Oregon Public Broadcasting

Two teenage girls charged with verbally and physically abusing a Vancouver women on the MAX train in Portland last week will be tried as adults.

As Andrew Theen reports, that incident and others, has TriMet officials focusing more attention on the MAX's Yellow Line.

TriMet's Transit Police Division responded to high profile attacks on the MAX system last fall by creating East and West precincts.

But TriMet officials say a couple of incidents on the system's Yellow Line has put the agency's attention on  North Portland too.

Mary Fetsch is a spokeswoman for TriMet. Fetsch says while not every incident is preventable, the MAX is a "safe environment."Mary Fetsch: "Do we need to put more personnel out there, yes.  Do we have the right deployment strategy, are we there as many hours as we should be?  You know those are the questions that we're asking."Fetsch says TriMet hopes to add two more full-time officers to the transit division by July 1st, bringing the total to 43 officers.

She says TriMet is already committed to creating a South Precinct when the MAX green line to Clackamas opens next fall.