TriMet News

Legislature

  • Do your part for the environment this Earth Day — ride and support TriMet!

    Do your part for the environment this Earth Day — ride and support TriMet!

    Local transit service replaces tens of millions of car trips each year, reducing air pollution, congestion

    Image of a TriMet battery-electric bus serving Line 9-Powell Blvd in Downtown Portland.

    More than 8 billion people share our planet. Every one of us has a responsibility to help keep it beautiful and livable.

    April 22 is Earth Day! Here at TriMet, we work hard every day of the year to get people where they need to go, reducing their dependence on driving. Our riders can leave their cars at home, or at one of our TriMet Park & Ride locations, and let our professional transit operators do the driving.

    Whenever you take transit instead of driving, you’re doing your part to reduce car emissions and save on gas. Plus, you’re cutting down on traffic congestion. That means better air quality, shorter travel times and safer streets.

    If transit is important to you, let your legislators know you support more funding for public transit in the 2025 state transportation package. Find your legislators here. Your voice is critical to avoid service cuts to transit throughout Oregon that could leave tens of thousands of Oregonians stranded. 

    Cleaner air, livable region

    TriMet plays a huge role in keeping our air clean. From July 2023 to June 2024, our bus and rail service diverted 49,532 metric tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) in car emissions.

    Transit also helps reduce congestion. TriMet buses and trains replaced the equivalent of 36.5 million car trips during the same period.

    When traffic is heavy, the odds of a crash go way up. Gridlock on roads and freeways also means more pollution. Internal combustion engines, which power most cars and trucks, continue emitting CO2 and other byproducts while they’re idling. When trips take longer because of congestion, more fuel and energy are consumed. That costs drivers money.

    TriMet provides alternatives to driving! Plan your trip at trimet.org and find out how you can save money, lower emissions and get where you need to go.

    Convenient, reliable public transportation

    TriMet offers a range of transportation options, including:

    • Bus service on 78 lines, serving communities across our region from Forest Grove to Estacada
    • MAX service on five lines, crisscrossing Portland City Center and connecting neighborhoods, employment centers and shopping districts in Portland, Gresham, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Clackamas and Milwaukie
    • WES commuter rail service, providing a traffic-free trip between Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville
    • LIFT paratransit service, which allows riders with disabilities to schedule door-to-door service that meets their needs

    Additionally, we partner with the Portland Streetcar and C-TRAN. That means you can use Hop Fastpass® on all of our public transportation systems, making it easy to transfer from one to another.

    For questions about using TriMet, visit trimet.org/support or call or text 503-238-7433 (RIDE).

    A cleaner, greener system

    TriMet is actively working to promote sustainability and livability for our region.

    Electric buses

    In the past year, TriMet has more than tripled the number of zero-emissions buses in our fleet.

    Our latest generation of battery-electric buses have extended range and more reserve power. We’ve rolled them out on some of our most popular lines. Riders on both the west side and the east side will now see “e-buses” in service, providing clean, quiet rides throughout our service area.

    We’ve also laid the groundwork to introduce fuel-cell electric buses to our fleet. These zero-emissions buses would be the first of their kind to serve transit riders in Oregon.

    Clean energy

    Our e-buses aren’t the only way we’re lowering emissions. We’ve reduced our overall greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70% since 2022, when we switched over to R99 renewable diesel for our buses and WES trains and renewable energy to power MAX and all TriMet facilities.

    MAX is all-electric, and it doesn’t generate air pollution as it travels. Since 1986, MAX has been one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly ways to get around our region!

    Transit-oriented development

    Transit access is game-changing for residents and businesses near MAX stations. That makes MAX attractive to developers! We celebrated the groundbreaking for hollywoodHUB, an affordable housing development just feet from our Hollywood/NE 42nd Ave MAX Station, earlier this year.

    Transit-oriented development, like hollywoodHUB, is huge for the local economy. Plus, when people live close to transit, they use transit more, which is great for the environment and helps reduce congestion.

    TriMet supports sustainable development. In recent years, we’ve seen redevelopment around our MAX stations in Southeast Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro and Milwaukie, too. This transit-oriented development can be a vision of the future, if we, as Oregonians, support transit.

    Invaluable, but in peril

    For more than 55 years, TriMet has been connecting people to opportunities, providing alternatives to driving, and promoting our vision to make our region one of the world’s most livable places.

    But as important a role as TriMet and other transit providers in Oregon play, we face an uncertain future.

    Inflation has driven up the cost of providing transit service by over 50% in the last five years.

    Historically, transit has enjoyed bipartisan support in Oregon — but the current level of funding proposed for transit is not enough to avoid cuts to service in the future. Unless state lawmakers support more funding for transit, many Oregonians will be stranded without the transportation they depend on.

    Together with transit agencies across Oregon, TriMet is calling for state lawmakers to approve a phased 0.4% increase in the employee payroll tax that funds transit over the next eight years.

    Without a revenue increase to make up for the increased cost of providing service, TriMet may be forced to cut as many as 34 bus lines starting in 2027, with additional cuts to follow, until our operating budget deficit is resolved. These buses serve thousands of riders every week, connecting people to jobs, school, health care appointments and more. They take cars off the road, making our streets safer and our air cleaner.

    You can help us keep our buses on the road and protect our environment. Please show your support for transit service this Earth Day.

