2017 In Review

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.

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.