New bus stop provides Mt. Hood Community College students better access to campus

Mt. Hood Community College students have been enjoying a new amenity on campus during the start of the new year — a TriMet bus stop.

The college is the new endpoint for the redesigned Line 25-Glisan/Troutdale Road, which connects the campus to the Gateway Transit Center. The bus stop is up the stairs and past the fountain from the student union and main hub of campus.

Traci Simmons, associate vice president of DEI at Mt. Hood Community College, said the new stop is a “game-changer” for students.

Line 25 also has connections to the MAX Blue, Green and Red lines, plus more than a dozen other bus lines.

The new Line 25 doesn’t just service MHCC, but also has stops at Reynolds High School and other destinations in neighborhoods and job hubs. The buses also run seven days a week, with 30 minute intervals most of the time.

That was part of sweeping service improvements made by TriMet across the region, which debuted in late August. It was all part of the “Forward Together” project, focused on bolstering bus service. Part of it includes increasing ridership and making buses a better option for people, especially those with low or limited income.

“(Many students) don’t have access to a lot of resources like money, or gas, or even a car,” Isaias Damian Figueroa, a second-year student, told TriMet.

Figueroa usually bikes to school. Now that Line 25 runs right past his neighborhood, he is more likely to catch a bus.