Budget reductions aim to preserve service, jobs as much as possible

In the wake of the Oregon Legislature’s failure to pass House Bill 2025 — the Oregon Transportation Reinvestment Package (TRIP) — TriMet will make a series of budget reductions beginning this year, including service cuts, to address a significant, growing fiscal challenge. 

Service cuts are necessary now for TriMet to avoid drastic cuts in the future and continue providing the vital transit service our riders rely on to get to jobs, schools, services and other vital destinations across our 533-square-mile service district. 

The failure of HB2025 leaves many of Oregon’s transit agencies, including TriMet, without the sufficient funding needed to sustain service levels in the years ahead. We are encouraged by Gov. Tina Kotek’s call for a special session to address funding for the Oregon Department of Transportation, local jurisdictions and transit districts. But the absence of legislative action in June has forced TriMet to make service cuts this November and in March 2026, with additional reductions necessary in the years ahead to begin closing a projected $300 million gap between our annual expenditures and revenues.  

“We are facing a fiscal cliff in 2030, so we must act now to balance our budget for the long term,” said TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. “As Oregon’s largest public transit provider, we have a tremendous responsibility to keep people in our region moving. Cutting service now means avoiding sudden, catastrophic cuts in the future.”

A Responsible Approach to a Growing Deficit

TriMet’s budget for the current year, fiscal year 2026, adopted by TriMet’s Board of Directors on May 29, 2025, did not assume an increase in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) that helps fund public transit, which had been included in HB 2025. TriMet began taking steps during the development of that budget to reduce the deficit for the year, identifying $24.2 million in savings via cuts to discretionary spending. 

As TriMet continues to work to close the projected shortfall in our annual operating and capital maintenance budget, we will continue looking at internal savings, but other budget reductions are also necessary. We are committed to balancing our budget in three years, by July 1, 2028, meaning our expenditures will be equal or less than our revenues.

Budget Reductions 

TriMet must begin reducing our service this winter, with a series of further cuts over the next few years resulting in at least a 10% overall cut to service by the end of August 2027. Without additional revenue, TriMet will be forced to cut another $48 million in service and other spending.

Despite the budget reductions, TriMet will prioritize safety, reliability and essential maintenance needs.

Initially, service cuts will focus on reducing frequencies on some bus lines. Following that, TriMet will need to eliminate some bus lines, adjust some bus routes and adjust MAX service. Because of the changes to bus and MAX service, our LIFT paratransit service will also be reduced. 

If TriMet is unsuccessful in increasing our revenue by fall 2027, more service cuts will be needed.  

Budget Reductions – Service Cuts

November 2025:

TriMet will reduce service on Nov. 30, 2025, by cutting the frequency, or how often buses run, on the following:

• Some Frequent Service lines during evenings and mornings
• FX2-Division bus line at night 
• Up to eight other bus lines during all service hours

March 2026:

TriMet will need to make additional service cuts, effective March 1, 2026.  We will be engaging our riders and the public this fall to discuss these cuts, but proposed cuts would include:

• Eliminating some low ridership bus lines
• Eliminating evening service on lower ridership bus lines
• Changing routes on some bus lines to increase efficiency
• Reducing the MAX Green Line route. Green Line trains would only serve stations between Clackamas Town Center and Gateway Transit Center. Riders would need to transfer to other trains at Gateway Transit Center.

May 2026 through August 2027:

Further service cuts will be required between May 2026 and August 2027, to reach the needed 10% service reduction. Without an increase in revenue, TriMet will have to cut additional service above that 10% to balance our budget. 

These service reductions will likely include:

• Additional cuts to frequency on at least a dozen bus lines
• Eliminating other bus lines or portions of lines
• Reducing the frequency on all MAX lines during some parts of the day.

The anticipated service cuts laid out above add up to about an 18% overall reduction in MAX service — the largest cut to MAX in its history — and about an 8% reduction in bus service — the third largest cut since at least 1986. 

Without increased state funding for transit, these service reductions will become even more severe.

Budget Reductions – Workforce Needs

As service levels decrease over the next two years, TriMet’s workforce needs will be reduced by at least 140 operators, with additional staff reductions in maintenance and support functions.

On the administrative side, TriMet will perform an overall staffing analysis to right-size the agency, which will likely result in a reduction of non-union jobs.

Some of the staffing reductions will be handled through normal attrition, due to personnel actions like promotions, resignations and retirements, but some layoffs will likely be necessary.

TriMet will also enact a hiring freeze, with only mission-critical positions being filled. 

Budget Reductions – Spending Cuts

TriMet will not add spending for new initiatives over the next three years as we work to balance our budget. We will also work to reduce our contract expenses with other businesses for everything from personnel to services to materials. Our contract expenses will be cut by 5% annually while we work to mitigate any expense increases in those contracts. 

We will evaluate further areas for budget reductions and reengage an internal effort to identify efficiencies and improve processes. This work will focus on eliminating duplication, reducing waste, and streamlining operations—helping us become a leaner, more effective agency, while responsibly continuing to deliver safe and reliable public transit service to our community.

Revenue Increases

TriMet will look at all available options to increase revenue. We’ve already identified two actions – raising fares and an increase in the STIF payroll tax – that would help close our operating budget deficit. If TriMet is not successful in gaining new revenue through these two actions, we will need to identify $48 million in additional service and spending cuts.

Revenue Increases – Fares

TriMet is not making changes to fares at this time. However, in alignment with the Board-adopted Strategic Financial Plan’s fare policy, we will pursue a 20 cent increase to our Adult fare and 10 cent increase to our Honored Citizen reduced and Youth fares in August/September 2028. Public outreach would begin a year prior.

Revenue Increases – Transit Funding

TriMet is committed to working with lawmakers to ensure that transit funding is part of any future effort to increase state transportation revenue. An increase in STIF program funding would buy valuable time to pursue long-term efficiencies and additional resources, avoid deeper service cuts and preserve access to transit for thousands of Oregonians.

“We are grateful to the lawmakers and advocates who stood with transit during the 2025 session,” said Desue. “But we need more than support — we need action. We urge the Legislature to come together to pass a comprehensive transportation package that maintains public transit service for the people of Oregon.”

Costs of Providing Public Transit Skyrocket

TriMet has seen operating costs skyrocket, mainly due to inflation. Our operating costs per vehicle hour have increased 53% from 2019 to 2024.

Among the cost increases: Fuel and tires are up nearly 35% for our bus service, while facilities maintenance costs are up 71%. Software license fees are also growing at a staggering rate when compared to previous years.

The cost of contract personnel has also risen. TriMet’s LIFT paratransit service relies on contractors, and the cost for those personnel has increased from 47% to 85%, depending on the role. TriMet’s budget for safety and security has tripled in the last several years as we have expanded our contracted unarmed safety and security workforce to address community-wide public safety challenges that affect our transit system.Additionally, TriMet has been unable to sustainably fund a growing backlog of  capital maintenance projects, including replacement of buses and light rail trains. The funding needed to keep pace with our long-term maintenance needs is now built into our budget forecasts. 

Next steps

To keep our community informed and engaged, TriMet will launch a dedicated web page at trimet.org/budget in the weeks ahead. There, we will provide information about the budget challenges we’re facing, the steps we’re taking to address them, and what these changes mean for riders and the region. We will list outreach events as they are planned. 

We will encourage riders and community members to visit the page to learn more, ask questions, and stay involved as TriMet works toward a more sustainable future for transit in our region.