Transferring Between Buses and Trains
Using your ticket, pass or transfer receipt
With your valid ticket, pass or transfer receipt you can ride any combination of buses, MAX trains, WES trains1 and streetcars to complete your trip. All-Zone fares can be used on C-TRAN as well.
Using a 2-Hour Ticket
Once your ticket is validated (stamped with the expiration time), you can board any bus or train1 in the zones indicated for up to 2 hours.
Using a bus transfer receipt
On the bus, if you pay in cash or use an unvalidated ticket, the operator will give you a transfer receipt (commonly known as a "transfer").
You can board any bus or train1 to complete your trip until the expiration time shown at the top of the transfer.
- On weekdays, transfers are valid for 1 hour past the last scheduled stop on the route.
- On weekends and holidays, they're valid for 2 hours past the last scheduled stop on the route.
Your transfer is your proof of payment, so keep it with you until you have completed your trip.
Using a pass
If you have a valid pass, you can board any bus or train1 in the zones indicated until the expiration date and time printed on the pass. (1-Day Passes are valid until the end of the service day printed on the pass.)
Using TriMet fares on C-TRAN
If you have a valid TriMet All-Zone fare, you can ride C-TRAN buses, except for their Express lines to downtown Portland (105, 134, 164, 177 and 199).
| TriMet ticket, pass or transfer | C-TRAN fare | |
|---|---|---|
| All-Zone | = | All-Zone |
| 1-Day Pass | = | Day Pass |
| Honored Citizen | = | All-Zone |
| Youth | = | All-Zone |
| Employer and College Annual Stickers | = | All-Zone |
| Employee/Retiree/Dependent Pass | = | All-Zone |
Note: Transfers cannot be upgraded. Only C-TRAN Premium Express fares are valid on C-TRAN's Premium Express Service to downtown Portland. TriMet's 2-Zone fares and the Portland Public Schools Photo ID Student Pass are not valid on C-TRAN.
Using C-TRAN fares on TriMet
If you have a C-TRAN All-Zone or Express fare, you can ride TriMet buses and trains.
| C-TRAN ticket or pass | TriMet fare | |
|---|---|---|
| All-Zone Adult | = | All-Zone |
| Youth | = | All-Zone |
| Honored | = | All-Zone |
| Express Day Pass | = | 1-Day Pass |
| Express Annual Sticker | = | All-Zone |
| Express Monthly Pass | = | All-Zone |
| Employee or Dependent Pass | = | All-Zone |
Note: Transfers cannot be upgraded. C-Zone fares (including Reduced Passes and C-Zone Day Pass) and the Clark College C-Pass are not valid on TriMet.
1 WES Commuter Rail requires an All-Zone fare.
Why aren't all transfers valid for a full 2 hours?
Tickets and bus transfer receipts are intended to let you complete your trip in one direction by transferring between buses and trains. (Of course, in some cases, you may be able to make a return trip on the same fare.)
Buses: On weekdays, when most bus service runs at least every half-hour, bus transfer receipts are valid for 1 hour past the last scheduled stop on the route or downtown, so you can make connections with other buses or trains. And if your connection isn't running as scheduled, this gives you enough time to catch the next one. On weekends and holidays, when some lines run only every hour, transfers are issued for 2 hours past the last scheduled stop on the route or downtown. Expiration times are rounded up to the next half-hour.
So, the expiration time on your transfer may vary, based on where you boarded in relation to the end of the route.
Rail: MAX and WES tickets, on the other hand, are always valid for 2 hours. Why? Tickets are validated automatically, either by a ticket machine or a validator.
We realize this can be confusing. We're looking into better ways to collect fares—such as smart cards—which would make the system simpler and more consistent.