MAX stations have become the focus of commercial, corporate and residential expansion around them. Whole developments, such as Orenco Station in Hillsboro, the Round in Beaverton and the Civic Neighborhood in Gresham, provide a mix of these uses right alongside the tracks.

The stations also have some of the most distinctive artwork found throughout metropolitan Portland. The Washington Park station, for example, includes murals and rock tubes that outline the millions of years of geological development in the Tualatin Hills.

TriMet introduced a new identification system for its existing and future MAX services in late 2000. The Gresham-Hillsboro route is the Blue Line; the Airport route is the Red Line; and the Interstate route is the Yellow Line. The Green Line is the route from downtown Portland into Clackamas County along the Interstate 205 corridor. The line to Milwaukie is the Orange Line.

Station signs and kiosks, and destination signs on the trains are all color coded; On the older 100-, 200- and 300-series cars, Blue, Red, Green and Orange Line destination signs originally appeared in white on a background showing the route color. Yellow Line destination signs appear with the names in black on a yellow background. The 400-, 500- and 600-series cars have electronic signs that display a blue, red, yellow or green marker light to designate the route. TriMet has subsequently installed the electronic signs on its older cars.

TriMet also introduced a new logo and color scheme in 2002. The new scheme eliminated the narrow horizontal brown, orange and red stripes, replacing them with broader blue and yellow-gold striping. The 300-, 400- and 500-series light rail cars arrived in the new colors, and TriMet has repainted its 100-series cars in the new scheme as part of their mid-life overhauls.

TriMet introduced another color scheme for the MAX fleet as of 2020, with a solid blue carbody and angled orange stripes. The scheme is appearing first on 200-series SD600 and 300-series SD660 cars undergoing mid-life rebuilding at the Siemens plant in Sacramento, and using vinyl "wraps" on cars that have not yet entered the rebuild program. The system's latest 600-series SD700 cars are being delivered in the new scheme.

TriMet, working with the governments of suburban Washington County and Clackamas County, operates a 14.7-mile commuter rail route between Beaverton and Wilsonville. This service, known as Westside Express Service or WES, opened Feb. 2, 2009 and uses existing rail lines operated by the Portland & Western Railroad.

A stretch of track along Lombard Street in downtown Beaverton allows direct access into the Beaverton Transit Center and provides cross-platform connections with MAX trains and TriMet buses. Colorado Railcar, Inc. built a small fleet of diesel-powered railcars and trailer coaches for this service, which are supplemented by four rebuilt Budd Rail Diesel Cars. Construction on this route began in October 2006.

Blue Line trains operate on the following schedules:

Weekdays:

• Approximately every 30 minutes before 6 am and after 9 pm.
• Approximately every 15-17 minutes between 6 am and 9 pm.

Saturdays:

• Approximately every 30 minutes before 6 am.
• Approximately every 15-17 minutes between 6 am and 10 pm.
• Approximately every 30 minutes after 10 pm.

Sundays/Holidays:

• Approximately every 30 minutes before 6 am and after 10 pm.
• Approximately every 15-17 minutes between 6 am and 10 pm.

Blue Line trains originating in Hillsboro in the early morning and terminating there in the late evening enter or go out of service at the Elmonica (Beaverton) yard. These trains also make all stops between there and downtown Hillsboro westbound in the morning and eastbound in the evening. Some early morning Hillsboro-bound trains originate at E. 197th Ave./Ruby Junction.

Early morning Red Line trains originate at the Elmonica (Beaverton) yard and terminate there in the late evening. These trains also stop at all stations between there and Beaverton Transit Center. Some Red Line trains operate to the Willow Creek/SW 185th Avenue Transit Center.

A project to eliminate single-track portions of the Red Line is now complete. It added a flyover track north of Gateway that allows city-bound trains to cross the existing track, which continues as the airport-bound track. The project added a new platform north of the existing transit center platforms for city-bound trains. The project also added a second track leading into the PDX terminal station.

Yellow Line trains operate approximately every 15 minutes between 7am and 9 pm and about every 30 minutes before 7 am and after 9 pm. They take about 30 minutes to run between Portland State University and the Expo Center.

Early morning Yellow Line trains originate at the Ruby Junction (Gresham) yard and late evening trains terminate there. These trains also stop at all stations between Ruby Junction and Rose Quarter, where they enter or leave Interstate Avenue.

All trains departing the Expo Center after 11 pm Monday-Friday and Sunday operate as far as the Interstate/Rose Quarter station, where they turn east to run back to Ruby Junction.

Yellow Line trains operate on the Transit Mall alignment between the Steel Bridge and the PSU campus.

Green Line trains operate about every 15 minutes between 6 am and 7 pm on weekdays and between 10 am and 6 pm on weekends, and about every 30 minutes before and after. They take about 45 minutes to run between PSU and Clackamas Town Center.

Early morning Green Line trains originate at the Ruby Junction (Gresham) yard and late evening trains terminate there. These trains also stop at all stations between Ruby Junction and Gateway/NE 99th Avenue, where they enter or leave the I-205 alignment.

All trains departing Clackamas Town Center after 11 pm operate as far as Gateway/NE 99th Avenue, where they reverse direction and run east to Ruby Junction.

Green Line trains operate on the Transit Mall alignment between the Steel Bridge and the PSU campus.

Orange Line trains operate approximately every 15 minutes between 5 am and 9:30 pm and about every 30 minutes after 9:30 pm. They take about 30 minutes to run between downtown Portland and the Park Avenue terminus in Oak Grove.

Orange Line trains operate on the Transit Mall alignment between Portland Union Station and the PSU campus.

MAX stations include Transit Centers with connections to TriMet bus routes and the WES (shown as TC); those with park-and-ride lots or parking garages (shown as PR); those connecting with the transit mall (shown as TM); and those connecting with the Portland Streetcar loop (shown as PS).

There are also Quick Drop sites for travelers to or from Portland International Airport. These are stations along the Red Line where travelers and their baggage can get dropped off or picked up at or near the train platforms. These are designated by the letters QD.

Stations located on the downtown Portland one-way couplets (SW Morrison and Yamhill and SW 5th and 6th) are designated as westbound (WB) or eastbound (EB). MAX services at Beaverton TC connect with Westside Express Service (WES) commuter trains.

The current standard fare for MAX trains is $2.50 for travel throughout the system. All-day tickets and reduced-rate fares for children, senior citizens and riders with special needs are available, as are weekly, monthly, half-month and annual passes. Ticket machines are located on all station platforms. TriMet also uses the HOP smartcard for ticketing.

TriMet's light rail maintenance shops and car storage yards are located on SE 199th Avenue in Gresham (Ruby Junction) and on SW Jenkins Road in Beaverton (Elmonica).