Trimess

Friday, January 27, 2012

HOW TO FIX THE TRANSIT SYSTEM-BY AL M

As posted to the Joe Rose blog:

 Here's my idea, after driving Trimet and studying Trimet for the last 15 years.
All executives, their staffs, be immediately dismissed.
Capital projects dissolved completely.
Trimet board of directors DISSOLVED and a new board created that should be elected or appointed by LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS.
Expansion ideas all terminated until such time that Trimet becomes financially stable.
Rides cost $1 per vehicle, no time limits, no zones, no classifications, no transfers.
Each boarding will cost an additional $1, a smart card system can be used as a debit card or $1 cash will be accepted by on board fare boxes on buses, rail stations will be secured so that riders must pay BEFORE entering any station.
The only passes that will be issued are to the disabled, $25 per month unlimited rides on Trimet or Lift.
There will be one manager for every 100 operators, that would be about 15 managers. (that includes road supervisors as well as station managers)
The General Manager will be appointed by the elected board of directors, his staff will be limited to one administrative assistant.
Legal department will be limited to 3 attorneys and three assistants.
HR will have one director with one assistant.
Mechanics division will employ based on free market principles.
Marketing department immediately dissolved as Trimet is a monopoly and does not need marketing.

Communications department immediately dissolved as unnecessary.
IT department dissolved until such time that Trimet is financially solvent and can afford luxuries.
Citizens advisory committee to be comprised of CITIZENS THAT USE TRANSIT.
PROBLEMS ALL SOLVED.....


13 comments:

Jeff Welch said...

An IT department isn't a "luxury" but a necessity in any organization, large or small. Not sure I'm reading on on that one, Al.

Al M said...

Your entitled to your opinion Jeff.
Providing transit is more important than providing technology.

If there is going to be cut it should be everything else BUT TRANSIT!

punkrawker4783 said...

Some good, some meh.

First, theres no incentive to use the smart card, thus many will stick to cash and that slows boarding and travel yada yada. BART does not have a monthly pass, but offers discounts to tickets when you buy so much, for example $60 buys you $64 in fare. This could be offered on said smart card. Other fare categories get discounts on tickets, Seniors pay $9 for $24 in fares, Youth Tickets can be purchased at their school and are valid Monday-Fridays only.

Capital Projects need to be dissolved to about 1-2 people, so they can buy buses, and explore BRT and artics.

Communications, IT, and Marketing can be combined and reduced, there still needs to be a form of communication to current and potential riders. Like maybe manning Twitter like TransLink does, and maintaining Transit Tracker for Apps and online, its well known that transit tracker helps retain riders.

Certainly theres a lot of waste, and heres more TriMet can do to provide a better service to its riders, like having a customer service office thats open 7 days a week for people to call for help, newer buses, artics, hybrids, the list goes on and on.

You forgot to add one, why do I see so many supervisors sitting around shooting the shit down there? Perhaps too many for conditions? You don't see that often up here. What you see is ONE supervisor sitting someplace checking timepoints (dont leave early!), and when hes needed, hes gone. I have never seen a group on them just "hanging out".

Al M said...

The supervisor thing is part of the management streamline.

I just rattled this off the top of my head, no real thought put into it since none of it will go anywhere anyway.

Ross Wrede said...

It's time for the draft Al for G.M. campaign to begin!

Al M said...

I'm dead serious, every single job that is not directly related to driving a bus/rail or fixing a bus/rail needs to be eliminated until there are no more jobs that are not related to running or keeping things running left to eliminate, THEN YOU START CUTTING SERVICES!

Erik H. said...

There needs to be a top to bottom review of each I.T. position, each I.T. project.

I agree - it's bloated, and it's highly questionable as to what I.T. does.

The grunt "help desk" work (the folks that get the phone calls from the office staff when they need a password reset) can easily be outsourced for a fraction of the cost of in-house staff. There's no reason to pay high-five figure salaries for someone who does a menial job - and most importantly, does not even support the core mission of TriMet (public transportation).

I have to wonder why TriMet needs such a high number of programmers and app developers. Wasn't TriMet's current trip planner produced outside of TriMet? The website can be outsourced, or only needs one or two employees (with contract workers on major projects as needed).

The vast majority of TriMet employees have little need for I.T. services; yet TriMet has a very large and costly I.T. department. It is absolutely right to look into it.

Erik H. said...

I have a different option for "fixing" TriMet:

Rewrite ORS 267.200 through 267.235.

Allow any city, county, or other area to de-annex itself from TriMet.

