Portland Transportation

Getting There

Air

Portland International Airport (PDX)
+1 503 460 4234
http://www.portlandairportpdx.com

PDX is located 20 minutes from Downtown Portland and services the following airlines:

Air Canada Jazz (+1 888 247 2262 / http://www.aircanada.com)
Alaska Airlines (+1 800 426 0333 / http://www.alaskaair.com)
American Airlines (+1 800 433 7300 / http://www.aa.com)
Continental (+1 800 525 0280 / http://www.continental.com)
Delta (+1 800 221 1212 / http://www.delta.com)
Frontier (+1 800 432 1359 / http://www.frontierairlines.com)
Hawaiian Air (+ 1 800 367 5320 / http://www.hawaiianair.com)
Horizon Air (+1 800 547 9308 / http://www.horizonair.alaskaair.com)
Lufthansa (+1 800 645 3880 / http://www.lufthansa.com)
Mexicana (+1 800 531 7921 / http://www.mexicana.com)
Northwest (+1 800 225 2525 / http://www.nwa.com)
Southwest (+1 800 435 9792 / http://www.southwest.com)
United (+1 800 241 6522 / http://www.ual.com)
US Airways (+1 800 428 4322 / http://www.usairways.com) Airport Map & Information: http://www.airguideonline.com/airports/airport_pdx.htm
Airport Services: http://www.airguideonline.com/airports/airport_pdx2.htm
Airport Transportation: http://www.airguideonline.com/airports/airport_pdx3.htm

From the Airport

Light Rail: The 38-mile MAX (Metropolitan Area Express light rail system) (+1 503 238 7433/ http://www.trimet.org) is the West Coast's only train-to-plane service and features access to many of Portland's attractions. Its Red Line exits the airport and runs every 15 minutes or better all day, every day. Adult single fares cost from USD1.35-1.65.

Shuttle: Sky Pilot Shuttle Service (+1 888 820 6555 / http://www.skypilotshuttle.com) is a popular choice for reliable transportation to and from PDX. Sky Pilot provides door-to-door service at competitive rates. Single passenger fares are around USD25-40 depending on the distance traveled.

Taxi: Taxis, all metered, generally cost between USD22-USD28 from the airport to Downtown Portland. Taxis can be easily located outside the ground transportation center from the following companies:

Broadway Cab (+1 503 227 1234)
Green Cab (formerly Smart Cab) (+1 503 234 1414)
New Rose City Cab (+1 503 282 7707)
Portland Taxi (+1 503 256 5400)
Radio Cab (+1 503 227 1212 / http://www.radiocab.net)

Car Rental: Avis (+1 503 249 4950 / http://www.avis.com)
Budget (+1 503 249 4556 / http://www.budget.com)
Dollar (+1 503 249 4792 / http://www.dollar.com)
Enterprise (+1 503 252 1500 / http://www.enterprise.com)
Hertz (+1 800 654 3131 / http://www.hertz.com)

Car Share: Another attractive ground transportation option is Flexcar, which operates in certain U.S. cities. This new breed of rental car allows you to rent on an hourly basis rather than a daily basis. Be sure to register online before your trip. Flexcar (+1 877 353 9227 / http://www.flexcar.com)

Train

Portland Union Station, located at 800 NW 6th Avenue, serves four Amtrak (+1 800 872 7245 / http://www.amtrak.com) intercity passenger trains. There are three daily departures between Seattle and Portland and daily service to Vancouver, B.C with Amtrak Cascades (+1 800 872 7245/http://www.amtrakcascades.com). Amtrak's Coast Starlight runs daily throughout the West Coast including stops at Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Bus

Greyhound (+1 800 231 2222 / http://www.greyhound.com) accesses Portland daily. The Downtown bus station, (+1 503 243 2310), located at 550 NW 6th Avenue, is open midnight-1:30a and 6:30a-11:30p.

Car

Reach Portland by Interstate 405 from the north and west, Interstate 5 from the south and Interstate 84 from the east.

Getting Around

Public Transit

Portland has some convenient means of public transportation. The TriMet bus system (+1 503 238 7433 / http://www.trimet.org) makes its way throughout the city and surrounding suburbs three different ways including the MAX light rail, the European Trolley Car and the bus system. The MAX runs east to west throughout the middle of Portland and nearby small cities.

The Trolley services upper Downtown into the NW part of the city. The bus system provides the most routes and run every 15 minutes. An all-zone pass for all three of these has transfers good for two hours and is around USD1.45 for adults. Also available is a three-day pass costing USD10, which can be purchased at the Tri-Met office in Pioneer Court House Square on South West 6th Avenue.

