Certain TriMet fares will increase Jan. 1, 2024. The increases, approved by a board vote in May, will range from 15 to 60 cents depending on the type of ticket purchased. Below is the breakdown of what is increasing and by how much, according to the TriMet website:
- Adult 2.5-hour Ticket: $2.80 (up 30 cents)
- Adult day pass: $5.60 (up 15 cents)
- Honored Citizen 2.5-hour ticket: $1.40 (up 15 cents)
- Honored Citizen day pass: $2.80 (up 30 cents)
- Youth 2.5-hour ticket: $1.40 (up 15 cents)
Youth day pass: $2.80 (up 30 cents)
LIFT paratransit single ride ticket: $2.80 (up 30 cents)
The price of other tickets and services will not increase, including the monthly cap for the Hop pass.
The increase comes after a report published by the agency claimed it would face a deficit by 2026 if it did not find new income streams. The increase will now delay the deficit to 2032, assuming TriMet raises fares every other year.
In TriMet’s own Public Participation and Outreach summary, it was noted that out of 5,600 responders, over 40% said that they would use TriMet services less if the proposal went through. In the same survey, 51% said they were against the increase with only 13% categorized into the “positive comments” section of the feedback summary.
In the May 24 TriMet Board meeting, multiple in-person and virtual testimonies were taken, including that of state Rep. Khanh Pham, D-Outer SE Portland, who voiced her displeasure with the increases, saying it would directly impact the most underprivileged members of her community in Southeast Portland.
“This is happening at exactly the same time in which transit is increasingly understood as a solution to many of our overlapping problems related to affordability, climate, cleaner air, safer streets and economic opportunity,” Pham said in the May 24 meeting. “Unfortunately, this fare increase appears to be a temporary budget Band-Aid that ultimately hides the larger, systemic problems that TriMet must begin to tackle to be the transit agency of the 21st century that we need.”
Members of the public went on to air their concerns during the meeting's allotted speaking time, citing numerous reasons as to why the fare increase is not a viable solution, and how its effect could have an impact on the community’s overall health and wellbeing; especially working class and low-income households.
Despite the public feedback, the board maintained the increase was the best path forward, leading the meeting's attendees to protest, and ultimately resulting in the TriMet Board leaving the public forum in order to vote in private. It approved the measure 6 to 1.
As previously reported by Street Roots in February 2023, and stated by Pham in the May 24 meeting, the primary concern is that the budget deficit is not solved through these increases. Rather, it is only delayed, and continued fare increases over the coming years would only continue that trend. By 2032, the year the budget will run at a deficit, an adult 2.5-hour ticket could cost around $4 if the board continues to vote on increased fares.
The only member to vote against the proposal, Kathy Wai, made note of this fact in a Nov. 9, 2022, board meeting where she said the increase did not make the deficit disappear, rendering the proposed solution unsustainable.
In the same meeting, board members used statistics from nine other public transit systems around the country as a reference to what the proposed (now soon-to-be imposed) increase would look like. Their findings showed none of the nine public transit systems brought in more than 17.8% of their overall revenue from fares. Taxes made up the majority of revenue in each case.
As of 2022, TriMet collected 15.5% in revenue from fares, while 40% came from employee payroll tax. Nancy Young-Oliver, TriMet executive director of finance and administrative services, predicted the increase would add an additional $5.1 million in revenue for the service once enacted. The prediction runs with the assumption that TriMet will see a significant increase in ridership over the next five years despite a decrease in ridership since 2015.
The ridership increase prediction was originally brought up by General Manager Sam Desue in the November meeting after citing a study Jarrett Walker + Associates, or JWA, a transit consultant firm, conducted on behalf of TriMet. According to Tia York, TriMet manager of media relations, the study was a supplemental effort of the Forward Together concept, a larger plan that TriMet is expected to follow in order to expand their services.
“Jarrett Walker + Associates typically steers away from ridership predictions, as they are predictions that may or may not come true, " Rose said in an email to Street Roots. “However, during the development of the Forward Together Service Concept, JWA regularly used data and analyses to test our ideas and found increases in access to service with our proposed changes.”
According to Rose, a small modeling analysis found it likely ridership would increase; however, the study was based on outdated, pre-pandemic data. In the end, the data was a way to test concepts around increasing transit service access, but not used to shape the development of Forward Together.
Despite this, TriMet is optimistic the Forward Together plan, which include a proposed increase in service lines and frequency, as well as security, is enough to win over new and returning riders and that this will lead to ridership growth.
In the TriMet board's May 24 meeting, it was mentioned that Forward Together intends to have a “2.0” aimed at examining TriMet Max restoration over the next three-to-five years and onward to a 20-year plan for MAX and bus growth. There was no mention of an increase in ridership during that discussion.
In the Nov. 9 meeting, Young-Oliver acknowledged a fare increase could discourage low-income riders from using the service. She went on to say TriMet was looking into short-term investment funds in order to mitigate costs for the most vulnerable people.
TriMet is operating under the assumption it will see a 1% decrease in ridership following the increase in fares, but it will be a short-term dip that will soon stabilize.
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