TriMet

The TriMet is the public transportation system for the greater Portland area. Our research into TriMet looked at cost, efficiency, and usage. 

The TriMet system consists of buses, MAX light rail, WES commuter rail, and LIFT paratransit. 

The closest TriMet stop to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) campus is the Lewis & Clark College Law School stop for the 35T bus. 

Otterbus

The Otterbus (formerly the Pioneer Express/The Pio) is a free shuttle for Lewis & Clark community members. 

The shuttle runs on an approximately hourly schedule with irregular intervals on weekdays. It makes a very limited loop that doesn't extend into the larger extents of Portland. Furthermore, it doesn't begin going to the local grocery store, Fred Meyer, until 5:30 pm on weekdays.

See Shuttle Stops Below.

In our research, we looked at commuting and the type of power that college-owned vehicles used as well as energy and emissions data (see graphical breakdowns below). We did this using data from Lewis & Clark's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) Report, a self-reported framework for colleges & universities. 

Notable findings include: 

• Gross emissions (2022): 9, 215.09 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCDE)

• Direct transportation (2022): 18.51 MTCDE 

• Commuting (2022): 690.83 MTCDE

Direct transportation refers to emissions from school-operated transportation vehicles. Commuting emissions refers to those from transportation of students, staff, and faculty to and from campus. This data shows that direct transportation and commuting emissions make up a small percentage of gross emissions. STARS report data revealed that the majority of emissions come from buildings and stationary sources. L&C's goal is to reach near zero emissions by 2040, and despite its smaller fraction, transportation emissions are a part of this. 

Though in Portland, Lewis & Clark College is located in a relatively isolated position atop Palatine Hill away from much of the city's public transportation lines.  Many students prefer to use their own cars because it is the quickest way to get off campus and into the city.

Portland has a rainy climate, meaning that some forms of "clean" transportation are often not ideal such as biking, electric scooters, etc. According to Balakrishnan of Climate Control Journal, Portland faces increas inland flooding risks and increasing chances of extreme precipitation as well as high concentrations of pollutants in the air from local emissions. This may further restrict already limited clean transportation options.

We looked at data surrounding how the Lewis & Clark community as a whole and how sub-communities, like students, report usage of public transportation. 

To find this information we looked at the Transportation and Parking Survey which was completed by the Lewis & Clark Transportation Department this fall. 

We found the majority of staff, faculty, and students reported they never or rarely use the Lewis & Clark Shuttle (Otterbus). Out of those surveyed 50% or more of every group, expect students, reported never using the Otterbus. Additionally, more than 75% of community members surveyed reported rarely or never using Zip Cars or bikes. These two forms of transportation are being utilized the least. Though the survey was able to reach decent amounts of faculty, students, and staff, only two auxiliary staff answered the survey, so the data on their shuttle usage is most skewed. (Office of Transportation & Parking (2025). 2025 Parking & Transportation Survey [Lewis & Clark College].)

(See graphs below)

Portland/TriMet

The TriMet was founded in 1969. Since then, the TriMet has expanded to Light Rails, Street Cars, and Max Lines.

Lewis & Clark College

Many different transportation methods have been employed throughout Lewis & Clark College's history. Prior to Spring 2009, there was a Sellwood Shuttle taking students from campus to the Sellwood neighborhood across the river. However, this shuttle was shut down in Spring 2009 due to a reconstruction project on Sellwood Bridge that banned busses. Next, the Hillsdale Park & Ride Shuttle was created to solve the parking problem on campus. It was very unsuccessful and only 10 out of 100 spots were being used by faculty and staff. From 2001 to 2011 the company Raz Transportation was responsible for the L&C shuttle system. In 2011, Lewis & Clark started a partnership with ecoShuttle to introduce the Pio (now Otterbus), a shuttle to transport Lewis & Clark community members (The Mossy Log, 2011). EcoShuttle is still the provider for the shuttle today. In 2017 there was a lot of talk of replacing or scaling down the Pio in favor of the TriMet. This did not happen, but the idea was that students would pay a small fee to get an annual TriMet pass. 

San Francisco State University (SFSU)

We also decided to look at other systems used by similar universities to get inspiration and see if there was anything we could apply to our school. SFSU was chosen for this comparison due to similar terrain to the area of Portland near L&C.

SFSU does not have a dedicated bus route like the Otterbus, but all students get free Muni (San Francisco's Municipal Railway system) passes. Muni consists of a mix of hybrid buses, light rail metro, cable cars, trolley cars, and streetcars. Students also have free access to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain services, which spans a lot of the Bay Area. There are Muni and BART/Caltrain stations located near each other for easy transfers.