Division Transit Project

The Division Transit Project improved travel between Downtown Portland, Southeast and East Portland and Gresham with easier, faster and more reliable bus service.

Longer buses with room for 60 percent more riders

Multiple-door boarding for briefer stops

Expanded bus stations with amenities such as weather protection

Stations located where rider demand is greatest — minimizing travel times while providing important transit connections

Next-generation signals that prioritize buses for faster trips

Buses arriving every 12 minutes

The Division Transit Project connected Downtown Portland and Gresham via:

Up to 40 enhanced stations between terminals at Union Station in Downtown Portland and Gresham Central Transit Center
A Willamette River crossing over Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People
A route that travels from Gresham through East and Southeast Portland
A connection with improved Line 20-Burnside/Stark service to and from Mt. Hood Community College at Gresham Central Transit Center

Tilikum Crossing

Since opening in 2015, Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People, has served as a vital cross-river connection for bus, MAX and streetcar riders, as well as pedestrians and bicyclists. Using Tilikum Crossing, the project provides a transit link for a regional educational corridor, connecting Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland Community College and Mount Hood Community College. This alignment also enables the project to utilize the transit-exclusive route from SE 8th Avenue and Division to SW Naito Parkway.

Safety Improvements

As part of the Division Transit Project, we partnered with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to make Division Street safer and more welcoming for everyone. This collaboration supported the City of Portland’s Vision Zero program to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on our streets.

TriMet and PBOT coordinated on the design and construction of safety improvements through two projects: TriMet’s Division Transit Project, along all of Division Street, and PBOT’s Outer Division Safety Project, focused on the area between SE 80th and 174th avenues.

First, PBOT’s Outer Division Safety Project lowered the speed limit to 30 mph, installed speed safety cameras and speed reader boards, added street lighting, filled in missing sections of sidewalk and built several signalized pedestrian crossings.

Additional safety improvements included:

10 more signalized pedestrian crossings
New street lighting between SE 82nd and 92nd avenues in the Jade District and between SE 122nd and 130th avenues in the Division-Midway area
Protected bike lanes throughout the corridor
Raised center median along most of the corridor to limit vehicles turning and reduce crashes

TriMet’s Division Transit Project safety improvements included:

Nearly 81,000 square feet of new sidewalks along the corridor (59,000 square feet in Portland and 22,000 square feet in Gresham)
Some 4.5 miles of protected bike lanes, with physical separation when possible
Eleven new marked crosswalks with stoplights, median islands or flashing lights
Raised center medians to limit vehicles turning left and reduce serious crashes
Upgrades and lighting improvements to existing pedestrian crossing signals

Longer buses with more room

The project included new 60-foot articulated buses, which have room for 60 percent more riders than our standard buses. These new buses feature multiple-door boarding, allowing riders to board and exit quickly. And though they are longer than our current buses, these new buses are not wider, and can travel on the same streets.

In September 2019, TriMet’s Board of Directors approved a resolution to award the project’s bus procurement to Nova Bus. A pilot bus was delivered for testing in spring 2021.

Project History

Metro began planning for the project in 2014 by convening the Powell-Division Transit and Development Steering Committee and holding a series of public open houses and meetings. The committee of key stakeholders and community members approved the project plan, formally known as the “Locally-Preferred Alternative,” in November 2016. This plan was unanimously approved by the cities of Gresham and Portland, the Multnomah County Commission and the TriMet Board of Directors. Metro transferred project leadership to TriMet on December 20, 2016.

The project, led by TriMet, was completed in summer of 2022.

Project costs were approximately $175 million, funded by state, regional, local and federal funding contributions.

Browse the Metro library of project planning documents