TriMet Training On Big Green Buses Begins, Service Starts In September

GRESHAM, OR —While TriMet's new articulated buses may not speak well, the agency promises the buses will be faster about getting people where they need to go. On Monday, the agency started training drivers to operate 60-feet long buses.

The buses, whose very green exteriors guarantee that they will be easy to spot – along with the fact that they are twice as long as the regular buses, will be operating on test drives along Division from Gresham to Downtown Portland and back.

The training route travels between Union Station downtown and works its way across the Tilikum Bridge and along division Street before ending up at the Gresham Transit Center.

TriMet said that they will be training 180 operators initially to drive the buses, which are the same width as the current buses, just substantially longer.

"The on-street training is an exciting milestone in the Division Transit Project that will bring better, more efficient bus service to the corridor," TriMet Chief Operating Officer Bonnie Todd.

Todd said that as drivers learn to operate the buses, they ask that people be aware of there presence and be patient.

"Please be aware and give them a little more space, like you would around trucks, as our operators learn how to make turns and other maneuvers safely in these longer buses," she said.

TriMet officials said that the new buses will cut travel time between the Gresham Transit Center and Downtown Portland by 20 percent. The buses will operate every 12 minutes and hold 60 percent more riders.

The new service is dubbed TriMet FX, for frequent express. It will start operating in September, according to TriMet.