On August 23, 2026, TriMet made sweeping transit cuts across the Metro area due to budget shortfalls. One of the many public transit victims of these cuts was Tualatin’s popular Express Bus 96, which used to go from the Tualatin Park and Ride to downtown Portland in about 20 minutes. Bus 96 was downgraded to a surface-street route through Lake Oswego and SW Portland, more than doubling travel times. I rode Bus 96 for its convenience to my downtown office, so I tested the new route a few weeks ago, hoping it might still be useful. I felt impatient stopping at every red light and going 30 mph most of the way. Although I may try Bus 96 again, my current favorite commute-to-work pick is the Westside Express Service (WES) train.
I love riding the WES! I love walking up onto the platform on a crisp fall morning, coffee in hand and sunlight filtering through the station roof. I love that it transports me from Tualatin to Beaverton in just under 20 minutes, far faster and cheaper than my own car could. It is clean, the conductors are friendly, and I can relax instead of fighting traffic on I-5. Fellow WES rider, Wade Valesano of Sherwood, commutes daily to his tech job in Beaverton. During a recent chat, he told me he finds the ride relaxing, especially because it’s almost always on schedule (99.3% of the time) and he likes the relationships he’s developed with fellow passengers. For me, once I’m at the Beaverton Transit Center, it’s a quick walk to the MAX train tracks, and I ride another 20 minutes to my office downtown near Pioneer Square. The entire trip takes 40-45 minutes, about the same as the new Bus 96 route if it runs on schedule. The great thing about the WES/MAX combo is that the trains aren’t subject to traffic delays like the bus – I always know when I’ll arrive.
Ridership on the WES train dropped to a trickle during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ridership has increased each year since, but it has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Tyler Graf, a spokesperson for Trimet, told me that in August 2019, WES averaged 1,380 rides each day. In the same month in 2026, WES averaged about half that, at 575 riders per day.. However, ridership this August also reflected a 5% increase from August 2025, when 548 daily rides were made. July 2026 also showed an 8% increase in rides from July 2025. Tyler could not predict if the recent changes to Bus 96 would affect WES ridership, since those changes went into effect so recently, but it seems likely they could if more commuters, like me, switch to the WES/ MAX.
The WES isn’t perfect. The WES train was opened in Tualatin in 2009, to much fanfare, and also criticisms over its cost to run. In a part of the Metro area without MAX train service and ever-reducing bus service, it partially fills a void for commuters like me to downtown Portland, Beaverton, and further south to Wilsonville. I’ve even taken the WES/ MAX to the airport. But the WES is not a full substitute for all Tualatin’s public transit needs. It only runs on weekdays, every 40 minutes during morning and evening commute times. There is no service on weekends or later in the evenings. Outside of rush hour, Tualatin is in a bit of a public transit desert, a void made bigger by the recent cuts. Still, the WES train, to me, is an asset. What’s not to love about cute little white train cars tootling through town? If you haven’t yet, give the WES train a try, and say hi when you do!
