The business access and transit (BAT) lane installed last spring on a segment of Northeast Grand Avenue has improved afternoon peak travel times by 25%, according to Portland Streetcar's analysis.
New striping, signage and a transit priority signal help the B Loop streetcar and TriMet Line 6 bus avoid congestion resulting from backups on the eastbound on-ramp to I-84, which have previously meant the streetcar would sometimes take as long as 15 minutes to move between the stops at Southeast Stark and Northeast Hoyt. The project was installed by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) as part of a suite of transit priority projects in the central city.
On average, weekday streetcar travel times went down 25% between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m., with a dramatic 47% reduction at 5:30 p.m. This improvement in reliability means less time spent commuting and more time home with family and friends for Portland transit riders.
Portland Streetcar will continue to monitor the performance of this BAT lane and look for other opportunities to reduce delay and improve travel time reliability across the system.