Cities across the country are reviving and thriving – and public transportation is key to their success. TriMet (Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon), the public transit agency for the Portland metropolitan area, understands the role of meaningful design, exemplary service, and community culture in attracting and retaining public transit riders.

TriMet’s City Center/Milwaukie light rail line was an ambitious project designed to create high quality public transportation connecting downtown with hubs outside the central city for people from all economic strata. Informed by Portland’s culture and values of collaboration, transparency and regional approach to development and growth, the project was based on the conviction that pride in the transit system and the respect it conveys for the people who use it directly impact the volume of ridership.

The Studio 431 team engineered, developed and manufactured the large pedestrian shelters and stainless steel site furnishings for the twelve stations on the new line. Designed by Mayer Reed, the elements were built and finished at Landscape Forms’ production facility and installed on site with custom detailing by a local glass artist. Studio 431 won the project because of its superior experience, capability and site furniture knowledge.

It succeeded at the process because it shares TriMet’s values of open collaboration, rigorous problem solving and commitment to providing great public amenities that enhance experience and create a sense of place.

“What makes this project exciting is the role it can play in creating livable communities and supporting a vision for how we want to grow as a region,” shared Michael Kiser, TriMet's Resident Engineer for Station Architecture/Public Art at the time of the project. “We ask, 'How can we attract people and add value to their lives?' Art, architecture and design are tools that facilitate humanization. They take this project beyond being just a machine for moving people to something that actually connects us as humans and as a culture that provides shared experiences that promote shared values.”