  • TriMet warns of cuts to transit service without an increase in transit funding in 2025 Oregon transportation package

    TriMet warns of cuts to transit service without an increase in transit funding in 2025 Oregon transportation package

    Oregon Transit Association calls for 0.4% increase in Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund employee payroll tax

    TriMet joins the Oregon Transit Association in appealing to Oregon legislators to increase funding for public transit in the upcoming 2025 transportation package. We appreciate the efforts of the Oregon Legislature to assemble a package that balances funding for all modes of transportation. However, the amount of funding for public transit currently being proposed is not enough to avoid service cuts that will leave tens of thousands of Oregonians stranded without the transportation they depend on, including in TriMet’s tri-county service district. 

    TriMet provides bus, MAX light rail, WES commuter rail and LIFT paratransit services across 533 square miles of the state’s three most populous counties — Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. Our transit service connects people with their community, while easing traffic congestion and reducing air pollution — making our region a better place to live.

    The phased increase of 0.4% in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) employee payroll tax over eight years sought by the Oregon Transit Association is necessary to avoid cuts to the transit service that is essential for TriMet riders — more than 67% of whom tell us they rely on our service to get them where they need to go. Under the current proposed 0.08% increase, TriMet would need to begin cutting service by July 1, 2027. We would need to cut 15% of service in 2027, with an additional 5% cut every two years after that, until our operating budget deficit is resolved.

    Transit funding only a sliver of Oregon’s transportation investment

    In 2017, the Oregon Legislature passed the first transportation package in state history that dedicated funding to improve transit service around the state, including providing free or discounted fare programs for students and Oregonians living on a low income. While welcome by transit agencies, public transportation receives just 8% as much state funding as the state highway fund receives each year in the face of rising costs and financial challenges. 

    Like other public transit agencies in Oregon and across the nation, TriMet has seen operating costs skyrocket, mainly due to inflation. Our operating costs per vehicle have increased 53% from 2019 to 2024. TriMet has tripled our budget for safety and security in the last several years, to address community-wide public safety challenges that affect our transit system.

    TriMet has been operating on reduced revenues since the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently facing a *$50.2 million deficit for the fiscal year ahead, which begins July 1, 2025. As our deficit continues to grow year-to-year, we’re using our reserves to avoid reducing services, and we’re making meaningful cuts to our discretionary spending and implementing changes to right-size our budget. 
    *Note: The original news release stated a $74.4 million deficit projected for fiscal year 2026. As of May 28, 2025, the projected deficit is now at $50.2 million due to spending cuts and other budget efficiencies identified during the fiscal year 2026 budgeting process.

    Federal COVID-19 relief funds provided a lifeline for public transit agencies thrust into turmoil brought by the global pandemic and grappling with systemic changes due to commute patterns and remote work. However, those one-time stimulus funds have now been depleted, and TriMet faces a fiscal cliff in 2031. We’re working with lawmakers now to identify additional state funding, before our deficit becomes unmanageable.

    With a 0.4% phased increase in the STIF employee payroll tax, transit funding would still be less than the funding for other transportation modes. A  person making Oregon’s median income would pay $16.75 a month by 2032. In comparison, by that time the average driver would spend roughly $60 a month in gas taxes and vehicle fees under the Legislature’s proposed transportation package framework. 

    Without that phased increase, TriMet will be forced to make drastic service cuts, including reducing frequency, hours of operation, and eliminating some bus lines altogether. Just considering our bus service alone, of our 78 current bus lines, TriMet would need to eliminate up to:

    • 34 bus lines by July 2027,
    • 7 more bus lines by July 2029,
    • And 10 more bus lines by July 2031.
    Graphic showing TriMet bus lines represented by blue and red icons, reading: "2031 TriMet Service Without the Phased Increase. Up to 51 bus lines eliminated." An arrow points to the red bus icons, representing bus lines that may be eliminated without the phased increase.

    That means up to 51 of our current 78 bus lines would need to be eliminated by July 2031.

    Maintaining — and increasing — public transit service is necessary to ensure that everyone has access to transportation regardless of ability or income. TriMet represents independence for the 35% of riders who are transit-dependent, meaning they do not own a personal vehicle or cannot/do not drive. We are a vital part of their lives, providing essential access to jobs, health care and daily needs. 

    Public transit benefits everyone

    Everyone benefits from TriMet, even if you don’t ride.  More people taking public transit means fewer cars on the road. Not only does our service reduce congestion, it reduces pollution and decreases the number of traffic collisions and fatalities. Our public transit also helps the economy. Every $1 invested in transit generates $5 for a local economy, according to research by the American Public Transportation Association. Directly, public transit helps support jobs by giving people access to work, education, stores, services and recreation, and by putting people to work. TriMet currently employs 3,600 people, and most of those positions — nearly 3,000 — are union jobs.

    TriMet is grateful for the support of the lawmakers who penned a letter to legislative leadership on March 28, 2025, urging them to, “prioritize a phased increase to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) payroll tax, to reach ½ of 1% by 2033 to ensure there are no cuts to local transit service.” According to that letter signed by the 10 legislators, 64% of the public comments received during the Joint Committee on Transportation’s 2024 community roadshow identified investments in transit as a top priority for the 2025 transportation package.

    TriMet believes that every Oregonian deserves access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation options, and we urge legislators to increase funding for public transit in the upcoming 2025 transportation package.