PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland’s TriMet has become the latest U.S. transit agency to announce plans for significant service cuts to address a funding shortfall, announcing plans to reduce frequency on some bus lines this November in the first phase of a process that would eventually include an 18% reduction in MAX light rail service.
The state legislature failed to pass a bill that would have addressed the issue through an increase in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund payroll tax [see “Oregon transit agency TriMet warns …,” Trains News Wire, April 18, 2025], but TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. said at a press conference that even that would not have fully eliminated the deficit.
“We face a $300 million gap … between our annual expenditures and our revenues that we must address,” Desue said in comments reported by KGW-TV.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announced earlier this week that she would call a special session in August for lawmakers to address the funding issue, so the cuts still could be avoided. But if funding is not found, TriMet said deeper reductions would come in March 2026, including eliminating some low-ridership bus lines and eliminating evening service on others, as well as reducing the light rail Green Line route to run between Clakamas at the Gateway Transit Center east of downtown. Currently, Green Line service extends to downtown; the cuts would require passengers to change trains.
A third round of cuts would come sometime after May 2026 and involve additional cuts to frequencies on at least a dozen bus lines, elimination of some or all of other bus lines, and reduced light rail service during parts of the day. Overall, the cuts would amount to 10% of TriMet service, although the agency warns that without some additional revenue, more cuts would be required.
When will we learn you can’t just keep raising taxes.
Interestingly, nothing in the blurb indicates a reduction or elimination of the Westside Express Service between Beaverton and Wilsonville. That line’s ridership plummeted during COVID and still hasn’t recovered much; it was also much lower than projections even before COVID. You’d think that might be one of the first services on the chopping block; then again, if the current administration would make them pay back any federal startup money, maybe that’s incentive enough to keep it going.
Maybe this was overbuilt to begin with and post Covid world with folks working from home that usually would commute. The legislature does not see the value.