Division Transit Project
Frequent Express (FX) is a future bus route in Portland, Oregon, United States, that will be operated by TriMet as FX 2–Division. The route will run east–west from the northern end of the Portland Transit Mall in downtown Portland to Cleveland Park and Ride in Gresham via Division Street. It will connect Portland City Center, Portland State University (PSU), South Waterfront, Southeast Portland, and central Gresham. FX will feature bus rapid transit (BRT) elements as defined by the BRT Standard, the second such service in the Portland metropolitan area after C-Tran's The Vine  in Vancouver, Washington. Riders will be able to transfer to MAX Light Rail and the Portland Streetcar at various points along the route. The Portland metropolitan area's regional government, Metro, adopted the Regional High Capacity Transit System Plan in 2009, and planning for the Powell–Division Corridor commenced in 2013. The Division Transit Project began construction in January 2020 and is targeted for completion in September 2022. Upon opening, it will replace TriMet bus route 2–Division. History. Planning. High capacity transit planning for the Portland metropolitan area, last evaluated in the 1982 Light Rail System Plan, was updated  with the adoption of Resolution No. 09-4052, the Regional High Capacity Transit System Plan, by Portland metropolitan area's regional government, Metro, on July 9, 2009. The plan identified the Powell Boulevard corridor between downtown Portland and the eastern suburb of Gresham as a "near-term regional priority", and four years later, Metro and Portland's regional transit agency, TriMet, began studying alignment and mode alternatives along that corridor and several blocks further north along Division Street, with dedicated busway (BRT), light rail, and streetcar under consideration. At the time, Powell and Division were served by bus routes 9 –Powell Blvd. and 4–Division/Fessenden, respectively, which together carried more than 17,000 riders between Portland and Gresham daily. In 2014, a steering committee for the Powell–Division Transit and Development Project was formed, whose members voted that September to abandon the further study of rail alternatives in favor of a bus-only option, citing fewer property and roadway impacts and shorter construction time. The project began conceptual design work two months later. The steering committee had wanted a route that would use Powell Boulevard on its westernmost section, head north to Division Street somewhere between 52nd and 92nd avenues , and continue east through Gresham on to Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC). In March 2016, a study conducted by TriMet revealed that this preferred route would take approximately 11 minutes longer to travel than the existing bus service. It was also estimated to exceed $200 million; to ensure federal funding was acquired, a target cost was set at $175 million. The steering committee selected a locally preferred alternative (LPA) in October that dropped the Powell segment for a Division Street-only BRT alignment. The LPA had also scaled back the route's eastern end to terminate at Gresham  Central Transit Center, rather than at MHCC, to lower cost, but subsequent LPA refinements re-extended the route slightly further east to Cleveland Avenue MAX station. Metro transferred the project to TriMet in December 2016, and TriMet renamed it the "Division Transit Project". Engineering firm WSP USA was awarded the design contract for stations, traffic signals, and civil infrastructure improvements in July 2017. In September 2018, scheduled service changes split 4–Division/Fessenden into two lines; a new 2–Division line took over the Division Transit Project route on the east side. The following month, TriMet unveiled a mock-up  station in Gresham that was scaled down from previous plans; planners attributed budget restrictions and space constraints as reasons for the design change. In March 2019, TriMet issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the procurement of articulated buses and received responses from BYD Auto, New Flyer, and Nova Bus. During an initial evaluation process, TriMet noted that the battery electric buses proposed by BYD and New Flyer did not meet the RFP's specifications and eliminated the bus type from further consideration. That August, TriMet selected Nova as the manufacturer, and in the following month, placed an initial order  for 31 diesel buses with an option to purchase as many as 159 diesel and hybrid electric bus alternatives. Funding and construction. The cost of the Division Transit Project amounted to $175 million, half of which was funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under the Small Starts program. In August 2018, the Portland City Council authorized $17.7 million to cover its share of local funding, sourced through developer fees, and Gresham allocated $500,000 the following month. The project received tentative FTA approval for $87.4 million in funding in April 2019, formally awarded on January 23 , 2020. TriMet selected Portland-based Raimore Construction as the project's general contractor, and early construction work began in October 2019. Work was split into three zones on the east side and progressed concurrently from east to west. Construction of the first station platforms had begun by June 2020. By October, 19 platforms had been poured and seven bioswales and five pedestrian safety islands had been built. Crews completed around 40percent of the project within the first year despite working through the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, TriMet opened the first two upgraded stations at 130th Avenue eastbound and 135th  Avenue westbound for use by the existing 2–Division bus route. TriMet collaborated with the Portland Bureau of Transportation's (PBOT) Outer Division Safety Project, which focused on an area between 80th and 174th avenues, for additional safety improvements; PBOT lowered the speed limit to , installed speed cameras and more street lighting, filled in sidewalks, and painted signalized crosswalks. In June 2021, TriMet announced that the service would be called "Frequent Express", or "FX", with the route itself called "FX–Division". Operator training of the new buses started in April 2022. Service. FX will have bus rapid transit features such  as dedicated right-of-way and traffic-signal priority. Fleet. FX will use articulated buses manufactured by Nova Bus. Route. FX–Division begins at the northern end of the Portland Transit Mall on Irving Street and 5th Avenue near Union Station in downtown Portland. Within the transit mall, buses travel in a one-way pair, Portland-bound on 6th Avenue and Gresham-bound on 5th Avenue, except on a segment between Lincoln and Hall streets where Portland-bound buses run along 4th Avenue. From Lincoln Street, the route follows the shared Portland–Milwaukie light rail alignment eastward through Harbor Viaduct  and Tilikum Crossing. It diverges from this shared alignment on 7th Avenue, circling a block before entering Division Street on 8th Avenue. FX–Division stays along Division Street through Southeast Portland and Gresham until Roberts Avenue, where it turns for 8th Street and terminates at Cleveland Avenue station park and ride. Portland-bound buses in central Gresham turn from 8th Street back to Division Street via Kelley Avenue. Stations. FX–Division will serve 47 stations, spaced an average apart, within the cities of Portland and Gresham, primarily along Division Street. Stops west of Division Street and 11th Avenue existed prior  to the Division Transit Project. East of Division and 11th, TriMet designed four station types to accommodate right-of-way restrictions, with stations in the outer parts of the route (east of 82nd Avenue) built larger with more amenities. Station areas vary in length, from , and typically consist of a shelter, station marker, trashcan, and utility cabinet. Shelters also vary in length, from , and are glass-covered. Platforms are long enough to accommodate simultaneous boarding of the three-door buses, and larger stations are wider to incorporate bicycle lanes.