Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. The Loop Service, which opened in September 2012 as the Central Loop, runs from Downtown to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via the Pearl District, the Broadway Bridge across the Willamette River, the Lloyd District, and the Central Eastside Industrial District and added of route. In September 2015 the line was renamed as the Loop Service, with the A Loop traveling clockwise, and the B Loop traveling counterclockwise. The two-route system serves some 20,000 daily riders.
As with the heavier-duty MAX Light Rail network which serves the broader Portland metropolitan area, Portland Streetcars are operated and maintained by TriMet. But unlike MAX, the streetcar system is owned by the city of Portland and managed by Portland Streetcar Incorporated, a non-profit public benefit corporation whose board of directors report to the city's Bureau of Transportation.
Like some of Portland's original streetcar lines, redevelopment has been a major goal of the project. The Portland Streetcar is the first new streetcar system in the United States since World War II.
Routes
Since September 2012, the Portland Streetcar system has three services, which share a section along 10th and 11th Avenues in downtown, through the West End.As of mid-2015, the two-line streetcar system measures, measured in one direction only – not round-trip lengths – and counting only once the section served by both routes. The end-to-end length of the original route, now designated the "NS Line", is since 2007, and the 2012-opened "CL Line" added. The total one-way length of the CL Line is, for it shares of route along 10th and 11th Avenues in downtown with the NS Line.
Of the NS Line's round-trip length, are one-way operation along streets which are mostly also one-way and with the streetcars following parallel streets in opposite directions. The remaining of round-trip route length are sections where the NS streetcar route uses a single street for both directions of travel. The CL Line, similarly, follows separate streets in opposite directions over most of its length. The only exceptions are a length of about near the OMSI terminus and the route sections nearest to, and across, the Broadway Bridge. With the opening of the second line, the system now has 76 stops.
The steepest grade on the system is 8.75% in the block of SW Harrison Street between 1st and 2nd avenues, which since 2015 has been on a section of track used by both routes.
Service
Streetcars are scheduled to arrive at 15-minute intervals at most times, with a 20-minute frequency in the evening and on Sundays. Every stop is fitted with an electronic reader board giving real-time arrival information to waiting passengers, using the NextBus vehicle tracking system. This was first brought into use on March 25, 2002.As on TriMet's MAX line, the streetcar's fare system is a proof-of-payment system, with random inspections of passengers' fares, which minimizes wait times at stops by allowing boarding to take place simultaneously through all vehicle doorways. Streetcar operators do not collect or monitor fares. Although the line is not part of the TriMet system, the city honors TriMet's fares for the streetcar, for simplicity and convenience of transferring passengers. Streetcar-only fares are available, but are not valid on TriMet, unless using a Hop card, which will charge the difference in fare upon transferring.
The portion of the streetcar route within Downtown and the Pearl District of the streetcar route used to lie within TriMet's Fareless Square, later known as the Free Rail Zone. Rides within that area were free at all times. TriMet ended the Free Rail Zone on September 1, 2012.
Passengers not already in possession of a valid fare when boarding are required to use their credit/debit card on the hop card readers on board each Streetcar. Portland Streetcar used to have ticket machines on board but have since been removed and replaced with machines outside the Streetcar. Each vehicle also carries a ticket validator machine, for stamping "unvalidated" TriMet tickets purchased in advance. TriMet and Portland Streetcar have agreed to honor one another's fares, which means that TriMet passes, tickets and bus transfer receipts are accepted on the streetcar, and tickets purchased or validated on a streetcar are valid for travel on TriMet services. To facilitate this, the ticket machines on board the streetcars and at streetcar stops sell TriMet tickets – covering both the streetcar fare and any TriMet rides the purchaser makes within the ticket's period of validity – as well as streetcar-only tickets. For the same reason, prior to September 2012, the streetcar ticket machines offered all-zone and two-zone tickets, despite the fact that the streetcar system was located entirely within TriMet's Zone 1. TriMet tickets and transfers were valid all-day on the streetcar prior to that change, which also coincided with TriMet's elimination of the Free Rail Zone. Since September 1, 2012, TriMet and Portland Streetcar tickets have an identical period of validity, of 2.5 hours.
NS Line streetcars enter service on westbound tracks. Service starts at NW 23rd Avenue at Marshall. Yard-bound trains make their last stop at NW 18th Street and Lovejoy before entering yard via Lovejoy.
