On Thursday, Jan. 12, TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane hosted TriMet’s first town hall meeting via Twitter. Overall it had a low turnout with only 33 participants of TriMet’s 7,426 Twitter followers. However, according to Mary Fetsch, TriMet’s chief media relations officer, the Twitter town hall was a new avenue for getting public feedback.
On Thursday, Jan. 12, TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane hosted TriMet’s first town hall meeting via Twitter. Overall it had a low turnout with only 33 participants of TriMet’s 7,426 Twitter followers. However, according to Mary Fetsch, TriMet’s chief media relations officer, the Twitter town hall was a new avenue for getting public feedback.
“It was another way to reach out to the community as we begin to develop the plan that will help us close our $12–17 million budget shortfall. It’s just one of many other ways to get feedback from the public on our budget challenges ahead,” Fetsch said.
Despite the low turnout, TriMet received a significant number of comments from a worksheet posted on its website. The worksheet briefly highlighted the causes of the budget shortfall, as well as some of the proposed resolutions. On their website, TriMet stressed finding common ground between necessary measures to balance the budget and the ability to provide services to the public.
“We’ve gotten over 3,000 comments on our online worksheet…the public has weighed in on options for closing the budget gap,” Fetsch said.
TriMet states on its website that “service is our core business and it’s the last place we look to cut. Any proposed reductions will be addressed with care, taking into account ridership, the availability of alternative service…and the operating efficiency of the proposed changes.”
Questions submitted during the Twitter forum are indicative of the kinds of issues that concern citizens of Portland and its surrounding areas. Questions were raised about the distribution of funds between bus and MAX projects in response to the significant expansion of MAX services in the last few years. Bus commuters complained about lack of security on bus lines, lack of advertising and lack of expansion for bus services. Other tweets advocated for even greater MAX security and suggested advertising as ways to raise more revenue and provide better ride security.
When asked about her preference on how TriMet funds are contributed, PSU senior Louisiana Lightsey said, “I am a regular MAX user. I use it to get to school every day, and since I live downtown, it’s free. I take buses when I have to travel outside the downtown area…the light rail is more comfortable. I would definitely prefer to see more money going into rail construction rather than more buses.”
McFarlane tweeted that TriMet had increased security and also planned to increase online advertising to supplement the current $5 million in advertising revenue.
Tweeting another suggested source of new revenue, McFarlane asked, “One option is getting rid of the free rail zone—What do you think?”
This received varied responses, garnering support from bus advocates who claimed that the free rail zone showed inequality—bus commuters have to pay to pass through the same fare area. One tweeter said, “Should have been done long ago. Stupid the MAX vs. bus discrimination. Bus riders pay—MAX riders should too.”
MAX users, including students at Portland State, voiced concerns about the suggested elimination of the free rail zone. When asked about the issue, PSU senior and Spanish major Rachel Thomas said, “I think it would create more problems because lots of people use it for short trips. I think it would lead to a lot of fare jumping and more conflict. It was upsetting when they took out the free zone for buses. This would be a slap in the face to commuters.”
The online worksheet was advertised along with advertisements for the Twitter town hall and can be found on TriMet’s website at trimet.org/choices.
