![TriMet has continued to push for expansion of the Yellow Line, with plans to extend the line into Washington state across the proposed new I-5 bridge. Photo courtesy Cascade Policy Institute](https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/large_Clark-County-Today-The-MAX-Yellow-Line-Doesnt-Deserve-a-Green-Light-cm.jpg)
TriMet has continued to push for expansion of the Yellow Line, with plans to extend the line into Washington state across the proposed new I-5 bridge
Taylor Marks
Cascade Policy Institute
Over-promised and under-delivered.
Throughout its 18-year life, TriMet’s Yellow Line MAX has never met its promised ridership projections.
In fact, just before the pandemic hit, Yellow Line ridership was more than 25 percent lower than where it was projected to be for 2020. Following the COVID-19 drop-off in ridership, TriMet now doesn’t expect transit ridership to hit pre-pandemic levels until sometime after 2045.
Because of low ridership, TriMet is failing to abide by its commitments to service frequency. TriMet promised the Federal Transit Administration that Yellow Line trains would arrive every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 15 minutes off-peak. Instead, Yellow Line trains run every 15 minutes during peak periods and every 30 minutes during other parts of the day.
Despite this consistent underperformance, TriMet has continued to push for expansion of the Yellow Line, with plans to extend the line into Washington state across the proposed new I-5 bridge.
Is slow, low-ridership light rail really the best usage of lane space on the proposed I-5 bridge? Or, should the new bridge instead expand lane capacity for trucks and cars usage to reduce congestion on the region’s freeways?
Taylor Marks is a Research Associate at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.
Also read:
- Interstate Bridge Replacement program awarded $1.499 billion FHWA Bridge Investment Program grantInterstate Bridge Replacement program officials have shared that the program received $1.499 billion through the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Investment Program.
- Opinion: Has transit entered the “death spiral?”Transit ridership dropped sharply with the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The slow rebound in the years that followed has prompted discussion, sometimes in hushed tones, as to whether transit had entered a “death spiral.”
- Nighttime delays on northbound I-5 in Vancouver July 14-25 for pavement repairsTravelers who use northbound Interstate 5 near northern Vancouver and Ridgefield should plan ahead for nighttime delays beginning the evening of Sunday, July 14 and continuing nightly through Thursday, July 25.
- New roundabout coming to SR 503 in northern Clark County this summerTravelers who use State Route 503 near Rock Creek Road just north of Battle Ground will soon experience a safer roadway that keeps people moving.
- Letter: ‘Do you want what’s happened to the city of Portland to happen in Clark County?’Washougal resident Mike Johnson discusses the transportation issues residents of Southwest Washington are facing.