The North Coast Express is a day-tripper focused seasonal bus from Portland to the north coast as seen in this undated provided photo.
Courtesy of Finn Johnson
A new seasonal bus service begins Friday between the Portland area and the Oregon Coast. The route joins the twice-daily services NorthWest POINT and Tillamook Wave.
The North Coast Express will have two morning departures from Sunset Transit Center in Beaverton: one traveling north to Seaside, Cannon Beach, and Astoria; and the other heading south to Rockaway Beach and Tillamook.
The bus will run Fridays through Sundays until the end of August, and it costs about $35 round-trip. Bicycles and large coolers will cost an additional $10 per item.
Finn Johnson of the Oregon Coast Visitors Association says the pilot program aims to ease congestion on the coast during the busy summer season.
“Our goal is just to make the coast really easy to access,” Johnson said, “especially for folks who may not want to drive, or aren’t able to.”
The express will also operate a mid-day connector between coastal towns with a real-time tracker on its website. Both routes return to Beaverton in the evening.
Johnson said the bus will be funded by ticket sales, a grant from Travel Oregon and the Oregon Coast Visitors Association.
Correction: This story has been updated with the correct name of the Oregon Coast Visitors Association.
