Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Erik Halstead: BUDGET PROBLEM IMMEDIATE FIXES
1. End Free Rail Zone TODAY.
2. End the City of Portland Streetcar subsidy. City runs their own system, city can pay for their own system. If there is a legal challenge, then cut the overlapping service - don't cut service in Oregon City to pay for Portland's trolley.
3. All park-and-ride facilities become pay facilities. TriMet's job is not to run parking lots.
4. Immediate cut in non-revenue motor pool fleet. If you can't get there on TriMet, you don't need to go.
5. ZERO the travel budget. We can't afford to run buses; we certainly can't afford for junkets to RailVolution and Australia.
6. Eliminate WES. Plain and simple. If you can't eliminate WES, than eliminate the free Wi-Fi, charge to park, shut down the lighted platforms (including those Transit Tracker displays and TVMs) when WES is not in service, and charge distance based fares resulting in a Beaverton to Wilsonville ride costing around $6.00 if not more - one way, no transfer privilege. Also, if WES cannot be discontinued, convert to two train operation every 40 minutes so as to eliminate one train and its associated fuel and labor cost.
7. Convert MAX to distance based fares.
8. Eliminate all landscaping. TriMet's job is running buses and trains on time, not making sure trees and grass look pretty.
9. Complete halt to all capital projects. That means stopping Milwaukie MAX construction altogether.
10. Review status of bus fleet, continue new bus purchases to reduce maintenance expense. Older buses cost more to run and maintain than new buses, so using federal funds to replace older buses will result in operating savings (including lower overtime expense, fewer mechanics needed).
11. Use articulated buses on heavy usage routes to reduce labor and fuel expense. Running 3 artics per hour (20 minute headways) provides the same quantity of service as 4 40' buses, but has 25% lower fuel and labor expense.
TriMet's "Budget Shortfall"
You guys have probably already heard it by now, especially those of you who follow other transit blogs from around Portland like Portland AFoot or Portland Transport, or any of the other many transit blogs around here--TriMet has released the claim that they have a huge budget shortfall. Whether this is true or not is debatable in itself. Essentially, TriMet will play this as 'Oh my god! The sky is falling! We must cut bus service!'
TriMet claims that their budget shortfall is between $12 and $17 million and that us bus riders should ready ourselves for more service cuts (which, I say fearfully, are projected to probably be worse, yes worse, than the September 2010 cuts). TriMet also says that another fare raise could come as early as Spring of 2012.
But it gets better: TriMet has announced that they will create a committee (or as they like to call it, a 'task force') to address the budget problem.
TriMet claims that their budget shortfall is between $12 and $17 million and that us bus riders should ready ourselves for more service cuts (which, I say fearfully, are projected to probably be worse, yes worse, than the September 2010 cuts). TriMet also says that another fare raise could come as early as Spring of 2012.
But it gets better: TriMet has announced that they will create a committee (or as they like to call it, a 'task force') to address the budget problem.
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