The Agency slapped the website together in order to "educate" you regarding the present shortfall. There's even a place at the end of the site where you can provide "public input" for them to ignore (they even have some of the input filled in for you - just to save you time!).

About half of our funding for cannibalizing bus services in favor of trains comes from a payroll tax paid by area businesses. Employers pay a portion of their employees' gross wages to TriMet ($7.02 per $1,000).

An experienced world traveler (an old guy) recently told me that Portland reminded him of Moscow in the 1960's. Full of self importance, politically corrupt and delusional about how finances supported it's grand visions.

From the cutting options, for the lol's....

Eliminate the Free Rail Zone
Requires standard 1-zone fare to ride MAX Light Rail and Portland Streetcar in Downtown Portland, the Rose Quarter and the Lloyd District. Removes long-standing symbol of the city's visitor-friendly downtown. May help reduce fare evasion and undesirable behavior on buses and trains.

No option to cut WES, Milwaukie construction, or cut service to anything but the red line? I guess they aren't serious about fixing this "shortfall."

However, I am pretty shocked to see the streetcar subsidy as an option.

What's remarkable about the website isn't what it has, but what it doesn't have.

For example, it doesn't give you the option to consider telling the City of Portland to deal with their own Streetcar themselves - a cost savings to TriMet of $5 million per year (and growing at current rates). Or, instituting pay-to-park at park and rides, but also to specify how much. (I did a quick calculation and if TriMet charged $4.00 per day to park, and was able to get 50% of its total owned park-and-ride spaces paid for 260 days of the year or every weekday, TriMet would actually earn over $6 million in brand new revenue. What about the option of instituting peak hour fares (in lieu of an over-all fare increase)? In some cities, if you travel during peak hours you pay a higher fare - and seniors and youth/students don't get a break during those hours. Or, enhanced services (i.e. express buses, WES) would have a fare surcharge or a higher fare. TriMet could consider going to distance-based fares for MAX and WES so instead of basing your fare on your travel time, it should simply be based upon from where, to where you are going. (The fares get more complex but the TVM does the work for you. Seattle doesn't seem to have a problem with their fare machines!)

TriMet also doesn't give us the option to deal with internal efficiencies, other than to screw the unions. Why does TriMet need a Service Planning department - folks, many of whom get six figure salaries, whose only existence is to plan and build new MAX lines - but are paid for by the general fund. Or why not outsource I.T. and H.R.? Why not a 10, 15 or 20% salary reduction for all salaried staff? Why not eliminate paid holidays? Or eliminate TriMet's non-revenue motorpool (those of you who ride MAX probably have seen that parking lot next to the N.E. 7th Avenue MAX station full of TriMet SUVs and pickups and vans...surely, it's RIGHT FREAKING NEXT TO A MAX STATION - USE THE DAMN TRAIN!!!!)

They could also take a cue from PWB and raise fares up to the sky, oh but wait, people who could afford that would probably just drive instead, but oh wait, people won't have much choice after CoP finishes hobbling every possible major arterial and highway in the area with bike lanes, bioswales, curb extensions, lane and speed reductions, pre-emptive mistimed signals, and let's not forget the magic ingredient, endless streetcar and sewer construction,...

"But it's the economy, honest!"

It also has an incomplete set of choices for the responder's transit ridership, which go something like this:
1. Own a car but prefer to use TriMet
2. Don't own a car
3. Don't drive / can't drive

It doesn't have these choices:

4. Own a car and prefer it to TriMet
5. Own a car and use it because TriMet doesn't serve my home / work
6. Own a car and use it because a trip on TriMet takes too long
7. Own a car and use it for some trips and TriMet for other trips

I've never seen such a biased survey before that looks rigged to produce results, but again, in Portland it's no surprise at all. No doubt there'll be a report issued based on the respondants directed choices to create some sort of influence, i.e., a lie or propaganda.

And why do they need to know someone's ethnic background?

I heard Mary Fetsch, Trimet Communications Director, go through the usual laundry list of reasons they're broke....not a word about the golden goose eggs you mentioned though. What a deceitful organization they're running...running into the ground with public funds it appears.

I heard Mary Fetsch, Trimet Communications Director, go through the usual laundry list of reasons they're broke....not a word about the golden goose eggs you mentioned though. What a deceitful organization they're running...running into the ground with public funds it appears.

