PORTLAND, Ore. — TriMet wants to close the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station and replace late-night MAX trains with buses. The proposed changes would make MAX service faster and more reliable, TriMet said on Wednesday.
Two other MAX stations are in close proximity to the Skidmore stop in downtown Portland. The Old Town/Chinatown Station is about two blocks away and the Oak/SW 1st Avenue Station is about four blocks away. TriMet said, with three stations within a third of a mile, the MAX Blue and Red Line start and stop several times, causing slower trips along 1st Avenue.
The Skidmore Fountain Station has been on the chopping block for years. It was one of four stations previously proposed for closure to make trips faster and more efficient. At the time, there was opposition against closing the Skidmore stop, which is located near Portland’s Saturday Market, Mercy Corps and some social service providers. TriMet went through with closing the other three stations in 2020 and decided to revisit closing the Skidmore station at a later date on two conditions: if ridership didn't increase and there was no development in the area.
TriMet is looking at closing the Skidmore Station in fall 2025. The TriMet Board is expected to hold a public hearing in April before voting on it in May.
Another tentative change is to establish a night bus system to replace late-night MAX trains. TriMet said adding night buses across all MAX lines would allow crews to conduct more overnight maintenance projects on the MAX system. That would lead to fewer unplanned service disruptions and multi-day disruptions for MAX improvement projects, TriMet said.
There is currently a 47-minute window when there are no MAX trains running anywhere throughout the 60-mile light rail system. TriMet said that is "drastically restricting what work can be complete overnight." The transit agency also cited lower MAX ridership during overnight hours compared to during the day. An average of about 1,200 trips were taken on all MAX lines between midnight and shortly before 4 a.m., over a two-month period in late summer/early fall 2023, TriMet said. That's compared to roughly 70,400 trips taken between 4 a.m. and midnight.
The transit agency is currently developing MAX night bus routes and schedules.
TriMet will host a series of open houses through Feb. 1 and riders can also share their feedback online.
