PSU community has chance to express opinions on TriMet proposals
A $17 million transportation budget shortfall is a significant one by any standards, in any city. TriMet, faced with just such a shortfall for the 2013 fiscal year, proposed systemic changes that would alter the entire public transit system. Through its series of open house meetings in February, TriMet has emphasized the importance of its ridership’s interests and opinions. These meetings will serve as a runway for public hearings scheduled for March, at which any community input-based proposal revisions will be unveiled.
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PSU community has chance to express opinions on TriMet proposals
A $17 million transportation budget shortfall is a significant one by any standards, in any city. TriMet, faced with just such a shortfall for the 2013 fiscal year, proposed systemic changes that would alter the entire public transit system. Through its series of open house meetings in February, TriMet has emphasized the importance of its ridership’s interests and opinions. These meetings will serve as a runway for public hearings scheduled for March, at which any community input-based proposal revisions will be unveiled.
Miles Sanguinetti / Vanguard STaffA TriMetMAX train passes by the new University Pointe building. According to Mary Fetsch, a TriMet media relations representative, PSU is the “largest transit trip generator in the region.”
In an effort to compartmentalize public input, TriMet announced last Tuesday that it will hold a special open house at Portland State’s Parson’s Gallery at the College of Urban and Public Affairs. According to a campus-wide email, the event was scheduled in order to “gain more input from the PSU Community regarding the proposed changes to fares and service.” It is slated to take place from 1 to 2 p.m. tomorrow.
Announced in late October of last year, TriMet’s budget shortfall continues the economic volatility that has characterized the past few years. Last April, TriMet’s general manager Neil McFarlane declared in a press release that 2012’s “overall budget is good news compared to the last two fiscal years.”
“For the first time in three years,” the release announced, “there are no service cuts anticipated and some bus and MAX service will be restored.”
2013 may not bode as well for either TriMet or its riders. To compensate for the expected $17 million deficit, TriMet has proposed a number of drastic changes to both cut costs and generate new revenue. Among other proposed changes are fare hikes, the institution of one-way tickets, the elimination of zones (including the celebrated free rail zone that stretches from downtown to the Lloyd District) and continued “internal efficiencies,” and scaled down MAX and bus schedules and routes.
For the PSU community, the proposals could have a severe impact. Many students who currently participate in the FlexPass program would face a 21 percent price increase, bringing the total for the term-long, all-access pass to $230, according to Sarah Renkens, associate director of Transportation and Parking Services at PSU. “While the costs associated with owning and driving a car will still outweigh the cost of a transit pass, some students may reconsider their choice to use transit over driving based on the high one-time cost of a transit pass,” Renkens said.
International studies freshman Chelsey Hice lent confirmation to Renkens’ prediction. “If the cost to go to Northeast and back again is double what I’d normally pay, the bus will be bumped down on my list of options,” Hice said.
Around 40 percent of PSU students and employees use TriMet to get to and from campus, and according to TriMet media relations representative Mary Fetsch, the school is “the largest transit trip generator in the region.” Combined, it signals that the university’s input is of significant importance. Both officially and on the ground, TriMet is pushing for its ridership’s involvement in helping to solve the looming unfortunate, and inevitable problems connected to the budget shortfall.
TriMet bus operator Tom Horton encouraged the PSU community in a phone interview to “rise up and speak up” about their needs. “If people can’t park their cars at Lloyd Center and use the free rail zone to get to school, they are going to end up hurting. They may not be able to pursue their education like they might otherwise,” said Horton, a current presidential candidate for local transit union ATU 757.
“PSU plays an important role in the community so feedback from students on issues that impact them is also very important,” Renkens said. “Finding the parts of the proposed changes that will impact the most number of students and expressing concern over them in a unified way,” she continued, “along with possible alternatives, may be a way to bring about change.”
For the PSU community that utilizes public transportation, the “if we work together” cliché might not be so unimportant in the coming weeks.
The cause for Tri Met’s budget deficit is very plain and very simple. People are stealing rides all over town. Money’s missing from Mom’s purse and Dad refuses to ground Billy. Meanwhile, Billy’s down at the five and dime spending like a sailor and Mom’s scratching her head wondering why there’s nothing but breadcrumbs and lipstick in her handbag.
The cause for Tri Met’s budget deficit is very plain and very simple. People are stealing rides all over town. Money’s missing from Mom’s purse and Dad refuses to ground Billy. Meanwhile, Billy’s down at the five and dime spending like a sailor and Mom’s scratching her head wondering why there’s nothing but breadcrumbs and lipstick in her handbag.