Whether it’s a conference, meeting, or wedding, ensuring that all of your attendees can access your venue(s) seamlessly is crucial for fostering inclusivity and enhancing the overall experience of your event. As the planner, you must do your due diligence and research your options. You don’t want an attendee to feel left out because your event lacks the appropriate transportation for someone with accessibility needs. You also can’t assume that your transportation provider will just have this ready for you. We’ve found several vendors who offer accessible event transportation for the Portland metro area and beyond.
Important things to note: Most of these services require reservations AT LEAST two days in advance, some months in advance if booking a larger vehicle, to guarantee availability. Some providers have limited service hours (typically weekday business hours) which can make things tricky for night and weekend events. Those that have indicated 24/7 service are listed in bold. Many of these providers offer different vehicles depending on needs, such as wheelchair vs. walker, so make sure you let them know what you need, as price can vary depending on service. While this list is meant to inform you of possible options, we do not endorse the providers listed here, and can’t guarantee they would work in every particular situation.
Please check each provider below for more info:
- PDX WAV (By phone, or via Lyft or Uber Transportation Network Company “TNC” apps. If using Lyft, you must switch on the “Wheelchair Access” mode in Settings. For Uber, scroll down in the regular Choose A Ride screen until you see WAV.)
- Wapato Shores
- Broadway Cab
- Willamette Valley Transport
- Savvy Care Mobility
- Portland Cabulence
- EcoShuttle
- Blue Star Bus
Travel Portland also maintains its own Accessible Portland page, with tons of resources on accessible event transportation for the Portland metro area. If you’re having an event that includes biking, you can rent Adaptive Biketown accessible bike rentals too!
Nonprofits can also provide useful services for accessible event transportation for the Portland metro area. We found one called Ride Connection, that may be able to provide door-to-door service as long as one is registered in advance and provides 4 days advance notice. One must start the registration process by phone. Check out their website here.
We don’t want to forget to mention our own local public transport service, TriMet. TriMet in Portland offers bus, light rail, and streetcar services, all accessible. However, it isn’t point-to-point, so you do have to plan in advance for the last few miles or blocks of travel. TriMet does offer accessible LIFT service, but from what we’ve researched, there is an application for eligibility, and some bureaucratic hoops to jump through. While there is a visitor eligibility application process, it’s only available to apply by phone. Thus it may not be the most convenient for on-demand, event transportation services.
And don’t forget that EJP Events is there for your event planning needs. Feel free to get in touch if you need assistance with your event, or with accessible event transportation for the Portland metro area.