Why don't they cut some management?

On the other hand, in the future, what do happy, healthy walk-bike neighborhoods need transit for anyways?

Isaac - there should also be "Own a car, but use TriMet for commuting to avoid downtown parking rates.", or "Own a car, but use TriMet only for weekend trips to the zoo". TriMet, to its credit, does capture a LOT of the public that will ride the system at least once a year, and that's how they can inflate a lot of their figures. TriMet claims that there's a lot of MAX riders, but according to TriMet's own survey questions I am counted as a "MAX and Bus Rider" even though my trips on MAX are very far and few between, and only on the weekends. But I ride the bus every single workday.

Tri-Met: "We're broke! What should we do?"

Pretend they're German and go to Greece and rent a room.

Then again, the prositute looks like more reliable debt than TriMet to the hotel keeper, so it probably wouldn't work.

The premise starts off with lying like TriMet always does. That it's the economy causing the problems.

Last cycle they had to cut $27 million from their budget and McFarlane blamed the economy. But the independent auditor reported TriMet had an $27 million increase in fringe benefits' costs to deal with .

McFarlane repeatedly lied about the federal match for PMLR. Even after being caught and reported in the Tribune he continued the tall tale.

So first on th list is fire McFarlane and start telling the truth.

TriMet hs agreed to contribute $10 million to the coming OHSU/PSU (NOT-research) Life Sciences Collaborative Complex in SoWa. Cancel that.

TriMet is planing on borrowing $63 million for PMLR against their operations revenue. Cancel that.

TriMet has many staffers working on planning capital projects and development. Halt most of that.

Adopt plan B, cancel PMLR and run the streetcar over the new transit bridge.

Use a small amount of the PMLR savings from the $13 million ODOT flex funds and $200 million JPACT flex funds to stabilize bus service. Re-allocate the rest.

Get rid of most of the PR staff and fire Mary Fetch.

Break out the bus service to an independent agency and allow private jitneys and other area transit service providers to provide more efficient service.

Allow the 5 non-profits to take over all lift service & special demand service.

Appoint a new oversight committee of primarily critics to scrutinize all of TriMet's operations.

Enable a tri-county vote on rail transit.

Enable a Vancouver vote on CRC/Light Rail.

When people say NO stop what you are doing.

Mean Dude, that is a good list but it assumes that TriMet actually wants to run their operation like a normal business.

TriMet is actually more like organized crime. They take whatever they can, hand money out to friends and family, lie continually about what it is that they do, etc. I doubt that there are any honest people on the management team at TriMet, much less anyone who knows much about business.

This is a classic failure of liberal policy. TriMet is a creature of the political process in Oregon and that process has been run by liberals for a long time. The net result is a bunch of lazy incompetent managers who owe their entire existance to political favors. It won't get cleaned up until Oregon elects someone other than liberals to public office.

"It won't get cleaned up until Oregon elects someone other than liberals to public office"

It will be the same charade!
Hadn't you noticed?

Dug up TriMet's Salary Database:

Capital Projects labor: $10.3M
WES labor (not including P&W employees): $1.3M
I.T. labor: $4.8M
Marketing labor: $2.5M
City of Portland Streetcar - TriMet provided labor: $2.2M

Total: $21.1 million in highly questionable labor.

I just solved TriMet's budget problems.

Total: $21.1 million in highly questionable labor.

If your interested in the details of the above you can go HERE and click each of the links to see the breakdown.

I'm surprised they are only $17 million in the hole actually.

Eric H., interesting breakdown. The $2.5M Marketing labor really stands out. If WES is such a good idea then why marketing?

Combine that with the "public art" costs of many of their recent projects, TriMet's problems would be nil.

Repost from a few months ago:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2011/10/24_common-sense_ways_trimet_ca.html

1. Eliminate WES.
(If WES cannot be eliminated, then all extra amenities shall be discontinued such as Wireless Internet and Transit Tracker signs, fares shall be moved to a distance based fare (i.e. minimum fare of $3.00 for a Beaverton TC-Hall Boulevard ride, and $7.00 for a ride from Beaverton to Wilsonville) with no transfer privileges, and daily parking rates shall be instituted. Also, WES should reduce service to a 40 minute headway, allowing two-train operation and eliminating one train from service.)

