TriMet Ridership Grows Thanks to Realignment, Schedule Changes

Ridership on the Portland-area TriMet transit lines is growing rapidly after the agency launched the Forward Together initiative, a community planning process that sought to understand post-pandemic ridership patterns and coordinate transit across the region to better serve people’s new travel needs and schedules. 

According to an article by Jim Redden in the Portland Tribune, “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.” Resulting changes include increased weekend and evening service and increased frequency.

Since early 2023, the agency has made changes to 26 of its 76 bus lines. Ridership on those lines increased by over 17 percent (excluding six lines that had service reduced by the plan), while overall ridership increased by 12 percent. On one line, ridership grew from 400 to 2,550 daily riders thanks to more trips and added weekend service.