TriMet made some major changes to its public transit services on Sunday, Aug. 25, while wrapping up its years-long A Better Red project and assigned buses to run in place of MAX trains during late night hours across the region.
Late-night service will include four new bus lines that in most cases run parallel along with the MAX train lines. TriMet said these changes are to account for overnight maintenance and cleaning for the light rail system to “reduce MAX service disruptions, both planned and unplanned, and create a better experience for riders.”
“That MAX has the second shortest window of any U.S. light rail system in the country,” TriMet spokesperson Mark Miller said. “So by shifting the last trips in the night on the bus, it gives us more time to do that overnight maintenance, the cleaning.”
TriMet soft-launched the expansion on Sunday, but expected to fully launch it on Wednesday, Aug. 28, with festivities at the Beaverton Transit Center, Beaverton Central, and Orenco MAX stations.