TriMet has a Board Retreat this week. Looking at their agenda, the first thing you’d notice is what’s missing. You won’t find any urgency to address their financial decline—or touch on operating losses of $850 million in 2024.
The only agenda items to mention money are the “Financial Scorecard Update” and “Federal Grants Update.” But TriMet’s problems go far beyond keeping score of revenue and expenses.
According to financial reports, every metric related to productivity, cost-effectiveness, and financial sustainability has declined for 10 years.
Fare revenue—down 52 percent; rides down, 28 percent; farebox recovery down, 8 percent from 34 percent.
The only things going up are taxes and bureaucracy. TriMet’s tax revenue is up 75 percent; labor cost, up 86 percent; full-time employees, up 19 percent; administrative, up 88 percent.
Undeterred, however, TriMet still plans to expand light rail into Washington, whose express bus is already superior to light rail. And to spend $350 million on reducing lanes for 82nd Avenue.
Wednesday’s agenda should focus primarily on the crisis at hand: how to reduce costs and raise revenue. TriMet doesn’t even have a minimum farebox standard. It should.
Our advice to the TriMet board? Use your time wisely. Procrastination is not a strategy.