Beaverton Transit Center


Beaverton Transit Center is a transport hub located in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. Owned and operated by TriMet, it is a bus, commuter rail, and light rail station. The station serves as MAX Light Rail's 14th eastbound stop on the Blue Line and the western terminus of the Red Line. It is also the northern terminus of WES Commuter Rail and a hub for numerous bus routes serving the westside communities of the Portland metropolitan area. The station is situated north of Southwest Canyon Road on Southwest Lombard Avenue in central Beaverton, connected by walkway to Canyon Place Shopping Center. It recorded 9,709 average weekday boardings for all modes in fall 2018, making it TriMet's busiest transit center.
The first Beaverton Transit Center, which was one of two transit centers built in Beaverton as part of TriMet's Westside Transit Plan, opened near Beaverton–Hillsdale Highway in 1979. The second and current facility, relocated farther north from its previous site, opened on September 4, 1988, for bus service. With the completion of the Westside MAX project, which extended light rail service from downtown Portland to Beaverton and Hillsboro, its light rail platforms opened on September 12, 1998. Initially served only by the Blue Line, Red Line service from Portland International Airport was extended to the transit center on September 1, 2003. The newest addition to Beaverton Transit Center is a commuter rail platform served by WES Commuter Rail, which opened on February 2, 2009.

History

The first Beaverton Transit Center opened at a different location from the current facility, about to the south on Lombard Avenue and Broadway Street near Beaverton–Hillsdale Highway; there were timed transfer connections among the several bus routes serving it. It, along with Cedar Hills Transit Center, was one of two major transfer points in Beaverton introduced as part of TriMet's Westside Transit Plan. The $1.3 million plan, which consisted of new and modified bus routes within the Portland area's westside suburbs of Washington County and between those areas and downtown Portland, commenced service on June 17, 1979.
A second plan, proposed that same year, initiated discussions of a busway or light rail line between downtown Portland and Beaverton, with potential extensions to Hillsboro and Tigard. In preparation for what would become the Westide MAX project, city planners began considering the transit center's relocation in February 1982. TriMet studied three site proposals, which included an expansion of the existing location on Lombard and Broadway streets, a triangle-shaped area occupied by existing establishments between Hall and Watson streets, and of undeveloped land on Canyon Road and Hall Boulevard. Planners selected the third option in September.
Construction of the replacement station, initially targeted to begin in the summer of 1987, was delayed after the discovery of an illegal land fill at the site. It was discovered that the property had been a wetland originally. This prevented the issuance of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit. Preliminary work finally started in October 1987, after the USACE deemed that "public interest" outweighed the environmental losses and issued the permit. Urban Mass Transportation Administration funds covered 80 percent of the project's $2 million budget. Although the station was initially built as another bus-only transit center, plans reserved an area for future light rail platforms. The second Beaverton Transit Center opened on September 4, 1988.
In 1993, TriMet began construction of the Westside MAX extension, to connect the transit center to light rail. During planning, Beaverton officials declined to build a park and ride facility near the transit center, stating that one of the goals of the light rail project was to reduce auto congestion in central Beaverton. Its MAX platforms opened on September 12, 1998, at the same time as most of the extension. Between 1998 and 2001, TriMet operated only one MAX service, which ran the entire length of existing tracks from Hillsboro through downtown Portland to Gresham. That service was renamed the Blue Line in 2001 following the completion of the Airport MAX project, which introduced the Red Line to Portland International Airport. Originally, westbound Red Line trains only ran up to the Library and Galleria stations in downtown Portland, where they turned around at the 11th Avenue loop tracks. On September 1, 2003, TriMet extended Red Line service up to Beaverton Transit Center, its present western terminus.
Proposals for connecting Beaverton and Wilsonville by commuter rail emerged in 1996. The committee studying the rail plan examined two options for the line's northern terminus: Beaverton Transit Center and Merlo Road/Southwest 158th Avenue station. A revised plan selected a shorter route to Beaverton Transit Center in 2000. After several years of delays due to a lack of funding, a platform for the WES Commuter Rail line began construction at the southern end of the transit center in 2006. Regular service on the WES line commenced on February 2, 2009.

