| Portland Transit Mall | |
|---|---|
 Since mid-2009, MAX Light Rail and buses have shared the Portland Transit Mall | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Termini |
|
| Stations | 33 bus stops 14 light rail platforms |
| Service | |
| Type | Light rail, transit bus |
| Services | C-Tran Frequent Express MAX Light Rail TriMet (local bus) |
| History | |
| Opened | December 11, 1977 |
The Portland Transit Mall is a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) public transit corridor that travels north–south through the center of downtown in Portland, Oregon, United States. It comprises a pair of one-way streets—6th Avenue for northbound traffic and 5th Avenue for southbound—along which two of three lanes are restricted to transit buses and light rail vehicles only. As of September 2022[update], the corridor is served by the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines of MAX Light Rail; Frequent Express; and over a dozen local bus routes, all of which are services of TriMet, the transit agency operating within the Oregon side of the Portland metropolitan area. C-Tran, the transit agency for Clark County, Washington, additionally serves it with two express bus routes—#105 I-5 Express and #164 Fisher’s Landing Express.[1]
The transit mall was conceived as part of Portland's 1972 Downtown Plan. It opened in 1977 and until light rail trains were added in 2009, buses were the only transit vehicles using it.[2][3] The mall was rebuilt and extended southwards from 2007 to 2009, and it reopened for buses on May 24, 2009.[3] Light rail service on the mall was introduced on August 30, 2009, with the shifting of the MAX Yellow Line to the mall from its original routing in downtown,[4] and a second MAX line, the Green Line, began serving the mall two weeks later, on September 12.[5] Between fall 2009 and July 2014, the Portland Vintage Trolley also served the transit mall on certain Sundays. In September 2015, the new MAX Orange Line replaced the Yellow Line service in the southbound direction on the mall, on 5th Avenue, with the Orange and Yellow lines being through-routed at all times.
- ^ "Traveling to and from Portland". C-Tran. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
- ^ Redden, Jim (May 21, 2009). "TriMet: Mall can be safe, orderly". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Rivera, Dylan (May 26, 2009). "Buses return to Portland's revamped transit mall". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ "New MAX line opens downtown". Portland Tribune. August 28, 2009. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ Rivera, Dylan (September 12, 2009). "Riders pack MAX Green Line on first day of service". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2023.