Page 84 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

82  POR TLAND

Getting Around Portland

The results of Portland’s efforts to prevent urban sprawl
and congestion are noticeable in the compact metropolis.
It is easy to navigate Central Portland on foot, while public
transportation is readily available. The extensive bus, light
rail, and streetcar systems put most places within easy reach.
Old-fashioned streetcar near
Walking Jamison Square
Portland’s downtown is so major downtown hotels or call
compact that it is easy to get one of the city’s taxi companies.
almost anywhere on foot, and Fares can be paid with major
walkways on some bridges credit cards.
make most eastside neighbor­
hoods accessible to pedestrians.
Powell’s City of Books (see p59) Public Transit
offers a free walking map. The Portland transportation
Maps are also available at authority, Tri-Met, provides
Travel Portland, at Pioneer three types of public transit:
Courthouse Square (see p64). light rail, buses, and streetcars.
All require a validated ticket,
Bicycle parked on a Portland downtown Bicycling bus transfer receipt, or pass.
street, a common sight Ticket machines and validators
Portland is a bicycle­friendly are located at the station. Before
Street Layout city. Bikes are permitted on boarding, buy your ticket from
The Willamette River, which public transit, most public a ticket machine or with the
is spanned by 12 downtown buses are equipped with bike mobile ticketing app – or
bridges, divides Portland into racks, and many streets have validate a previously purchased
east and west. Burnside Street designated bicycle lanes. ticket in the validator located
bisects the city into north and Helmets are mandatory for near the ticket machine. A
south. As a result, Portland is cyclists under 16 years of age, validated ticket is good for
divided into quadrants, reflected and all cyclists who ride after 2 hours on MAX, buses, and
in street addresses, most of which dark must equip their bicycles Portland Streetcars.
begin with a “Northwest,” “North­ with a red reflector that can The Metro Area Express (MAX)
east,” “Southwest,” or “Southeast.” be seen from the rear and light rail system serves the
Avenues in Portland are a flashing white light that is Portland metropolitan area.
numbered and run north– visible from ahead. The Bicycle Its blue­line trains run through
south; streets are named and Transportation Alliance, downtown between Hillsboro
run east–west. The streets north a cycling advocacy group, in the west and Gresham in the
of Burnside run alphabetically, provides route maps and other east, while the red line connects
making them easy to find – useful cycling information. downtown with the airport. The
for example, Couch is next yellow line runs across north
to Burnside and Davis is next Portland, from the Rose Quarter
to Couch. South of Burnside, Taxis to the Expo Center, while the
however, street names run in Taxis do not cruise the streets orange line runs from Union
a random order. Street numbers in Portland looking for fares as Station to Milwaukee. The green
that are odd are usually on they do in many other cities. line connects Union Station
the west and north sides; even You can find a cab outside to Portland State University.
numbers, usually on the east
and south.
Several highways crisscross
Portland. The I­5, the main West
Coast north–south route, runs
through the city, while the I­84
runs from the east bank of the
Willamette River east toward
Idaho and beyond. The I­205
forms a perimeter around the
city’s outskirts and runs by the
airport; the I­405 loops around
the southern and western edges
of downtown. A MAX train servicing Portland’s historic Old Town

US_PNW_080-083_Shp_Ent_Arnd.indd 82 04/07/16 12:34 pm