Loop Service streetcars enter service on eastbound tracks. Service starts at NW 9th Street and Lovejoy. Yard-bound trains make their last stop at NW 14th Street and Northrup before entering yard via Northrup.
Portland Streetcar launched a new program in 2022 called Rider Ambassadors. They are groups of streetcar personnel who help people onboard, give directions and connect people to resources, and help keep the riders safe. They ride the trains throughout the day and can be recognized by their purple vests
Rolling stock
, the system's fleet included 19 cars.Current fleet
The streetcars are a Czech design, and the first ten – which is all cars purchased before 2009 – were built in the Czech Republic and shipped to the United States complete. Streetcars added to the fleet after the first ten were built in the U.S. by United Streetcar, to basically the same design. All have a low-floor center section between the trucks, and at one door on each side they are equipped with a MAX-like bridge plate—a short ramp that extends from the vehicle doorway—to allow wheelchair access. Compared to MAX cars they are shorter and narrower, a result of having to run in mixed traffic on neighborhood streets, alongside parked automobiles. The cars are lighter than those used by MAX, allowing cheaper, less-intense track construction. Furthermore, couplers on the streetcars are hidden behind bumper skirts and only used to move disabled units back to the yard.From spring 2007 until fall 2012, the serviceable fleet included ten streetcars. An 11th car was delivered in 2009 but did not enter service until September 2012. The 11 cars were supplied in four batches between 2001 and 2009, built by any of three different manufacturers. However, they have nearly identical dimensions and are similar in all respects, since the design used for all eleven cars was developed by the same two Czech companies, Škoda and Inekon.
Cars 001 through 005 have been in operation since 2001, while cars 006 and 007 were added in 2002. These seven were built by a now-defunct joint venture between Škoda and Inekon, and are Škoda's 10T model, originally also called Astra 10T. Inekon performed most of the design work, while Škoda carried out the construction, in Plzeň.
Three additional cars, numbered 008–010, were ordered for the expansion of service to South Waterfront. By that time, the partnership between Inekon and Škoda had dissolved in an "ugly divorce", so these cars were constructed in Ostrava, Czech Republic, by a partnership of Inekon and the Ostrava city transit agency, Dopravní Podnik Ostrava. This partnership was originally named DPO-Inekon, but soon adopted the name "Inekon Trams". Portland cars 008–010 are model 12-Trio and have a high degree of spare parts compatibility with the existing fleet. They arrived in Portland in January 2007, and after a period of street testing, entered service in late May 2007.
U.S.-built streetcars
The next delivery, on May 15, 2009, was effectively another Škoda 10T, but built in the United States under license, rather than by Škoda itself. It entered service in September 2012.Under a 2005 federal transportation bill, $4 million was allocated for construction of a U.S.-manufactured streetcar vehicle. Congressman Peter DeFazio indicated that the contract would go to Oregon Iron Works in Clackamas, Oregon, and that Portland would be permitted to keep the prototype vehicle permanently.
This special federal grant was intended to foster the creation of a domestic manufacturing industry for modern streetcars, which was non-existent at the time. This lack had forced streetcar systems to turn to overseas builders as the only source of the type of railcar needed. The first Portland Streetcar project had not used any federal funds. However, for any future streetcar projects desiring to obtain federal matching funds, among which were the planned future expansion in Portland, the vehicles would need to comply with the minimum 60% U.S. content provisions of the "Buy America" Act.
In February 2006, Škoda Transportation established an "exclusive technology transfer agreement" with Oregon Iron Works to build streetcars meeting "Buy America" rules, and the two companies jointly prepared a detailed OIW submission when the city of Portland issued a request for proposals in mid-2006 to build one new streetcar for the Portland Streetcar. In January 2007, OIW won a contract from Portland to build the prototype streetcar, to the Škoda design, and reported that it had established a new subsidiary, United Streetcar LLC, to perform the work.
The United Streetcar prototype, number 015 in the Portland Streetcar fleet, was delivered on May 15, 2009, but did not enter service until 2012. The car is model 10T, the same as Škoda-built cars 001–007, but features a slightly modified end design. Although the differences are relatively minor, car 015 is considered to be model variant 10T3, whereas cars 001-005 were 10T0 and cars 006-007 were 10T2. Car 015, which carries a red, white and blue paint scheme and large "Made in USA" lettering along the sides, was presented to the public in a July 1, 2009, ceremony, at which Secretary Ray LaHood was the featured speaker.
