[Note: The story below was shared by BikePortland subscriber Shawne Martinez, who goes by @tigard_stripes on Instagram. I’ve been away from Portland for a week dealing with my dad being in the hospital, so I’ve been unable to do BikePortland stuff. I’ll be sharing a few guest articles this week and until I can get my dad stabilized. Much love and thanks! – Jonathan]
I’m a carfree bike dad in Tigard, Oregon. My daughter Eliza (a second grader) and I put many miles on our bikes in Washington County and we often see and hear the WES train rolling between Tigard and Beaverton on our bike rides in Washington County. The WES, short for Westside Express Service, is a commuter train that runs between Wilsonville and Beaverton that can be beneficial for people living a car-lite (or car-free) lifestyle.
The limiting factor for us has been its schedule: weekday morning and afternoon rush hours only. With no weekend service we’ve found it difficult to utilize this train route. Recently, my kiddo’s school had a weekday break, so we decided to take our bikes on the train to Wilsonville. There are five morning departures from the Tigard Transit Center, then a six-hour gap until the first afternoon northbound train.
I needed to make this a fun experience for my 8-year-old daughter so I scanned the map near the Wilsonville Transit Center for bike infrastructure and fun activities. I spotted the entrance to a multi-use path just a couple of blocks away from the WES station with several playgrounds in the area. So we grabbed our bikes and rode the 1.5 miles to the Tigard Transit Center.
Boarding the WES with bikes is easy — just roll up the ramp up to the boarding platform and be sure to scan your Hop Card, phone or bank card at the scanner to pay your fare. While waiting for the train, there is an interactive sculpture at each station to keep people (young and old) busy. The train floor is at-grade with the station making for a smooth transition to roll the bikes on-board. There are a couple of wall mounted bike hooks that you can use or just park in the designated area and secure your bike to the wall with the provided strap.
So how’s the ride? This train is fast! We were in Wilsonville in no time. On the multi-use path near Coffee Lake Drive we discovered playgrounds, parks and a bird watching activity spot. We rolled to Lowrie Primary School to see their wind generator and rain garden sculpture. This community has an interesting mix of housing and street designs. Biking down Wilsonville Road we spotted several lunch options and stopped for a slice of pizza. We rolled under I-5 to see the paintings titled “Beauty and the Bridge” that surround this extremely loud and unpleasant section of our route. But our goal was in view: another path that would lead us to Bulwinkle’s Family Fun Center! (The bike racks at Bulwinkles are hidden around the right-side of the building. Why not right by the front door?) A putt-putt course, video games and bowling kept us busy for a couple more hours.
Car traffic on I-5 was completely stopped as we rolled back to the Wilsonville Transit Center just in time to board the 3:30 WES train back to Tigard. The doors closed just as we rolled on (whew!) We enjoyed a quick 18-minute ride back to the Tigard Transit Center. Although we’ve taken the WES to Beaverton several times, this was our fist time riding to Wilsonville. It was a positive experience, and the kiddo had a blast.
It just proved to me once again that public transit is the ultimate range extender for bikes and a great way to leave the car at home.
Read more of Shawne’s transit and cycling adventures here.