Service
Streetcars are scheduled to arrive at 12-minute intervals at most times (14-minute intervals before 10:30 a.m.), with a lower frequency in the evening and on Sundays. Every stop is fitted with an electronic reader board giving real-time arrival information to waiting passengers, using the NextBus vehicle tracking system.
As on TriMet's MAX line, the streetcar's fare system is a proof-of-payment (or "honor") system, with occasional random inspections of passengers' fares, which minimizes wait times at stops by allowing boarding to take place simultaneously through all vehicle doorways. Streetcar operators do not collect or monitor fares. Although the line is not part of the TriMet system, the city adopted TriMet's fares for the streetcar, for simplicity and convenience of transferring passengers.
The portion of the streetcar route within Downtown and the Pearl District of the streetcar route used to lie within TriMet's Fareless Square, later known as the Free Rail Zone. Rides within that area were free at all times. TriMet ended the Free Rail Zone on September 1, 2012.
Passengers not already in possession of a valid fare when boarding are required to purchase tickets from ticket vending machines on board each streetcar. Each vehicle also carries a ticket validator machine, for stamping "unvalidated" TriMet tickets purchased in advance. TriMet and Portland Streetcar have agreed to honor one another's fares, which means that TriMet passes, tickets and bus transfer receipts are accepted on the streetcar, and tickets purchased or validated on a streetcar are valid for travel on TriMet services (bus, MAX or WES) To facilitate this, the ticket machines on the streetcars offer both all-zone (three-zone) and two-zone tickets, despite the fact that the streetcar route lies entirely within TriMet's Zone 1. Streetcar tickets are valid for two hours on TriMet services, but TriMet tickets and transfers are valid all-day on the streetcar.
Read more about this topic: Portland Streetcar
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