Speeding Up MAX Through Downtown

TriMet is permanently closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station, starting Sunday, Aug. 24. The TriMet Board of Directors voted to close the station last year, after a yearslong process of community engagement and outreach.

MAX currently has to make three stops to serve stations spaced closely together on 1^st Avenue in Downtown Portland. As a result, trains move slowly along this stretch, causing trips to take longer.

Once the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is closed, MAX trains will proceed directly between the Old Town/Chinatown and Oak St/SW 1st Ave MAX stations. Those stations will remain open, continuing to serve riders along 1^st Avenue.

TriMet first proposed closing four stations on the MAX Blue and Red lines in 2018. he goal was to speed up trains and reduce travel times for riders in Downtown Portland.

Three of the stations — Kings Hill/SW Salmon, Mall/SW 4th Ave and Mall/SW 5th Ave — closed permanently in 2020. Skidmore Fountain is the fourth station we considered for closure.

Since TriMet closed the stations in 2020, trip times through Downtown Portland on the MAX Blue and Red lines have been about a minute and a half faster. Closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station will save riders another 45 seconds every trip.

In speeding up MAX service in Downtown, we focused on stations that were less than 600 feet from another station. The Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is just 500 feet from the closest station. For comparison, a two-car MAX train is about 200 feet long.

In 2018, when TriMet first proposed closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station, they asked riders and the public, including employers located in the Skidmore Fountain area, for their feedback. In response to the input they received from the community, they postponed a final decision on whether to close the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station, waiting to see if ridership at the station increased.

Historically, Skidmore Fountain has been among their least used stations along the MAX Blue and Red lines in Downtown Portland. The station has not seen ridership increase over the past five years, so in January 2024, they once again proposed closing it, which their Board approved in April 2024.

Today, average weekly ridership at the Skidmore Fountain Station is less than half of what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the employers in the area have closed, moved elsewhere or transitioned to remote work.

The Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is located between two nearby MAX stations on the Blue and Red lines: the Old Town/Chinatown MAX Station, which is about 500 feet (two blocks) to the north, and the Oak St/SW 1st Ave MAX Station, approximately 1,000 feet (four blocks) to the south.

If you currently use the Skidmore Fountain Station, you can use either of these stations instead. You can also access the Portland Saturday Market, held at nearby Tom McCall Waterfront Park, from these stations. TriMet will be making changes to MAX schedules and some bus lines on Aug. 24 as well. Visit trimet.org to plan your trip. Be sure to set your travel date for Sunday, Aug. 24, or later.