Portland Streetcar
From Portland Afoot
The Portland Streetcar is a rail transportation system in Portland that runs from Nob Hill to the South Waterfront, connecting the city's densest developments in the downtown area.
It was the first new streetcar system in the United States to use modern vehicles since World War II, and has since inspired other systems around the country.
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[edit] Fares and ticketing
Most of the streetcar loop -- all stops south of Northwest Irving Street and north of the Marquam Bridge -- is free to ride, thanks to Portland's Free Rail Zone.
If you're riding the streetcar to the 23rd Avenue area (Nob Hill) or the South Waterfront, you can buy tickets from automated fare boxes inside each car. Unlike on MAX, fare inspectors do not enforce the payment system, though as of September 2011 the streetcar system pays four part-time "surveyors" who simply ask people whether they've paid.
An all-day streetcar ticket costs the same as a 2-hour ticket on a TriMet bus or MAX light rail. Here is Portland Afoot's guide to public transit fares in Portland.
Unlike bus or MAX, there is no difference between a 2-hour pass and an all-day pass. Every streetcar ticket is valid all day on the streetcar. Tickets bought on the streetcar are also valid on bus and MAX, but only for two hours.
An all-you-can-ride streetcar pass costs $100 per year and can be purchased online or at locations listed on the streetcar fares page. TriMet passes and OHSU employee badges are good for free rides on the streetcar.
[edit] Streetcar recommends dropping out of Free Rail Zone
See full article: 2011 Streetcar fare hike proposal.
[edit] Smaller and slower than MAX light rail
Because the streetcar also travels on rails, it is sometimes confused with MAX, Portland's light rail system.
But streetcars are smaller than MAX, consisting of a single car with two articulated joints, and they generally move at about 7 mph rather than MAX's 20 mph or TriMet buses' 15 mph.
[edit] Future streetcar expansion
The city government hopes to extend streetcar lines through much of Portland, as described in its Streetcar System Concept Plan. The next phase, an "eastside loop" scheduled to open in fall 2012, would add five new streetcar vehicles and run them across the Broadway Bridge and down Grand Boulevard and Martin Luther King Boulevard as far as OMSI.
[edit] Leadership
[edit] Staff
As of summer 2011, Portland Streetcar's operations staff are provided by TriMet and the City of Portland, and its administrative and planning staff include a city project manager and four employees of Shiels Obletz Johnsen. Among the SOJ employees is Rick Gustafson, Portland Streetcar's executive director, who said in November 2010 that he spends about half his time on Streetcar.
[edit] Board
As of summer 2011, Portland Streetcar has a board of 22 members, each appointed to staggered three-year terms by a nominating committee:
- Michael Powell, Chair
- Hank Ashforth, Vice Chair
- Richard H. Parker, Jr., Secretary
- N. Dickson “Dick” Davis, Treasurer
- Mayor Sam Adams
- Charlie Allcock
- Michael Bolliger
- Dick Cooley
- Dike Dame
- Lindsay Desrochers
- Bill Failing
- Judie Hammerstad
- Mayor Jack Hoffman
- J.E. Isaac
- Jim Mark
- Neil McFarlane
- Lynn Peterson
- Owen Ronchelli
- Doug Shapiro
- Chris Smith
- Peter Stark
- Mark Williams
The board at large votes to admit new members, at the recommendation of the nominating committee.
[edit] External links
- official website for the streetcar
- TriMet's streetcar site
- registration with Oregon Secretary of State for Portland Streetcar Inc.
[edit] Information this page should have eventually
- How much does a modern streetcar vehicle cost?
- How much does streetcar cost per mile, compared to MAX?
- How often are streetcar ticket machines out of order? When and how are they repaired?
- How much money does streetcar make from farebox, annual passes?
- How often are fares enforced?
- How has streetcar ridership changed over time?
- How many people are riding the average Portland Streetcar?
- How many cars are there, and how are they different?
- Where do streetcars live overnight?
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