TriMet closing Skidmore Fountain MAX Station

TriMet is closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station starting Aug. 24. The TriMet Board of Directors voted to close the station last year after a year-long process of community engagement and outreach. 

According to TriMet, MAX currently has to make three stops to serve stations spaced closely together on 1st Avenue in downtown Portland, Ore. As a result, trains move slowly along this stretch, causing trips to take longer. 

Once the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is closed, MAX trains will proceed directly between the Old Town/Chinatown and Oak Street/Southwest 1st Avenue MAX stations. Those stations will remain open, continuing to serve riders along 1st Avenue 

Saving riders’ time 

TriMet first proposed closing four stations on the MAX Blue and Red lines in 2018. The goal was to speed up trains and reduce travel times for riders in downtown Portland. Three of the stations—Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon, Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue and Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue—closed permanently in 2020. Skidmore Fountain is the fourth station that was considered for closure. 

TriMet notes that since the stations closed in 2020, trip times through downtown Portland on the MAX Blue and Red lines have been 90 seconds faster. Closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station will save riders another 45 seconds every trip. 

According to the agency, in speeding up MAX service in downtown, it focused on stations that were less than 600 feet from another station. The Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is 500 feet from the closest station. TriMet notes that for comparison, a two-car MAX train is about 200 feet long. 

Making this decision 

The agency says that when it first proposed closing the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station in 2018, it asked riders and the public, including employers located in the Skidmore Fountain area, for their feedback. In response to the input the agency received from the community, it postponed a final decision on whether to close the Skidmore Fountain MAX Station, waiting to see if ridership at the station increased. 

According to TriMet, historically, Skidmore Fountain has been among one of the least used stations along the MAX Blue and Red lines in downtown Portland. The station has not seen ridership increase over the past five years, so in January 2024, the agency once again proposed closing it, which the board approved in April 2024. 

Today, TriMet notes average weekly ridership at the Skidmore Fountain Station is less than half of what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the employers in the area have closed, moved elsewhere or transitioned to remote work. 

Getting around 

The Skidmore Fountain MAX Station is right in between two other MAX stations on the Blue and Red lines: 

1. Old Town/Chinatown MAX Station, two blocks north (about 500 feet) from Skidmore Fountain. 
2. Oak Street/Southwest 1st Ave. MAX Station, four blocks south (about 1,000 feet) from Skidmore Fountain. 

TriMet says riders that currently use the Skidmore Fountain Station can use either of those stations. They can also access the Portland Saturday Market, held at nearby Tom McCall Waterfront Park, from these stations.