TriMet is holding a series of open houses in community centers across the Portland area to get public feedback on proposed service cuts and fare increases.
TriMet is facing a $27 million budget shortfall for the 2011 fiscal year. Federal stimulus funds will cover $7.2 million but TriMet will have to make up the difference. Nearly $8.7 million worth of transit service will be cut.
Cuts to non-peak-hour services could possibly impact students because they don’t necessarily travel during peak traffic hours.
“Hopefully it will simply be a matter of adjusting your schedule by a few minutes,” said Mary Fetsch, communications director for TriMet.
TriMet is expecting payroll receipts to decrease by $15 million and ridership revenue to drop by $8 million, according to a press release from the company.
Fetsch said that the public comment period will be followed by two hearings when TriMet will look at the comments and make any necessary refinements to its plans.
“It will be voted on by the board and the changes will go into effect in September,” Fetsch said.
The three-month-long public comment period will be held through Friday, April 23, during which time people can also comment on the proposed five-cent fare increase.
TriMet has been plagued in recent years by budget shortfalls and had to cut services last year as well as implement salary and hiring freezes, according to a press release. The current economic recession has reduced passenger revenue, and Trimet has lost operating revenue from payroll taxes as well.
“We have to have a balanced budget by state law,” Fetsch said.
Ridership has declined since March 2009, according to TriMet’s Web site, although ridership saw a slight increase when the MAX Green Line opened last year.
The criteria TriMet looked for when making decisions on line reductions was low ridership, availability of alternative service and available capacity of vehicles.
“Is there enough capacity on the vehicle if we cut trips? Those buses that are consistently full will not be affected,” she said.
Of the fare increase, Fetsch said, “We usually increase fare every year to cover the cost of doing business but the last fare increase was in September 2008.”
She said with the recession, TriMet has tried to minimize the impact to riders so there was no fare increase in 2009.
For more information on TriMet’s proposals and to comment, go to ww.trimet.org or call 503-962-5806 or TTY 503-238-5811 between 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. Comments can also be e-mailed to comments@trimet.org or mailed to TriMet at 4012 SE 17th Ave.
Open House public comment opportunities
Today, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Beaverton Community Center
12350 SW Fifth St., Suite 100, Beaverton
Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Gresham City Hall, Oregon Trail and Springwater Conference Rooms
1333 NW Eastman Pkwy., Gresham
Wednesday, March 10, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Happy Valley City Hall, Council Chambers
16000 SE Misty Dr., Happy Valley
Weekday schedule reductions on 24 bus lines
4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 33, 57, 70, 71 Reduce frequency by 2–3 minutes during non-rush hours and 2–10 minutes in the evenings
16, 24, 32, 43, 44, 52, 58, 62, 68, 73, 77 Reduce the frequency by 2–10 minutes throughout the day
Weekend schedule reductions on 13 bus lines
4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 20, 33, 54/56, 57, 71, 75 Reduce frequency by up to 6 minutes
58 Frequency change from every 30 minutes to every 60 minutes (Sundays only)
Route eliminations for six bus lines
1, 51, 85, 92, 94, 99 Eliminate weekday trips (where capacity available)
Reduce span of service on 15 bus lines (where there is low ridership)
8, 9, 24, 28, 32, 45, 48, 51, 55, 70, 73, 85, 87, 88, 155 Eliminate first or last trip (weekdays and weekends)
48, 70, 73, 155 Eliminate more than one trip
33, 43, 53, 67 Eliminate low-ridership portion of routes
Bus lines to be discontinued
27 Market/Main, 65 Marqham Hill/Barbur Blvd., 154 Willamette and 157 Happy Valley Lines to be discontinued due to low ridership and/or have alternate service nearby
32 Oatfield, 45 Garden Home, 80 Kane/Troutdale Eliminate some or all weekend service due to low ridership
Rail service reductions
MAX Reduce frequency by 2 minutes on all midday, evening and weekend trips
WES Reduce frequency of trains to every 45 minutes. Weekday rush-hour-only service to operate 12 round trips per day (between Beaverton and Wilsonville)
Courtesy of TriMet