Popular Multnomah Falls shuttle returns

The Columbia Gorge Express, a quick and handy shuttle from Portland to Multnomah Falls, returned Friday, with more capacity and other added amenities, after an overwhelmingly successful pilot project last year.

The shuttle, which departs from Gateway Transit Center before stopping at Rooster Rock State Park on its way to the falls, leaves Portland 12 times a day and costs $5 per round trip.

It was unclear whether the pilot season of the service last year would attract enough riders to make it feasible in the long term. But with more than 30,000 people hopping the shuttles between Memorial Day and the end of September, the Oregon Department of Transportation, knew they had a winner on their hands.

“We had such a good, unexpected response last year, it went really, really well,” said Don Hamilton, a spokesman for the agency. “It was far and away bigger than we thought.”

That popularity led the department to increase the service’s carrying capacity. Small shuttles that carried only 20 riders have been replaced with buses that can carry up to 40. The service is also wheelchair- and bicycle-friendly allowing some passengers to visit the falls for the first time in years, officials said.

The hope is that the service will also help alleviate crowding in the parking lot at the base of the falls, which can become impassable on busy weekends.

There’s talk of expanding the service even farther, possibly to Hood River in 2018, though nothing has been confirmed.