Allow any city, county or other area to form its own transit operation or district.

Requires the City of Portland, Multnomah County, TriMet, Metro, the Port of Portland, OHSU, and ODOT to provide non-discriminatory access to any public transit vehicle regardless of agency that wishes to provide service to downtown Portland, OHSU, Portland International Airport, and any other employment center within Portland city limits.

Requires Metro and ODOT to not discriminate against transit providers within its jurisdiction when providing transit funding.

Requires that TriMet disburse any property to newly formed transit agencies that de-annex from TriMet - or make a financial payment in lieu of a transfer of property and assets.

Jason McHuff said...

First of all, many of these ideas are unrealistic. TriMet couldn't function or last without a general manager and many other positions that support providing service, even if they don't provide service directly.

And the ideas I proposed could realistically make TriMet financially sound as soon as their implemented.

Also, TriMet is not a monopoly in that it competes with other forms of transportation. Not to mention that Marketing provides riders with schedules and other info needed to ride.

There's no reason to pay high-five figure salaries for someone who does a menial job

Don't you want them to be able to pay, oh say, their electricity bill? Or create demand for products and services that allow others to have jobs and pay their electric bills?

does not even support the core mission of TriMet (public transportation).

How so? Don't folks in IT help keep the computers running that help keep the organization running?

I have to wonder why TriMet needs such a high number of programmers and app developers.

How many actually work for TriMet? How many of these were created by TriMet?

Wasn't TriMet's current trip planner produced outside of TriMet?

It was created by people inside and outside of TriMet. How are people on the outside supposed to know all of the requirements?

The website can be outsourced, or only needs one or two employees (with contract workers on major projects as needed).

How many employees actually are dedicated to the Web site (and not other things like social media communications and schedule creation)? Would it really be best in the long term? If they contracted out, would you complain about the money spent on contractors?

The vast majority of TriMet employees have little need for I.T. services;

Don't they need to be able to communicate and get information (think bus dispatch and rail control systems) and get paid?

Requires the City of Portland, Multnomah County, TriMet, Metro, the Port of Portland, OHSU, and ODOT to provide non-discriminatory access to any public transit vehicle regardless of agency that wishes to provide service to downtown Portland

Um, I think they do that. The roads are open to all. However what is regulated is the poaching of TriMet riders and furthering their need for subsidies.

Al M said...

TriMet couldn't function or last without a general manager and many other positions that support providing service, even if they don't provide service directly.


~~~>BALONEY

And the ideas I proposed could realistically make TriMet financially sound as soon as their implemented.

~~~>You make some good suggestions

Also, TriMet is not a monopoly in that it competes with other forms of transportation.

~~~> LIKE WHO? AND DON'T SAY CAR BECAUSE 96% GO BY CAR

How so? Don't folks in IT help keep the computers running that help keep the organization running?

~~~>AND HOW DID THINGS RUN BEFORE THE FIXATION ON COMPUTERS?


How many employees actually are dedicated to the Web site (and not other things like social media communications and schedule creation)? Would it really be best in the long term? If they contracted out, would you complain about the money spent on contractors?


~~~~>YOUR DAMN RIGHT I WOULD...MONEY NEEDS TO BE SPENT ON TRANSIT NOT FLUFF...ANYTHING NOT RELATED TO MOVING PEOPLE IS FLUF

Jason McHuff said...

BALONEY

OK, what about all the people in HR that make sure you get benefits and pay, and who you'll talk to regarding your potential retirement? Plus, state statue requires a GM.

LIKE WHO? AND DON'T SAY CAR BECAUSE 96% GO BY CAR

Why can't I mention private vehicles? If people are going by car, they're potential customers.

AND HOW DID THINGS RUN BEFORE THE FIXATION ON COMPUTERS?

Worse off, maybe needing more employees or not providing the tools that employees and riders demand today.

ANYTHING NOT RELATED TO MOVING PEOPLE IS FLUF

And money spent on a Web site that's used to communicate to and provide info to riders is related to moving people. Plus, there's also the business side of things to deal with.

Jeff Welch said...

SoI take it you want all radios and cameras removed from buses? TriNet shut down? All computeres in all offices removed and replaced with typewriters? You want all dispatch, work picks, scheduling and payroll to go back to paper? Really?

Al M said...

Every single thing that is no related to running transit of keeping transit running (mechanics) should be eliminated before even one route is cancelled.

THAT IS WHAT I BELIEVE, WITHOUT EQUIVOCATION!