Can I Take a Bus from PDX to Salem?
Taking the bus between the locations is an affordable way of traveling, although there isn’t a bus directly to the airport. Rather, you will arrive at the main bus stop in Portland and will have to take a tram to the airport. To start your trip, you will need to first travel to Corvallis. Go to the bus stop at Chemeketa & Liberty, and catch a Flixbus, directed to Corvallis. The ticket will cost around $10-15 and can be bought online in advance of your journey. The trip to Corvallis will take roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes.
After arriving in Corvallis, namely at the OSU Corvallis on 14th and Jefferson, catch the next bus to Portland.
When you arrive in Portland, at the NW Station Way bus stop, you will need to walk to the Old Town/Chinatown MAX station, and take the MAX tram to the airport. The correct tram to catch is the Red Line, which should get you to the airport in 1 hour, and costs just $2.50.
Overall you can expect to pay $20-30 for the entire trip, making the journey very affordable. Unfortunately, the total time it will take to get you from Salem to PDX is over 2 hours – if you are able to catch the connecting bus and tram in time. Due to this, the trip can oftentimes become much longer, and is only available once a day.
Travel Tip: Make a careful itinerary of your bus trips, ensuring you leave enough time to make all the connections.
Fot. Ecklectic / CC BY 3.0