You can read the report for yourself on trimet.org/news.
While budgets may be tight, we cannot afford to skimp on safety. It is imperative that we provide a safe environment for our employees, our customers, and the public. And the most important way to make that happen is you: Skilled and dedicated employees. "See something, say something" isn't just for customers. As an employee, you have several avenues for raising safety concerns. You can talk to your manager or supervisor or you can submit a Request for Safety Assessment (RSA).
We have revamped our system to make it easier for you to raise concerns and provide the information needed to investigate them. I thank you in advance for reporting any possible safety issues you identify.
The results of this recent ODOT inspection are a tribute to the Maintenance of Way (MOW) crews who work around the clock, in weather of all kinds, to inspect and maintain our track, switches and crossings. My thanks to them--and to each of you for demonstrating, in your own work, that safety is our value.
Finally, I got a call this morning from Matt Garrett, ODOT Director. He said the report spoke for itself, but he wanted to specifically let me know that ODOT staff were thoroughly impressed with the access we provided, our openness, and our transparency. (oh gawd help me) While there are no immediate safety concerns here, we know we can always improve, and I am committed to that. We also know that portions of our rail alignment are now over 25 years – and that some rehabilitation work will be in our future. Stay tuned for the FY’14 budget – which will fund more steps to ensure the long-term ‘state of good repair’ of our bus and rail systems.
Thanks for your commitment to safety!
Neil
My rant on the ODOT report with Lane
ODOT'S VERY PREDICTABLE RESPONSE TO ATU PICTURES
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Staff is busy preparing the draft budget for FY14 (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014). The review and approval process is always a bit convoluted – but it must go to the Multnomah County Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission for their review and comment in April, and back to the TriMet Board for their possible adoption in late May. In the meantime, we’ll be asking our riders and public at large to weigh-in.
All is not done, but we do know some key elements of the budget – however, all is dependent on the Employment Relations Board sustaining last summer’s arbiter's award:
- No fare increases for our customers.
- No service cuts.
- Some targeted service ‘fixes’ that address overcrowding, schedule reliability, and customer complaints.
- Using new federal funds dedicated for repair and rehab – we’ll up our program for the older components of our rail system.
- Step up the bus replacement schedule. Recall we have 55 new buses in service now. We have another 70 on their way this year, and the budget proposes 60 more. That puts us on target to have our fleet’s average age be 8 to 9 years in FY16.
We continue to track a number of uncertain parts of the budget. The contract with the ATU is the largest. The future of federal funds is another. The growth of the economy and hence the payroll tax is a third.
In putting together the draft budget, I was ably assisted this year by the GM’s Budget Task Force (BTF). This is a very smart and dedicated group who share with me their best thinking, and trends they see in their own businesses. I am very grateful once again for their work and their candid advice.
This group also reviewed the assumptions in our longer-term financial forecasts – which I reviewed with the Board at their briefing in February. As you know, these longer term forecasts show that without changes in our cost structure we have a shrinking TriMet in our future. This is the real challenge ahead.
(not as bad as most NEILS BULLSHIT news releases are. Only one mention of the union contract, unbelievable)
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