Portland brought the Light Rail Movement to the Pacific Northwest by rejecting the building of a new freeway and putting that Federal Funding towards the first Metrpolitan Area Express (MAX) line in 1986. Starting in 2001 it launched the Modern Streetcar movement (proper coverage of which needs another trip to Portland to properly ride and photograph). In 2009 Portland opened the first generation modern DMU, WES (Westside Express Service), as a fully FRA compliant commuter rail line using DMU rail cars, but overall ridership on that rush hours only route is a big expensive wimper.