A North-South Bus on 20th-21ST? MAYBE SOME DAY...
Trimet provides really good transit service to Sullivan’s Gulch. It’s easy to get downtown, NW Portland, Hollywood and beyond. And we’ve got several lines that go north to Alberta, Woodlawn Concordia, as well as along 11th & 12th to Sellwood.
One area that’s hard to get to on public transportation is due south on 21st/20th Ave. Imagine being able to take a bus to Revolution Hall, get to Cleveland High School (the neighborhood high school for Gulch students) without changing, eat at Castagna on Hawthorne or even go to a concert (or class) at Reed College? That’s the possibility sketched out by Trimet — a new north-south bus line on 20th-21st — Line Y.
Last year SGNA Land Use Chair, DJ Heffernan, and I met with the head of Trimet Service Planning to learn more about what it would take to make Line Y a reality. We were told that even with all the expansion and improvements that Trimet is currently implementing it appears promising that Line Y could happen in the 5+ year time frame. But we were cautioned that there are some competing interests for the estimated $4 million it would take to operate Line Y. This includes the possible conversion to electric buses or making all of Trimet free! Since Trimet is a public agency they have an open process in setting the priorities each year. It’s guided by a Citizens Advisory Committee and, ultimately, the Trimet Board of Directors.
Given COVID-19, Trimet will certainly put this kind of service enhancement on hold, probably for several years. If you think it’s a good idea and would like to spend time trying to move this forward, we need help contacting neighborhood associations along the route to alert them to the possibility of N-S bus service on 20th-21st and work together to rally support to move it up Trimet's priority list for future investments. But it’s going to take regular attendance at the Citizens Advisory Committee and later Board meeting to move the project along. We’ll post new information as we get it. If you want to help out, get in touch with Dave or DJ directly or via the Contact box on this page.
Source of information and maps
North/NE
https://trimet.org/future/northcentral.htm
https://trimet.org/future/pdf/north-central-final-map.pdf
SE
https://trimet.org/future/southeast.htm
https://trimet.org/future/pdf/southeast-final-report-map.pdf
Current bus routes map
https://trimet.org/maps/img/trimetsystem.png
Trimet provides really good transit service to Sullivan’s Gulch. It’s easy to get downtown, NW Portland, Hollywood and beyond. And we’ve got several lines that go north to Alberta, Woodlawn Concordia, as well as along 11th & 12th to Sellwood.
One area that’s hard to get to on public transportation is due south on 21st/20th Ave. Imagine being able to take a bus to Revolution Hall, get to Cleveland High School (the neighborhood high school for Gulch students) without changing, eat at Castagna on Hawthorne or even go to a concert (or class) at Reed College? That’s the possibility sketched out by Trimet — a new north-south bus line on 20th-21st — Line Y.
- North from the Gulch Line Y would travel on NE 21st and then up 24th-27th (in place of the existing #17, which would be re-routed to 33rd) all the way to Concordia College.
- South from the Gulch Line Y travels on 20th, jogs over to 26th past Cleveland High School, then past Reed College, swing thru Eastmoreland and on Bybee to 13th in Sellwood. In the concept maps (below) the #70 would end in Lloyd District (as it used to).
Last year SGNA Land Use Chair, DJ Heffernan, and I met with the head of Trimet Service Planning to learn more about what it would take to make Line Y a reality. We were told that even with all the expansion and improvements that Trimet is currently implementing it appears promising that Line Y could happen in the 5+ year time frame. But we were cautioned that there are some competing interests for the estimated $4 million it would take to operate Line Y. This includes the possible conversion to electric buses or making all of Trimet free! Since Trimet is a public agency they have an open process in setting the priorities each year. It’s guided by a Citizens Advisory Committee and, ultimately, the Trimet Board of Directors.
Given COVID-19, Trimet will certainly put this kind of service enhancement on hold, probably for several years. If you think it’s a good idea and would like to spend time trying to move this forward, we need help contacting neighborhood associations along the route to alert them to the possibility of N-S bus service on 20th-21st and work together to rally support to move it up Trimet's priority list for future investments. But it’s going to take regular attendance at the Citizens Advisory Committee and later Board meeting to move the project along. We’ll post new information as we get it. If you want to help out, get in touch with Dave or DJ directly or via the Contact box on this page.
Source of information and maps
North/NE
https://trimet.org/future/northcentral.htm
https://trimet.org/future/pdf/north-central-final-map.pdf
SE
https://trimet.org/future/southeast.htm
https://trimet.org/future/pdf/southeast-final-report-map.pdf
Current bus routes map
https://trimet.org/maps/img/trimetsystem.png
