TriMet's Sustainability Policy
TriMet is committed to advancing the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the Portland metropolitan region and has adopted the following mission to guide its policies and practices:
TriMet provides viable transportation options to support regional livability goals by building and operating a safe, attractive, easy-to-use transit system that ensures transit equity, promotes human and ecosystem health and facilitates the use of other transportation alternatives in our community.
To fulfill this mission, TriMet pursues continuous improvement in three main areas.
Providing quality transit service
As a key player in the regional transportation arena, TriMet strives to provide residents and visitors with viable transportation options. When people use transit, the entire region benefits socially, economically and environmentally. Regional livability and quality of life improve with better air quality, decreased traffic congestion and increased individual mobility for all.
Constructing community- and earth-friendly projects
As TriMet grows its transit system to meet the increasing transportation needs of the community, it works closely with its regional partners to tie land use and transportation together to limit the region’s ecological footprint. Each project offers the opportunity to make community- and earth-friendly use of space. Through carefully selecting products, incorporating green design principles and analyzing the impact of its construction choices, TriMet can ensure projects built today support a healthy community tomorrow.
Incorporating sustainability into daily operations
TriMet’s basic operation—maintaining and operating heavy, passenger vehicles—presents many sustainability challenges on a daily basis. These challenges present opportunities to continually examine ways to minimize social and environmental impact and find innovative solutions to common operations issues. TriMet is in a unique position to experiment with community- and earth-friendly products, services and techniques and to encourage industry partners to explore workable solutions.
To gauge its progress towards sustainability, TriMet considers to what extent its services:
- Promote human and ecosystem health by improving air quality, addressing global warming and encouraging healthy lifestyles
- Are affordable, attractive and efficient, while offering a safer choice of transportation mode and supporting a healthy regional economy
- Limit emissions and waste by continually reducing the resources used, using renewable resources when possible, and finding alternatives to nonrenewable resources
- Support equity of access to transit and the social and economic opportunities it provides, while avoiding disproportionate harm to members of our community in terms of environmental quality