridership fell slightly more year-to-year, with a 69% loss that April.

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Four years later, weekly boardings have more than doubled to 1.26 million in March 2024. Although that is still about one-third less than the high of 1.83 million in January 2020, the growth has been steady since early 2023. Bus ridership has led with a 124% increase.

Much of that is because the transit agency that serves Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties recognized the pandemic changed travel patterns in the long term. Downtown Portland is no longer the dominant regional employment center it once was. The work-at-home trend means fewer employees are commuting to and from its urban office towers and government buildings. Instead, demand has grown for service outside of downtown between outlying neighborhoods and other employment, educational and retail destinations.

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TriMet launched Forward Together in late 2021 with an analysis that aimed at documenting existing travel needs. A series of community meetings were then held throughout the region to better understand the shift in demand. Better serving low-income communities was also declared a priority. That led to the first of a series of bus line changes intended to respond to new travel patterns in early 2023. They ranged from increasing weekend and evening service to adding more Frequent Service, which means buses arrive every 15 minutes.

Read more at PortlandTribune.com.

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