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The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon's (TriMet) ridership has risen for the second month in a row.

Yesterday, the agency reported 8.7 million trips were taken in March, up 4.7 percent compared with March 2009 ridership. MAX ridership posted the biggest increase, in part due to the opening of the Green Line and the shift to free rides within the Free Rail Zone, TriMet officials said in a prepared statement.

TriMet also reported 1.9 million weekly trips, up 2.6 percent from March 2009. Weekday trips rose 1.6 percent to 318,100, while weekend trips increased 7.7 percent to 354,000.

However, rush-hour trips declined 2 percent to 99,000.