2. Eliminate the City of Portland Streetcar subsidy. TriMet has no legal or moral obligation to subsidize a transit operation that is directly in conflict and in competition with itself.
(If the Streetcar funding cannot be eliminated, then TriMet shall move to eliminate duplicative service within the Streetcar area - the 77 line would be truncated at Rose Garden, the 17 line would be merged with the 16 line along Front Avenue, the 15 line would be eliminated, and the 35 and 36 lines would run express through South Waterfront without making local stops.)

3. Eliminate the Capital Projects Division. (We can't afford what we have; we surely can't afford to add more.)

4. Institute fees to park in TriMet Owned & Operated parking lots, between $5 and $8 per day depending on the lot and location.

5. Restructure the fare system:
$2.00 per boarding on the bus. $1.00 for seniors, disabled citizens and youth.
$3.00 per boarding during rush hours and on Express buses (no discount for seniors, disabled or youth)
$5.00 all-day bus pass

Distance-Based Fares on MAX

See above for WES; no discounts on WES for seniors, disabled or youth.

If Streetcar cannot be eliminated, TriMet's subsidy WILL be reduced using a formula of the number of Streetcar riders who do NOT pay the regular fare, multipled by $2.00. (This includes riders who use the "$100 Annual Streetcar and Tram Pass". TriMet will also require that the City of Portland pay for audits of ridership (that must be verifiable) to calculate this. In addition, TriMet shall annually post on its website an audited report showing the costs of services provided to the City of Portland for Streetcar service (labor and maintenance costs), the "subsidy" TriMet pays to the City, ridership, and what amount of the ridership is actually paying a valid TriMet fare.

6. Outsource all ancillary but non-operating TriMet functions, such as H.R. and I.T. Determine if cost-savings can be obtained if these functions are merged or aligned with other government agencies to combine resources.

7. Eliminate all management and administrative staff who are not mission critical. Mission Critical is defined as a person, task, responsibility, department or function that is DIRECTLY involved in either the operation of public transportation or the maintenance of public transportation to the extent that a failure of maintenance could result in a service disruption. This includes any employee involved with bike projects, "sustainability", "equity", "diversity" or similar titles.

8. Eliminate all planning for future MAX and rail lines. This includes Barbur and Vancouver MAX proposals.

9. Eliminate all TriMet motor pool vehicles that are not directly used in the provision of public transportation or maintenance of the system. (If a TriMet staffer can't get to an off-site meeting by TriMet's own public transportation services, they don't need to go.)

10. Eliminate all out-of-town travel. No exceptions.

11. Eliminate all landscaping for TriMet facilities.

12. Eliminate TriMet's involvement in "social media"; eliminate any and all outside "feel good" messaging and advertising - any advertising or publicity MUST be related to actual service delivery or a legally mandated notice.

13. Eliminate any and all involvement in real estate aside from what is required for service delivery. TriMet is not a development agency.

14. Eliminate any and all TriMet "sponsorship" of events.

15. Require that TriMet take all steps necessary to secure paid advertising on TriMet vehicles and facilities. Contract advertising at all MAX stations.

16. Install timers that shut off electric supply to TriMet MAX and WES stations and P&R facilities when not in use.

17. Eliminate Transit Tracker - OR, remove schedule information and plyons from MAX stations. (This was done for bus stops.)

18. Immediate, across the board 25% salary cut for all managers and above.

19. Immediate, across the board benefits reductions for all managers and above - managers must pay 25% of healthcare premiums (for themselves, and the entire cost for spouses and dependents), eliminate pension and convert to a 401(k) (or the public government equivalent of such) with a fixed contribution rather than a fixed benefit, and reductions in other benefits that are paid for by TriMet.

20. TriMet shall immediately institute plans to renew its entire bus fleet, including a purchase of at least 100 high capacity articulated buses and 100 to 200 smaller community buses (to replace the 1600 and 1900 series and to right-size service on routes that must use a larger bus simply out of necessity due to a lack of smaller vehicles), all of which must be brand new, hybrid-electric propulsion buses. TriMet shall without limitation seek any and all funding sources, including city, county, state, Metro and federal funding for these buses. Doing so will reduce ongoing maintenance and fuel expenses compared to current bus operating costs.

