Portland Streetcar General Information

Portland Streetcar General Information

Hello, and welcome back to TriMet Insider! Today we'll be talking about a classic Portland transit system: The Portland Streetcar! 

What Is The Streetcar?

 The Portland Streetcar is a public streetcar operated by TriMet, with vehicles owned by TriMet, and tracks owned by The City Of Portland. It's actually kind of interesting that Portland only owns the rails of the Portland Streetcar. Anyway, since the Portland Streetcar is different from a usual TriMet bus or train, because the idea was initiated by The City Of Portland, not TriMet, I wanted to give everyone some general riding information. So, here goes!

Riding The Streetcar

 To ride the streetcar, you will have to wait in the shelter with the sign marked either A Loop, B Loop, NS Line, or a combination of any of them. The amount of time that you wait in the shelter can vary from the streetcar already being there (0 minutes), to 20 minutes. The Portland Streetcar website gives a headway of "15 - 20 minutes." You can visit the website for more information on the schedule. Anyway, while you're waiting in the shelter, you should purchase a Portland Streetcar or TriMet ticket if you don't already have one. If you have a TriMet Hop card, you can use that instead of getting a ticket.

Once you get on, you'll need to tap your ticket on the reader in the streetcar to confirm that you are a paid rider. A picture of the reader screen-shotted from the Portland Streetcar website is included so you know what you're looking for. Once you are done riding, press the stop request button or strip so that the operator knows that you want to get off. At you destination stop, exit the streetcar with all of your personal belongings that you brought on board.

Making Sense Of The Streetcar System

 

 The Portland Streetcar system is a bit of a confusing one if you're not a frequent rider. Here are some tips for riding. If you are riding one of the loops (A Loop or B Loop), you'll want to make sure that you know that both of the loops only go clockwise or counter-clockwise. The A Loop runs clockwise, with the B Loop running counter-clockwise. If you accidentally don't get off at your destination stop, you can get off at the next one, and the other loop will be within a few blocks away. You can then catch the opposite loop to where you originally wanted to go, or if it's close enough, you could just walk. If you typically take a bike to your streetcar stop, which is awesome, good for you, you can bring your bike on the streetcar and put it in an area where it fits. If it's too crowded, you may have to wait for the next streetcar... 😢. The third tip I have is: If you are traveling with a large group, you should take advantage of the discounts that Portland Streetcar provides. You can fill out a form to receive your discount here. Please note that if you travel with a large group, you must restrict your group to 25 people or less. If you have more than 25 people, you can split up your group and take 2 separate streetcars. It's not ideal, but it works. My last tip is: If you are under 6 years old, you can ride for free! That's a simple tip; I have no more to say about it.

 Thanks for reading today's TriMet Insider blog post. I'll be back with more soon!

 Ticket reader photo credit: Portland Streetcar website