Dog Jaunt's new pet travel book is now out! Buy it, or learn more about it here. And please review it on Amazon!

Traveling by Portland (OR) public transit with a small dog

TriMet signTriMet offers bus, light rail, commuter rail, and streetcar services in the greater Portland area. TriMet buses operate in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties. MAX light rail links Portland with the communities of Gresham, Beaverton and Hillsboro, and with the Portland airport. Westside Express Service (WES), the commuter rail line, connects Wilsonville, Tualatin, Tigard and Beaverton. The Portland Streetcar “connects the South Waterfront, Portland State University and Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in NW Portland.”

TriMet also runs the Vintage Trolley seasonally, on Sunday afternoons:

From March through the last Sunday in December before Christmas, old-style trolleys run on Sundays from about noon to 6:30 p.m. along the MAX Light Rail line between Lloyd Center and SW 11th Avenue in downtown Portland.

These trolleys are “working replicas of the historic Council Crest streetcars that ran along Portland streets from 1904 to 1950.”

For all these services, TriMet has the same pet policy: “Unless it’s a service animal, your pet must be kept in a carrier.”

The Portland Aerial Tram connects “the South Waterfront terminal adjacent to the OHSU Center for Health & Healing, and the upper terminal at the Kohler Pavilion on OHSU’s main campus.” The trip takes three minutes. The Tram too has a brief but to-the-point pet policy: “Riders may take assistance animals, or pets that are in secure pet carriers, on the Tram.”

The Clark County Public Transit Benefit Area Authority (C-Tran) operates a bus system in Clark County, and an express bus system connecting Clark County and Portland. C-Tran has a pet policy in line with the others in this region: “A service animal must be leashed and under its owner’s control but does not have to be muzzled. All other pets and non-service animals must be transported in approved animal containers.”

SMART Transit (South Metro Area Regional Transit) operates buses connecting “Wilsonville and outlying areas such as Canby, Salem and the south end of Portland.” SMART’s pet policy is as follows: “Leave pets at home unless they are a service animal for the disabled or are in an easily carried pet carrier.”

For other posts about traveling with dogs on public transit, take a look at Dog Jaunt’s handy guide!