TriMet is making multiple rounds of service cuts this year as the agency faces a $300 million budget shortfall.
Portland’s TriMet transit agency announced a new round of service cuts as it faces down a $300 million budget gap with no new funding sources in sight, reports Taylor Griggs in Portland Mercury.
“In November, TriMet reduced evening service on five bus lines, including the frequent express line on Southeast Division. The agency will implement another wave of service reductions—this time impacting four bus lines—starting March 1.” The biggest round of cuts is set to come in August, when the agency will eliminate or limit dozens of bus routes and a portion of the MAX Green Line. TriMet says it is prioritizing transit to schools and medical centers and reducing lines with overlapping or nearby routes, as well as reducing frequency of service on some lines.
The cuts contradict the agency’s ambitious 2022 Forward Together plan, which was designed to grow ridership after pandemic-era drops in transit use.
Read the full story: TriMet’s Present Crisis, and Uncertain Future
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