Downtown Portland Mass transit?

Hi,

Welcome to Portland :-)

You can pick up a 30 day public transit pass for $100. You can get them for each month at Fred Meyer or Safeway, or you can get them at any of the Max stops. If you buy them at the Max stop, the 30 days will start the moment you buy it. If you get it from the store, it will valid for a calendar month - such as all of April, all of June, and so on.

Generally. the instructions are good using Google Maps or the Trimet site. There is also a good app for smartphones that Trimet offers for free. You can also pay for your pass through that app.

Most of the city is safe all day, but I personally would avoid wandering alone through the West blocks of downtown surrounding Burnside late at night.

There are certainly many interesting things that have happened to me on Trimet rides, but I have never felt unsafe.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

-sheldon

Only areas I advise avoiding right near you is 122nd and east area later in the evening, especially the bus that runs down it (I want to say 72 but I forget the specific #). SE 82nd used to the the shitty dividing line of PDX, but they made 82nd a "drug and prostitution free zone" which is of course a magic cure for all of those problems. All of that nonsense just got pushed out to 122nd, and yuppies haven't made it out to that area yet so it's still a bit rough around the edges. For great people watching take the bus that runs down 122nd. Nowhere else in the city can you get ringside seating to transvestite prostitute fist fights... well minus rollerderby.

Still, compared to a real city, you can't really go all that wrong in PDX. It's a pretty damn safe city.

Oh yeah, avoid rockwood at night as well... but do go to their disc golf course :)

It may be cheaper to buy books of tickets instead of a monthly pass. I've commuted on TriMet for years and never buy monthly passes. If I skip commuting (bike/drive/walk/whatever) at all during the month it costs less to buy tickets.

1-month pass = $100
20 working days X 2 x $2.50 tickets/day = $100

So if you only use the pass for is going to and from work, it may be cheaper to just buy books ot 10 tickets.

I usually bike, but I'm busing at the moment due to an injury and I completely agree with Greg. I drive to work occasionally and sometimes walk and since I ride the bus only to work that means that I usually bus maybe 16 days a month. So if it's the same for you, 16 x $2.50 would cost you $80 and save you $20/month. A little advanced planning and you could save a few bucks, especially months like February and December, or when you have vacation.

On the flip side the monthly pass is much more convenient. You buy one and keep it handy when you get on the bus, you need only show it to the driver. By contrast the books of tickets mean you have to feed one into a machine and get a ticket stub back in return. It's 5-10 seconds more so I don't mind it, but some folks hate holding up the line. More than that you have to remember to keep adding books of ticket to your wallet, something I sometimes forget to do.

Plus, if such things matter to you, the monthly pass is also much better for the environment as it's just a single piece of paper. By contrast each ticket from the ticket books turns into two pieces of paper on the bus - the ticket itself which is just like cash and the ticket stub you get back on the bus. Riding the bus 20 days a month results in 80 pieces of paper. And this is new tech! Their old tech saw you get each book ticket stamped, but somehow they came up with new tech that doubled their paper costs. The old tech is still in use on the max (stamp your ticket at the max stop before boarding) and on the streetcar.

Three final notes. First, if you don't have a ticket then have exact change ($2.50) as they give no change. Second, single ride any ticket you buy, either with cash or with a ticket from a book, is valid for 2 hours from the time of purchase on all Trimet transport (the Max, the streetcar and the bus). For example, when I go to the airport I catch a bus to downtown and then transfer to the Max to get me to the airport, and the same ticket is valid for both.

Finally, use Trimet's web services to track bus arrivals and departures. Or use the toll free number if you prefer. I prefer using Google maps to Trimet most of the time as the UI is better and consistent in every city I visit. I use the PDX Transit app on my Android phone to track arrival times and another called MyDirections to plan trips, especially when leaving late. As a result I get to the bus stop just in time every time instead of standing around waiting. And if you're running late be aware that some buses stop running early in the evening and others later. Be sure you don't miss your last ride home.

Best of luck!