Station details

Beaverton Transit Center serves the central Beaverton area. The station is located north of Southwest Canyon Road, bounded by Southwest Lombard Avenue to the west and Beaverton Creek to the south. It is connected by walkway to Canyon Place Shopping Center to the east. A bus-only loop occupies the majority of the station; it contains nine bus bays. A structure at the center of the loop houses a concession stand. The MAX station, designed by OTAK, Inc., is situated in the northwest. It consists of two side platforms and one island platform, served by three tracks. The outer tracks are used by the Blue Line, while the middle track is used by the Red Line. A 15-minute drop off area containing several parking spaces occupies the edge of the western MAX platform. The WES side platform sits on the southeastern edge of the station, which is served by a single-track railway. All of the station's rail platforms feature ticket vending machines and passenger information displays. The station has a total of 136 bicycle parking spaces of which 76 are inside a secure bike and ride facility.

Public art

The MAX station's original shelter featured "whimsical photographic portraits of passengers" and images of local landmarks. These photos were captured by students Katie O'Malley and Petra Prostrednik of Beaverton's Arts and Communications High School. They were led by design team artist Richard Turner and photographer Barbara Turner, who came up with the project as a way of giving the students hands-on experience in designing and implementing a public art project. In 1994, artist Christopher Rauschenberg photographed the station's site prior to the start of construction. This image was etched onto the station's windscreen. It is described as a way to "document the past as the areas change and grow and offer a comparison with the landscape of the future."
An interactive sculpture created by Frank Boyden and Brad Rude, titled The Interactivator, sits on the WES platform. It features 16 movable bronze heads and a vehicle mounted on a stainless steel table. Designed to represent the train and the variety of people who ride the line, the sculptures serve as a "metaphor for the human experience."

Services

Beaverton Transit Center is TriMet's busiest transit center with 9,709 total weekday boardings for all modes in September 2018. It is currently the only transit center in the network served by both MAX Light Rail and WES Commuter Rail.

Rail

On MAX Light Rail, Beaverton Transit Center is situated between Beaverton Central station and Sunset Transit Center and is served by the Blue Line and the Red Line. The Blue Line connects the station westbound to downtown Hillsboro and eastbound through Portland to Gresham. It is the western terminus of the Red Line, which runs from Beaverton through Portland to Portland International Airport. The MAX station recorded 4,554 average weekday boardings in fall 2018, the second-busiest in the system after Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center. Trains serve the station for approximately 22 hours from Monday to Thursday; they run slightly later on Fridays and Saturdays and end earlier on Sundays. Headways measure from as little as five minutes during weekday rush hour up to 30 minutes in the early mornings and late evenings; the majority of trains run every fifteen minutes.
The first train arrives eastbound, operating as a Red Line service to Portland International Airport station. The first westbound train, which is served by the Blue Line and runs to Hatfield Government Center station. Trains take approximately 25 minutes to reach Pioneer Square in downtown Portland, 30 minutes to downtown Hillsboro, 65 minutes to Portland International Airport, and 75 minutes to Gresham. The last eastbound and westbound trains are Blue Line services.
Beaverton Transit Center is the northern terminus of WES Commuter Rail, which connects it to the cities of Tigard, Tualatin, and Wilsonville. The next station southbound is. WES operates only on weekdays during the morning and evening commutes. Trains run approximately every 30 minutes during service hours.

Bus

A majority of the bus routes serving Beaverton Transit Center serve the westside communities of Washington County and downtown Portland. An exception to this is route 20–Burnside/Stark, which runs east across the Willamette River to Gresham., the following TriMet bus lines serve the transit center:
In August 2013, Wilsonville's South Metro Area Regional Transit began operation of its route 8X, an express bus route connecting Beaverton Transit Center with SMART's Wilsonville Transit Center with only one scheduled trip per day in each direction, in the early morning and late evening. In October 2014, the late-night route was changed to one going via downtown Portland to Beaverton Transit Center and numbered 9X. These routes were intended to provide some service at times when the WES commuter rail line does not operate. The service was discontinued in September 2016.