Portland Aerial Tram (+1 503 823 5185 / http://www.portlandtram.org)

Taxi

Some of the major cab companies servicing Portland include:

Broadway Cab (+1 503 227 1234)
Green Cab (+1 503 234 1414)
Radio Cab Company (+1 503 227 1212 / http://www.radiocab.net)

Walking

Portland was voted one of "America's Best Walking Towns" by Walking Magazine with its short blocks and a Downtown area filled with several landmarks and attractions. For a walk along Portland's waterfront, take the promenade in Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park to the Steel Bridge. The lower deck of the bridge has a 1.5-mile pedestrian/cycling trail providing beautiful views of the skyline and access to four bridges that cross the Willamette River.

Traffic Information

To find out city traffic information go to http://www.traffic.com.

If traveling overseas, take the safety precaution of registering your trip at https://travelregistration.state.gov and for helpful, practical advice about traveling technicalities and safety standards check out http://travel.state.gov.

By Public Transportation

Until recently, Dallas used to be a typical Southern city covering a huge area but where there wasn't a lick of public transportation. Things have really improved with the addition of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) buses and light rail, whose coverage is constantly expanding out from the downtown area. Pick up a map at any visitor information center as well as most hotels and major attractions. Single ride fare (no transfers) is $1.25 (50¢ for seniors, students, and children). Day passes are available for $2.50 ($1 for seniors, students, and children). Of particular interest to visitors in the downtown area is the free McKinney Avenue Streetcar Service (also called the M-Line Trolley), which travels from the Dallas Arts District to Cityplace Station and the West Village (it goes along McKinney Ave. from Uptown's Allen St. to downtown's Ross Ave. and St. Paul Ave., next to the Dallas Museum of Art). The vintage trolleys are from 1906, 1913, and 1920. It operates 7 days a week (365 days a year) between 7am and 10pm weekdays, 10am and 10pm weekends (every 15 min. during peak and lunch hours, every half-hour off-peak hours and weekends). The trolley is perfect for bar, gallery, and restaurant-shopping in Uptown, and it's a great way to get from hotels in the area to the Arts District downtown.

For additional route and fare information for all of DART, call tel. 214/979-1111, or log on to www.dart.org.

DART Rail Passes -- If you plan on doing a lot of hop-on, hop-off sightseeing and shopping, consider getting a day pass, good for all DART bus and light-rail travel. For local service, the 1-day pass is $2.50 ($1 for travelers with disabilities, students, and seniors); for premium routes (serving the suburbs), the 1-day pass is $4.50 ($2 discounted). You can purchase single tickets and day passes from the new Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) on all rail station platforms.

By Car

Believe it or not, you can now actually get around Dallas without a car, if you stick to the major downtown sights, hotels, and restaurants. However, if you want to visit shopping centers in North Dallas or outlying areas, like Arlington and Fort Worth, most people will be better off with an automobile. Be advised, though, that if your hotel doesn't have parking, street parking can be an expensive hassle in the downtown area.

The major car-rental agencies, which have outlets at DFW and Love Field airports and at several addresses throughout the Metroplex, include Alamo (tel. 800/462-5266; www.alamo.com), Avis (tel. 800/230-4898; www.avis.com), Budget (tel. 800/527-0700; www.budget.com), Dollar (tel. 800/800-3665; www.dollar.com), Enterprise (tel. 800/736-8222; www.enterprise.com), Hertz (tel. 800/654-3131; www.hertz.com), National (tel. 800/227-7368; www.nationalcar.com), and Thrifty (tel. 800/847-4389; www.thrifty.com).

Note: Yellow lights do little to slow down drivers in Dallas; even the running of red lights seems to have become epidemic in recent years, so be very careful before proceeding when the light turns green.

Real Highway Names -- To get around Dallas, you'll need to know and adopt the colloquial names of the major local thoroughfares. As a general rule, numbers give way to proper names.

Official Name/Real Folks Name
U.S. 75/Central Expressway ("Central")

I-635/LBJ Freeway ("LBJ")

Northwest Highway/Loop 12

I-35E/Stemmons

I-35/U.S. 77/I-635/I-30/R. L. Thornton

By Taxi

Don't expect to hail a cab as you would in midtown Manhattan, though you will find taxis parked in front of the bigger, upscale hotels and at the airports. Mostly, though, you'll need to call a cab. There are more than a dozen taxi companies, including Cowboy Cab Company (tel. 214/428-0202) and Yellow Checker (tel. 214/426-6262).

Fares are $2.25 (initial drop) and 45¢ each additional quarter-mile. Extras might include a $2 extra passenger charge, a $3.60 airport exit fee, and a 52¢ airport drop-off fee.