MORE TRIMET PR BULLSHIT

TriMet recently launched their whole "Save Our Service" campaign in an effort to show people that bus service is at risk. (I deliberately left out that rail service is at risk, cause it never is): http://trimet.org/sos/

And of course, this is just another PR stunt in order to turn people against the union. Ignoring the facts and just saying that the union contract is straining the company.
(see the post just  below for additional info)

The Portland area depends on public transit. Carrying 9 million rides per month, TriMet connects people to jobs and school, and brings shoppers to businesses. TriMet's bus and rail service also takes cars off the road, which helps reduce traffic congestion and air pollution(ancient buses that blow black smoke into the air and exhaust into the cabin). Transit plays a key role in keeping our economy—and our environment—healthy.(it plays a role no doubt in getting people where they need to go but remember 88% of the public does not use Trimet)

Unfortunately, the skyrocketing cost of health care benefits for TriMet's union employees and retirees is threatening the agency's ability to provide essential transit service(of course it's the union. It's never blowing money on useless MAX lines, WES, bonuses for all non-union employees and other useless crap). Without reform, TriMet will be forced to once again cut service and/or raise fares starting in fall 2016(how about stop spending money that we don't have, obviously Trimet needs to stop it hegemonic attitudes and end its capital projects dreams)

A matter of fairness

Since 2009, TriMet riders have endured over $43 million in service cuts, higher fares, the elimination of the Free Rail Zone, longer commute times and overcrowded buses and trains(This is truly pathetic to place blame for all the cuts squarely on union employees doing the work. So unethical, so low, I have never seen anything like this anywhere else in the USA transit world). 

Inside the agency, we made cuts to non-union employee and retiree benefits(while giving bonuses to non-union employees,) eliminated 200 positions(hired a deputy GM, as well as multiple  six figured execs, contiues funding for WES and Streetcar), and implemented executive furloughs and a non-union salary freeze for nearly four years(bald faced like).

Although the economy is recovering and our payroll tax revenues are increasing, our health care costs for union employees and retirees continue to outpace our ability to pay for them(Because we keep spending money on shit we don't need). As a matter of fairness to our riders(hilarious), we are asking our union employees to accept modest changes(they are actually major changes) to their health care benefits so we can avoid deep service cuts and fare increases, and pursue a path of restoring service(once again the making the employees the enemy of the public). 

A growing gap between revenues and expenditures

Without changes to our union health care benefits, we anticipate a budget shortfall of $15–17 million in 2016,(that's virtually nothing in the big picture)  increasing annually to a staggering $195–$200 (absurd calculation with no meaning) million in 2030. The cost of union retiree health care benefits is growing at compound annual rates of 15–18 percent per year(unproven). About 83 percent of TriMet employees belong to the transit union.

TriMet must rein in employee health care costs

By 2020, health care benefits for employees and retirees will consume nearly half of our operating revenue from payroll taxes.(he's assuming nobody ever dies I guess)  This is an unsustainable path(just because they say it doesn't make it so). As we begin negotiations for a new labor contract with the ATU, we have proposed solutions to the union leadership that will help rein in these costs. Our proposal would bring health care costs down while maintaining a fair and competitive benefit package that is more in line with that of other public employees.

What's at stake: more and better service for our growing region

As the Portland area grows, so does the demand for quality transit. Our region has set a goal to triple the share of trips on transit by 2035, in order to keep up with the expected growth in population, jobs and aging citizens.

The long-term vision calls for:

• restoring Frequent Service to every 15 minutes or better all day long, and adding more Frequent Service lines
• adding more high-capacity transit in congested corridors (whether bus or rail), starting with areas like the Southwest corridor and the Powell-Division corridor
• expanding local bus service in areas such as Washington County to keep pace with new developments and expanding employment and education

TriMet ridership is at an all-time high, despite recent service cuts. We need more, not less, service if we want to keep our region moving.

TriMet and its labor union have a responsibility to riders and taxpayers to bring employee and retiree health care costs under control so that we can restore—and eventually grow—transit service in the Portland area to meet the rising demand.(you cannot 'grow' when you don't have the funds and you can't grow on the backs of your employees.)