Brady PieperPortland’s city council is unveiling a surge of transportation funding to support a bus rapid transit (BRT) project in the city, seeking to enhance multimodal connectivity and residents’ access to services, shops and work.
The city’s public transportation agency, TriMet, is celebrating the city council’s $55.5 million commitment, in addition to hundreds of millions in federal dollars, to advance the 82nd Avenue Transit Project. Created in collaboration with the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) and Oregon Metro, the estimated $350 million project will develop an efficient, reliable bus line in the city and kick-start the city’s transition to an all-electric transit system.
“PCEF’s support of the 82nd Avenue Transit Project is a major investment in creating a more sustainable, accessible and economically prosperous corridor,” APANO Community Development Director Duncan Hwang said. “Investing in this important project helps ensure that people and businesses along SE 82nd Avenue continue to have opportunities to thrive, grow and stay in the community.”
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Beyond the city council’s grant, the project will benefit from over $200 million in U.S. Department of Transportation funding to develop the initiative, including $25 million to construct an electric fleet operations facility, $39 million to advance the project and $150 million requested from the federal Small Starts Program.
Overall, the 82nd Avenue Transit Project is seen as a crucial component of Portland’s efforts to address longstanding inequities in the city’s transportation infrastructure. Along a 10-mile stretch of 82nd Avenue, the project will develop a new Frequent Express BRT line between the Clackamas Town Center and Northeast Portland.
Inspired by successful models in Latin America, BRT systems provide a fast, efficient and reliable public transit service by offering dedicated bus lanes, traffic signal priority, off-board fare collection and upgraded stations. As an appealing solution for cities struggling with traffic and transportation challenges, these systems are commonly found in major cities with heavy traffic congestion and potential for high-volume transit services.
The proposed line would begin at Clackamas Town Center’s Transit Center on Interstate 205, travelling along 82nd Avenue to Lombard Street in the North and ending at Cully. The new BRT line would offer service every 12 minutes or better, improve travel times and bus reliability, enhance bus stations with comfortability and safety improvements and connect riders to over 20 other bus lines and MAX light rail trains.
TriMet will integrate aspects from the city’s first Frequent Express bus line, FX2-Division, into the 82nd Avenue initiative, including renewable energy-powered 60-foot New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE FC buses. Utilizing the state and federal grants, the project will purchase 14 of these zero-emissions hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses for the BRT project.
As climate goals remain a major priority, TriMet will also involve environmental features and upgrades, such as planting trees and other plants along the corridor to contribute to a greener, more environmentally-friendly urban center.
The BRT project will complement broader efforts to modernize and improve transit on the roadway, aligning with the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s “Building a Better 82nd” initiative, which seeks to address safety and infrastructure concerns along the corridor. Combined, the two 82nd Avenue-oriented projects will create a more sustainable, multimodal transportation system for one of Portland’s most underserved neighborhoods.
While the proposed line is not finalized, TriMet anticipates initiating a final vote on the new line’s design, final routing and general station locations in early 2025. Project officials expect to begin initial construction work in 2027 and open service to the public in summer of 2029.
TriMet will host an informational open house in late January to offer additional resources on the 82nd Avenue Transit Project. The agency is also pursuing stakeholders from the community to take part in a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) that would inform the project’s future decision-making process. The application period for this CAC closes on Jan. 27.
Photo courtesy Mattsjc, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
