TriMet’s board of directors voted to raise transit fares by 30 cents beginning next January, an effort to stave off keep a fiscal cliff and potential layoffs.
During a chaotic meeting, frequently interrupted by chanting from people protesting the fare hike, TriMet board members said the increase is necessary to sustain TriMet services. The agency has struggled financially due to drops in ridership during the pandemic.
The public transit agency’s board of directors voted 6-1 to increase its regular adult fare to $2.80. Fares for students and elderly or disabled riders, as well as registered low-income riders, will also increase by 15 cents, to $1.40.
Only director Kathy Wai opposed the measure, citing the recent creation of a work group to study the impact of fares on transit-dependent people.
“That group has members who are transit-dependent, immigrants, refugees. We need to put those voices at the table,” Wai said.
Other board members pointed to TriMet’s lack of a fare increase for the last decade, and said they didn’t want to delay it any longer.
The agency heard public comments from 30 people, in person and virtually. All opposed the fare increase.
Those who spoke objected to the potential impact on low-income riders and people of color, the negative effect on ridership and the additional challenges the fare hike would pose to people with disabilities.
Some also said the fare hike will negate TriMet’s progress toward reducing pollution.
“Those electric buses are not going to do a lot of good if people aren’t on them,” said Lynn Handlin. “Your own studies show that fare increases will decrease ridership.”
During the meeting, a group of transit activists also rallied at the Japanese American Historical Plaza, across the street from the University of Oregon Portland building where board members met.
Nearly two-thirds of the agency’s $817 million operating budget for the fiscal year beginning in July is funded through a payroll tax, $516 million paid by employers within TriMet’s service area. The smallest significant chunk, $56.2 million, is expected to come from passenger fares, accounting for the proposed increase.
The agency has relied on pandemic-era federal grants to shore up its budget since its 2021 fiscal year, when it received $303 million in grants. It expects only $157 million in its 2024 budget.
TriMet’s ridership dropped nearly 70% in a matter of weeks in 2020. Despite a slow rebound, ridership remains about 38% below pre-pandemic levels.
—Jayati Ramakrishnan; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com