21. Once articulated buses are in service, TriMet will reduce mid-day and weekend service on Frequent Service routes (where applicable) from 15 to 20 minute headways; this will result in three buses per hour instead of four, or a 25% decrease in fuel and labor expense on those trips.

22. TriMet shall end the practice of interlining unless it can be proven that such practices improve customer service AND decrease operational expense. Far too often interlined buses are delayed far off of their route causing dissatisfaction and increased overtime expense. In addition too many Operators are fatigued from long trips without breaks, and shorter routes will ensure drivers are properly rested for their trips - eliminating overtime, healthcare expense, absenteeism, the cost of extra board trips, and improving customer service (and ridership).

23. Eliminate the Free Rail Zone.

24. Ensure that LIFT service is only being provided in accordance with federal law. Currently TriMet allows a "door to door" service, meaning a LIFT rider can request a ride from their home in Forest Grove to a destination in Gresham if they so desired. This is clearly outside the intent of the LIFT system which is ONLY to connect riders who cannot access regular transit points to access transit, or cannot get from a transit point to their destination. TriMet shall reduce LIFT service so that it does just that - gets a rider TO a TriMet Transit Center or stop or station, or "door to door" service within three miles only. Also, LIFT service is only supposed to be available when the transit service for the general public is available. If the rider lives in an area where the only bus service is weekday rush hours, then the LIFT service - PER FEDERAL LAW - is only required during those same hours. If there's no Saturday service, there should be no Saturday LIFT service. LIFT service was never intended to be "above and beyond service" for a select group of riders. And TriMet needs to eliminate the use of the larger cutaway buses and use only sedans and minivans (for those who use wheelchairs and scooters) that cost less to operate. I have never seen a "full-sized LIFT bus" with more than two or three riders in it...yet those vehicles are designed to hold 20 passengers (and thus require a CDL to operate.)

According to the TriMet Wage Database:

Capital Projects has 127 employees with a total compensation of $10.3 million. 36 of those employees have compensation over $100K/annually.

Commuter Rail ops has 13 TriMet employees (not counting the P&W employees that actually run the trains, the engineers and conductors). Of those 13 employees, TriMet has a "Director II" making nearly $165K/annually, three maintenance supervisors that make $87K, $131K and $134K, Two maintenance techs that make $104K and $116K, two "Helper MOW Cleaner" that make $71K and $106K, a Manager II that makes $99K, three maintenance "trainees" that make between $77 and $97K, and an "assistant" that makes $42K.

WHAT THE F*#&?!!!!!!!!! (That's being polite.)

Meanwhile, I use the 94 and sometimes its companion 12 bus. The 12/94 bus does not have its own "Director", yet it is a "Frequent Service" line that runs seven days a week, carries ridership that is several times higher than WES, and requires dozens of Operators to run. There is not one person who is responsible for the 12/94 line. But WES requires a Director, a Manager, THREE Maintenance Supervisors, Two "Cleaners", Two Mechanics and Three Mechanic Trainees? THERE ARE MORE MAINTENANCE SUPERVISORS THAN MECHANICS! And part of the "benefit" of WES was that its vehicles had onboard internet connected diagnostic computers...AND, its vehicles NEVER stray more than 15 miles from its operations base. (Yet, a TriMet bus that craps out in Sherwood has an 19 mile drive to Center Street and the Operator has to radio Dispatch, to radio a mechanic, who has to drive out to the bus in most cases...a broken bus might take hours to get back to the garage, while a broken down WES train is never more than an hour from repairs.) Plus, WES has a spare vehicle fleet 100% the size of the regular revenue fleet - every single workday TriMet has to cancel bus trips because of a lack of servicable buses - it has a very small contingency fleet (officially about 20-25 buses) and those buses are actually in service on regular routes each day, so they aren't really contingency vehicles.

TriMet has FIFTY I.T. employees, whose compensation ranges from $57K for a "Help Desk Associate" to $158K for a "Director II". TriMet's I.T. Department has SEVEN "Manager II"s ranging from $96.5K to $144K in annual compensation.

