By Brian Hoop
Trimet has followed through on cuts to bus service through Linnton as initially proposed last year as part of a long-term term strategic planning. Line 16, currently serving Linnton, will end at 44th Ave. and Yeon Ave.
If you live north of the St. Johns Bridge and depend on bus service for work, getting groceries or making medical appointments, please come to the November 1 neighborhood meeting, 7 PM, at the Linnton Community Center. We’ll be voting to adopt a letter opposing the service cuts.
Granted, bus ridership in Linnton has dropped off significantly since the COVID pandemic. But the proposal from Trimet would eliminate bus service North of the St. Johns Bridge except for rush-hour trips to Linnton to serve Lincoln High School students.
Linnton residents living in the Willbridge area south of the bridge will likely see increased service as Trimet proposes to extend line 15’s 30-minute service frequency between Montgomery Park and St. Johns.
Service for Lincoln High School students is due to the fact that Portland Public Schools does not provide yellow school buses for high schoolers who are expected to take the public buses. This even though parents successfully advocated for school buses that picked up students in rural areas around Cornelius Pass Rd. to stop for students as they drove down Highway 30, most with just a few students.
Linnton and St. Johns residents successfully organized ten plus years ago to save bus service to our area. As a result, weekend bus service was expanded. As a compromise, I recommend we advocate for shifting back to service levels prior to a decade ago.
Just as in any neighborhood, loss of bus service will primarily affect low-income residents. There are also individuals who access programs at the Linnton Community Center, especially the Food Bank, who depend on the bus to get to LCC.
Once bus service is gone, it’s going to be much harder to get it back. For more info: trimet.org/forward