TriMet’s proposed budget adds back service, builds on ‘A Better Red,’ expands bus electrification and further supports riders with low incomes  

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Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which will guide agency spending from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, includes $817.3 million for day-to-day operations, up $67.4 million from the previous year’s budget

TriMet’s proposed budget for the coming year includes $817.3 million for day-to-day operations as we continue to bring on new bus operators and begin adding back service for the first time since August 2020. The agency’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget, which totals $1.92 billion, also includes $322.3 million for capital investments. 

The coming year will bring the first of several service improvements coming out of our Forward Together Service Concept. We’ll also reach substantial completion of our “A Better Red” MAX project, expand our investment in bus electrification and continue our efforts to help riders with low incomes access transit. 

The proposed budget balances priorities with our ongoing, agency-wide efforts to restore our workforce, increase ridership and maintain a transit system that is safe, welcoming and accessible to all.

Fiscal Year 2024 resources

The proposed budget does assume a fare increase that includes TriMet’s first increase of our base fare in more than a decade, which the TriMet Board of Directors will vote on at its May 24 meeting. If the Board does not move forward on the fare increase, TriMet’s Finance Department is prepared to revise the budget for Board adoption in June. Local law requires the budget to be in place before the fiscal year begins on July 1.  

Resources supporting the Fiscal Year 2024 budget include:

  • $77.1 million in operating revenue.
  • $515.8 million in tax revenues.
  • $157.3 million in federal funding.

Funding priorities

The proposed budget supports the agency’s business plan, which is the guide that we use to align financial decisions with our agency’s vision, mission and values. The FY2024 budget lays out priorities under four main categories: transit service; transit equity, inclusion and community affairs; capital investments; and electrification.

  • Transit service: In addition to maintaining current levels of service across our 533-square service district, TriMet plans to begin restoring service hours that were cut in 2021, due to ridership declines from the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, due to our historic operator shortage. The FY2024 budget begins to roll out plans from our Forward Together Service Concept, which was developed to better serve riders based on travel patterns that changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first package of service changes is scheduled to begin in September.
  • Transit equity, inclusion and community affairs: Since TriMet opened our reduced fare to riders who qualify based on income in 2018, nearly 50,000 have signed up to ride for significantly less. The Honored Citizen reduced fare, which is also open to seniors age 65+, people on Medicare and people with disabilities, cuts the cost of riding monthly and annually by as much as 72%. TriMet’s FY2024 budget continues to support riders who are struggling financially through our Access Transit Program, which work with local nonprofits and organizations to get free and reduced fares to riders who need them.  
  • Capital investments: TriMet plans to complete most of the remaining construction for our “A Better Red” MAX Extension and Reliability Project during FY2024, which continues through June 30, 2024. Once finished, the project will improve reliability of the entire MAX system, by adding new sections of track to alleviate choke points and extending the MAX Red Line to Hillsboro/Fair Complex, which will give more people a one-seat ride to Portland International Airport and provide more service in Hillsboro. 
  • Electrification: TriMet will shift our bus electrification program into higher gear during FY2024, as we accept delivery of 24 new battery-electric buses. The buses make up our first bulk purchase of electric vehicles since adopting our plan to fully transition to a zero-emissions bus fleet by 2040. In addition to buying battery-electric buses, electrification requires significant investments in infrastructure and training to charge and maintain the buses.

Providing feedback

TriMet invites the public to provide feedback on the budget during public testimony at upcoming Board meetings, scheduled for March 22, April 26 and May 24, and through our regular Customer Service channels. Reach us via email at hello@trimet.org; on Twitter @trimethelp; and by phone or text or 503-238-7433 (RIDE).