TriMet said daily ridership on its Westside Express Service, the metro area's only commuter rail line, is significantly down from 2017 levels.

Nine years ago, the transit agency officially got into the heavy-rail business with the 14.7-mile suburban route between Wilsonville and Beaverton. And ever since, ridership has consistently failed to live up to TriMet's original projections.

At its board meeting last month, TriMet General Manager Doug Kelsey said the commuter line saw the average number of March daily boardings - the measurement TriMet uses to calculate ridership - land at 1,540, a 13.2 percent drop from a year earlier.

The tepid ridership comes despite record-low unemployment levels in the Portland area and amid ever-growing grumbling about stifling congestion on Interstates 5 and 205, Oregon 217 and U.S. 26.

"This is a concern for us," Kelsey told the governing board.

Kelsey, who took over the tri-county public transportation agency this year, said TriMet would explore ways to attract more riders, including by boosting marketing. TriMet plans to spend $20,000 to target new subdivisions along the route, Portland Community College-Sylvania employees and students, and nearby Providence and Legacy Health systems hospitals.

TriMet's not alone. Public transit agencies nationwide are seeing ridership drop. Some blame economic displacement, where traditionally loyal public transit riders are pushed out from the urban core due to cost of living increases, as one factor in ridership declines. Alternative transportation options, like ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft, could also play a role in transit ridership declines. People have more options than ever.

Overall March ridership dipped 4 percent across TriMet's five light rail lines and expansive bus system.

While systemwide ridership is down, WES is struggling for its own set of reasons, according to Bernie Bottomly, TriMet's executive director of public affairs.

"To some degree, it's a little bit of an experiment," Bottomly said.

Paul Baca sits alone a few minutes before his WES train leaves for Beaverton in May. Baca said ridership is more packed during the evening commute, but he, and other commuters, say they haven't noticed a significant decline despite double digit declines reported by the agency.

WES, which operates only during the roughly four-and-a-half hour morning and evening commutes, relies on the surrounding environment more than other transit lines, which are seeing steeper ridership declines in off-peak hours than in morning and evening rush.

The commuter line is in its own orbit - while it connects to some 15 bus lines and two MAX lines in Beaverton, it is more reliant on the immediate employment areas surround the stations.

"We've had some bad luck with employers leaving or shutting down or downsizing in those area," Bottomly said.

Convergys, an Ohio-based company, said in January it would close its Wilsonville call center, less than half a mile from the transit station, and lay off more than 200 workers. Last summer, Microsoft said it would close an office there too, laying off more than 60 workers.

But underperforming ridership numbers aren't anything new for WES. Before its 2009 debut, then-TriMet general manager Fred Hansen said he expected the line to carry 2,500 riders a day during its first year. "Actually, I think it will be more once people realize the attractiveness of this," he said at the time. WES instead drew 1,175 boardings, less than half that figure.

In the 2003 application to the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program, TriMet officials estimated the line would draw 3,037 daily riders by 2020. To match that projection, the line would need to more than double its ridership in less than two years.

That didn't happen.

A view from the WES train shows a commercial and residential building in downtown Tualatin.

WES SIDE STORY

The commuter rail runs along an active Portland & Western Railroad freight line through a mix of rolling farmland, industrial areas and tech companies. It parallels I-5 and Oregon 217 in Clackamas and Washington counties.

The north-south route was once home to a couple of passenger services in the early 1900s. The idea to create a modern iteration began in 1996 when TriMet, Tigard, Tualatin, Beaverton, Sherwood and Metro regional governments started studying the line's feasibility.

A little more than a decade later, the $161.2 million project rolled forward.

On a recent day toward the end of morning service, riders leaving the Wilsonville transit station could nearly be counted on two hands, and the park and ride lot was more than half empty.

But the commuters who do ride WES tend to love it for the same reasons - it's a quick 27 or so minute trip from Wilsonville to Beaverton, it's clean, there is free and fast Wi-Fi, and it's a reliable escape from congestion. More riders boarded the train as it moved closer to Beaverton.

Paul Baca, a Portland State University student, has been riding for a year to his classes. He transfers to a bus at the Beaverton Transit Center. He's planning on buying a car but doesn't envision ditching the train. "I'll still take the WES to skip traffic," he said.

Houda Mesnaoui, another newish WES rider, connects to an Oregon Health & Science University shuttle van in Beaverton. When asked why she doesn't drive, Mesnaoui laughed and shook her head. "I don't want to deal with the traffic," she said.

Lucky Mincer (seated) chats with a conductor performing fare inspections on the WES train in May, 2018. Mincer said he loves the sense of community on the commuter rail line.

Lucky Mincer, an old-time WES hand who's been riding the train for eight years, greeted a conductor like an old friend last week.

He raved about WES, saying despite spending much of his life in New Jersey where there's a robust rail system, TriMet is "one of the best transit systems I've seen."

Mincer does have some suggestions to boost ridership: add at least one late-night train or weekend service. "Sometimes Friday night you just want to have a couple, and your options are limited," he said. "You have to take Lyft."

None of the riders noticed fewer people onboard their train these day.

NO PLAN FOR MORE TRAINS

A decade ago, WES's pending arrival was met with talk of eventually extending the trip south to Salem and other commuter rail spurs spreading to Vancouver or west into Washington County.

"The choice will be: Do we do some of these spurs as the next part," said Hansen, then the general manager, "or will it be a major line? That will be among the choices facing us as a community."

Today, Bottomly said, those discussions may still be happening, but TriMet isn't driving the conversation. Metro is expected to bring forward a regional transportation package in 2020 that will likely number in the billions of dollars, but commuter rail expansion is not anticipated to be a part of that.

Bottomly said TriMet is boxed in a bit from adding night or weekend service because it must coordinate with the railroad, which allows the commuter line to use the freight network. "Given the ridership, we haven't pushed for additional time on the line," Bottomly said.

TriMet may consider adding service if ridership increases.

The agency must operate WES for at least 20 years as part of the arrangement to receive federal funds. Bottomly said the agency is not at the point where it would consider closing WES in 2020, saying that ridership "supports a healthy operation there."

He added that ridership would likely be higher if commuter rail ran from Wilsonville to Downtown Portland.

"But that's not where the rail goes."



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen