Blog Post

2017 In Review

Posted November 20, 2017 by Streetcar

Take a trip down memory lane as we reminisce about some of the big events from 2017.

January

  • The year started off with a bang when 5 separate snow and ice events put a damper on service in January.


  • January also marked the 10 year anniversary of the Portland Aerial Tram.  Oregon Health Sciences University and the City of Portland partnered on a fun week long celebration.

February

  • We enjoyed the lights and festivities of the 2nd Annual Portland Winter Light Festival at OMSI and the South Waterfront.
  • Broke our ridership record with 16,351 riders each weekday in February.  The highest ever for Portland Streetcar.

March

  • We released the story of Portland Streetcar in "From Concept to Reality", a video telling the story of Portland Streetcar from the 1980s to present day.  The video can be seen in our Video Gallery.
  • Operations performed a run time test on the A & B Loops in an effort to improve schedules and improve reliability on both lines.

May

  • Free Ride First Thursday began its second year thanks to the continued sponsorship of Wave G.
  • TriMet's upgrades at SW 11th & Morrison resulted in a 2 week special service with a bus shuttle on 10th & 11th Avenues.  Streetcars turned around at SW Market using a special signal.

June

  • Streetcar service was provided for the first time ever during both the Grand Floral and Starlight Parades during Rose Festival 2017.
  • We were a proud sponsor of Pints in the Pearl and began rolling out information on the upcoming Hop Fastpass.
  • We held our first ever Scavenger Hunt in partnership with Growler Guys South Waterfront.

July

  • Launched the long awaited Hop Fastpass with partners TriMet and C-TRAN.


  • Held a First Thursday Open House of Streetcar Art by local artist Lynne Leahy.
  • Construction began on the Broadway Bridge to replace the four rall wheels that open and close the bridge.  Construction is anticipated to last throughout 2017.

August

  • Got to know one of the many teachers who make use of the sponsored school field trips. 

September

  • Updated schedules for all three lines increased frequency on the NS Line to 15-minute service beginning at the start of each weekday and increased the reliability of the B-Loop during the PM peak.
  • Held our second Scavenger Hunt in partnership with Growler Guys South Waterfront.
  • We released updated development data outlining the relationship between housing and the Streetcar.
  • Hosted our second First Thursday Art Show of the year.  This time featuring art created by employees of Portland Streetcar.


Photo by Rip City Photography

October

  • We partnered with the Community Streetcar Coalition to bring two advocacy super stars to Portland to talk Streetcar advocacy in Cincinnati and Kansas City and how that applies to Portland Streetcar.
  • We held our 8th Streetcar Mobile Music Fest featuring 10 acts and did our first Facebook and Twitter live videos.
  • We debuted a new "How 2 Ride" video helping answer some frequently asked questions about riding streetcar.  The video can be found in our Video Gallery.