Readers of Peace Arch News, Surrey Leader and Surrey Now may have spotted the claim by SkyTrain for Surrey chief statistics analyst Daryl Dela Cruz in newsletters that have appeared in the latest issues that the Canada Line has attracted more riders than the entire Portland MAX (Metropolitan Area eXpress) Light Rail Transit system. These are the numbers:
| System | Opening Year(s) | Average weekday boardings (2011) |
| SkyTrain – Canada Line only | 2009 | 136,259 [1] |
| Portland MAX LRT | 1986, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2009 | 126,700 [2] |
| Sources: [1] TransLink reports ridership heading for a new record – 22nd August, 2011 < http://www.translink.ca/en/About-Us/Media/2011/August/TransLink-reports-transit-ridership-heading-for-a-new-record.aspx > [2] TriMet service and ridership information – 19th October, 2011 < http://trimet.org/pdfs/publications/trimetridership.pdf |
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Daryl also made a claim that Portland’s commute-to-work mode-share has stayed still for 15 years despite $4 billion in LRT investment. This claim is confirmed in our report: Light Rail Ineffective: Portland transit mode-share unchanged despite $4 billion+ in LRT spending. This report is based on data collected by the City of Portland itself.
[...] is known for its ability to attract riders quickly and to generate more money than is lost to annual operations and maintenance costs as a result of [...]