FILE: A TriMet Green Line MAX train approaches a station in southwest Portland, Ore., on Friday, March 20, 2020.
Bryan M. Vance / OPB
The board of Portland-area transit agency TriMet will soon vote on whether to increase bus and rail fares for the first time since 2012.
Adult fares would increase by 30 cents, and fares for youth and honored citizens would go up by 15 cents.
JC Vannatta, TriMet’s executive director of public affairs, says the agency has been able to hold it off for years, but a fare increase is necessary now due to rising operation and service costs
“As you can imagine, in the past 10, almost 11, years, the costs for our operational costs have gone up 37%,” Vannatta said.
He added that emergency pandemic funding has helped in recent years, but it will run out.
“We’ve been using one-time-only federal funds to backfill those fares to prevent major cuts,” Vannatta said. “That money will soon be going away, come July 2024.”
But critics, and the agency’s own equity analysis, have found that a fare increase would put a disproportionate burden on low-income riders.
Ellie Gluhosky, with OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, says it’s not a sustainable solution.
“At best, this fare increase is going to stave off this deficit for one to three years, which is just a Band-Aid on a bigger issue,” she said. “TriMet not only needs to secure long-term, sustainable funding, but they also need to be exploring funding that is not at the direct expense of rider accessibility.”
The TriMet board will vote on the proposal next Wednesday. If the fare increases are approved, they will take effect in January 2024.