Car 015's entry into service was delayed by more than three years, not finally occurring until September 2012. The main reason for the delay was a 2010 decision to replace its propulsion-control system – the electronic equipment which controls and coordinates the operation of the car's motors and other key operating components – with equipment made by Rockwell Automation, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although the car was complete and operable in mid-2009, it had yet to undertake the extensive "acceptance testing" needed to certify that it was safe for passenger service and would run reliably. Car 015's propulsion control system was made by Škoda, whereas all 10 earlier Portland streetcars—even the seven cars built by Škoda—had control systems supplied by Elin EBG, an Austrian company. Acceptance testing began in late summer 2009, but revealed unspecified problems, and Škoda and Portland Streetcar were unable to reach agreement on resolving them. This issue, together with a desire by PS, United Streetcar and others to increase further the U.S. content of streetcars built by United Streetcar, led to discussions between Rockwell Automation and the various interested parties in Portland on the possibility and feasibility of Rockwell designing a control system for the United Streetcar design. In April 2010, the Federal Transit Administration approved a $2.4-million grant, to be matched by $600,000 in local money, to fund the replacement of car 015's control equipment with new equipment to be designed by Rockwell Automation. Under FTA rules, the grant was made to TriMet, but TriMet only acted as intermediary in this instance, and it passed the funds along to the Portland Streetcar system's owner, the city of Portland, who administered the contract with Rockwell and the now-amended contract with Oregon Iron Works/United Streetcar. The change was expected to increase the overall U.S. content of the car from around 70% to around 90%, and this helped win the support of federal officials to approve the $2.4 million in "research funds" needed to allow project to proceed. Prototype streetcar 015 was transported back to the OIW factory, in Portland's southeast suburbs, in May 2010, and it returned on April 30, 2012, now fitted with the experimental Rockwell propulsion system. It began acceptance testing on the Portland Streetcar tracks in June and was certified for service on September 21, 2012. It entered passenger service the following day, September 22, 2012, the opening day of the new eastside line.
File:Portland Streetcar car 021 at west end of Broadway Bridge.jpg|thumb|Car 021, the first production-series United Streetcar vehicle, crossing the Broadway Bridge on the CL Line.
Meanwhile, the city also purchased an additional five streetcars for the eastside expansion. A contract for these was let to United Streetcar in August 2009 and was originally for six cars. However, in light of Portland's dissatisfaction with the Škoda propulsion control system, the city decided in 2010 to modify the OIW/United Streetcar contract for these cars, to substitute equipment from Elin for the originally planned Škoda equipment. Fabrication of the streetcars had yet to begin at the time of that decision, but the change was substantial enough that delivery was delayed as a result, and the first cars are now not projected to be delivered until December 2012. These five cars were not fitted with the Rockwell equipment, because the Rockwell system was still being designed at the time that production was beginning on the additional cars. If the city had waited for it to be completed, installed and thoroughly tested in car 015 before installing it in the additional cars, doing so would delay the completion of those cars too much, city officials indicated. These first "production-series" cars are United Streetcar model "100", instead of 10T3. In 2011, production problems raised the cost of manufacturing of these cars, and as a result, the city agreed to reduce the number of cars on order from six to five. These cars have been assigned numbers 021–025 in the Portland Streetcar fleet. The first car was delivered in January 2013 and entered service on June 11, 2013. As Portland Streetcar prepared to "close the loop" on the CL line with the completion of the Tilikum Crossing bridge, a seventh car was purchased from United Streetcar and was delivered on November 21, 2014.
On March 21, 2018, Portland Streetcar announced an approval from city council to purchase two new Liberty Streetcars from Brookville Equipment Corporation. A third car was added to the order in December 2018. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, production of the cars was delayed, and by spring 2021 they were not expected to arrive until late 2022 or early 2023. An option for two additional vehicles also exists. The delivery of the Brookville order began in late March 2023, with the arrival of the first car in Portland; the third and last car arrived in December 2023.
Prototype car 015, uniquely fitted with the experimental Rockwell propulsion system, became unreliable within a few years of entering service in 2012, and by 2019 it had experienced a system failure that the city was unable to repair. The car was last used in service in 2019, and was placed up for auction in 2024.