And, not one single I.T. employee is crucial to the day to day operations. Not one of them makes sure the buses run on time or that they are repaired properly. TriMet has 12 programmers, 13 software engineers...does anyone use any of TriMet's software (especially considering that most of TriMet's new trip planner tools were done by open source programmers OUTSIDE OF TRIMET)?!!!

The "Not TriMet" City of Portland Streetcar has 26 TriMet employees working for it:

Three "Superintendents" that make between $108K and $122K a year. (Remember, my 12/94 bus has ZERO direct managers.)

18 Operators that make between $73K and $119K/annually. Now, these Operators don't have nearly the amount of stress that a bus Operator has - they drive the same route, in circles, each day. They don't drive different routes in a single shift, like one driver I rode with that drove a 4F/4D line from St. Johns to Gresham, then the 84 to Kelso and Boring, and then the 12S/12B bus all the way out to Sherwood. IN ONE SHIFT! Streetcar Operators have nearly guaranteed breaks/lunches where bus Operators do not. Streetcar Operators are guaranteed air conditioning. Streetcar Operators have fully protected cabs and can protect themselves from the public. Streetcar Operators don't have to enforce fares and generally don't have the same customer service function a Bus Operator has. Streetcar Operators don't necessarily have to "know the route" like a bus Operator does.

I've personally driven a train. You could teach 16 year olds to drive a Streetcar and they could probably do a pretty damn good job of it...basically you have one lever. Move it one direction to go, move it the other way to stop. It's easier than driving a car. They don't need six-figure salaries. I have a lot of respect for bus drivers, however, since they have a lot more crap thrown at them from riders and Management. They don't have a sealed driving compartment, they have to deal with 21 year old buses that are sweltering in the summer and might not have working heaters or defrosters in the winter (and leaky roofs when it rains), and they are expected to be the public face of TriMet AND enforce fares - all without backup.

AlM said
"I'm surprised they are only $17 million in the hole actually."

If we know anything it's that TriMet lies.

Their announcing a coming 14-17 million hole a couple months ago was a clear indication they are facing a far worse problem. Last summer it was reported their unfunded OPEB liability had soared by an additional $200 million. Auditors calculated that TriMet needed to start setting aside $70 million per year immediately to cover the rising costs. TriMet has no money for this. That required set aside is likely much more now and the current labor dispute addresses only a tiny fraction of TriMet's unfunded liabilites.

I bet they know today they are looking a hole at least twice that size.

But they have troubles and must "manage" them using any means.

I have long suspected TriMet siphons away many millions more from capital projects funding than is justified. It's not tough to attribute many unrelated tasks to a project and then move millions over to cover various operations costs.

So the BIG wasting projects must continue.

Even when it means TriMet itself borrowing $63 million against operations for PMLR.
TriMet is biting their nails awaiting the final approval of the Fed match-full funding agreement in March.
With that will come the ability to conceal and delay their calamity and demise as they pilfer the millions every which way but honestly.

But with Clackamas County & Milwaukie residents about to thoroughly reject and deny participation in the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail there is great fear at TriMet and Metro of a domino effect quickly halting the entire rail transit agenda.

The widening uprising there appears insurmountable with little the establishment can do to stop it.

Tainted establishment candidates are going to be trying to conceal their allegiance to the madness while seeking votes. Good luck with that. .

It will be helpful that many folks around the region and state are recognizing the implications of a Clackamas County
turning back the Portland regime and the potentially historical reversal for the region/state this may represent.

This is relly quite exciting.

I encourage everyone to help anyway they can so that the purging and reversal rolls into Washington and Multnomah Counties (and beyond) sooner rather than later.

If we know anything it's that TriMet lies.

Can we get an amen?

AMEN BROTHER AMEN!

Don't build the Billion Dollar train to nowhere.

Eliminate WES (even if you have to refund the Feds).

Raise the price of a walk-on MAX ticket to the actual per passenger cost. SEll MORE ANNUAL PASSES.

Fire the workers who stand at bus stops monitoring arrival times while their white Ford trucks are double parked nearby. Replace them with GPS.

Fire the workers who stand at bus stops monitoring arrival times while their white Ford trucks are double parked nearby. Replace them with GPS.

TriMet's buses are already equipped with GPS. How do you think Transit Tracker works?

The Supervisors in the F-150 trucks are worthless. Utterly worthless. I have personal stories about just how worthless they are.