w Portland Short Bus Private Rental Rates

Private Bus Rental Rates & Information

The Portland Short Bus is available for rentals by private groups. We also have pre-planned private tour packages. We provide the bus, the driver & bottled water. You may bring your own adult beverages to consume on the bus, though we highly recommend NOT bringing hard liquor. You bring your friends and the tunes. Please review our cancellation and refund policy before making a reservation.

  • $75 per hour for unguided rentals (within 15 mile radius of Portland - sorry, we can not legally cross into Washington State)
  • $100 per hour for unguided trips to valley wineries (4 or less people? Check out our open seating tours).
  • $125 per hour for guided tours of valley wineries. Comes with school style sack lunch and a personal guide to work with your tastes.
  • $150 per hour/ 6 hour minimum for all major holidays/holiday weekends including: St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Years Eve. Sorry, no buses on Christmas day
  • A reservation deposit of 25% (whichever is greater) of the rental cost is required (this will be applied to your total balance, please see our refund policy)
  • Minimum rental duration: 4 hours
  • Maximum group size: 13 people unguided, 12 people with a guide
  • Single location pickup and drop off service (included in trip time)
  • Need help planning your route? We offer route planning services for an additional $20.00

To reserve the short bus please email bus@portlandshortbus.com or call (971) 209-2859

The Rules of the Road

We like to be loose and airy about everything, but there are certain rules of the bus that keep us in the good graces of our passengers, the establishments we visit, law enforcement, and our insurance carrier.

The guidelines that keep us awesome

You and your fellow passengers set the tone. To maximize your good time, here are a few suggestions.

  1. Talk to your fellow riders, even if you don't know them. Fun things happen on the bus. Trade seats from time to time.
  2. Select music that a majority people actually want to listen to - obscure experimental bands are great and all, but in a group dynamic, they tend not to be conducive to socialization.
  3. Share your beverages
  4. If hosted, the host is not your servant, the host is your guide, your advisor, your friend, and the person who keeps the bus running on time. Treat them as such
  5. Bring cash - 13 people using a debit card at every stop will severely slow things down.
  6. The driver keeps you safe. Tip the driver. Tip the driver well.

The rules that keep us legal and/or are required by our insurance carrier:

These are the rules you are absolutely required to follow. Some of them are simply state & federal laws that we are required to follow. Which means you too must obey them.

  1. Upon completion of trip, YOU WILL NOT DRIVE IMPAIRED. Basically, if you consumed alcohol at anytime during the duration of your short bus trip, take a cab home at the end. On the weekends, we recommend RideOn (They drive you car home for $15). Should you choose to be a complete jerk and ignore this rule, you agree that you will not hold the Portland Short Bus liable for any of your actions or decisions.
  2. You will not drive drunk.
  3. Again, you will not drive drunk.
  4. No smoking on the bus (Oregon rule, not ours)
  5. No use of illicit substances (as fun as they might sound, we can not allow them by law).
  6. No throwing of items inside, outside, at, or from the bus. Should go with out saying.
  7. No body parts or items should protrude from open bus windows. Should go without saying, again.
  8. No alcohol in the driver compartment. It is kind of a law.
  9. Do not bring outside food or drinks into any establishment. This is very much frowned upon by the establishments that we visit. Wineries are typically okay with outside snacks, but certainly not drinks.
  10. The bus driver is the captain and has over-riding authority to deem conditions unsafe or to prematurely end a trip for any reason. In the event that unsafe weather or mechanical situations prompt a premature end to your trip, we will issue a refund for the remaining time.
  11. Those exhibiting aggressive behavior will be immediately ejected. The bus driver and/or host can and will pull over at the nearest safe location and ask you to get off the bus. Don't be a jerk 30 miles from home, you might find yourself walking back. Should also go without saying, no refunds when this happens. So don't start fights.
  12. We have a mimimum age requirement of 21. We make no exceptions to this rule.
  13. The bus can not cross state lines and must operate within a 75 mile radius of Portland.