TriMet holding riders hostage with transfer time decision: Guest opinion | OregonLive.com
By Jonathan Ostar
The recent audit of TriMet confirms what everyone already knows: The
agency is in desperate need of reform. Worker morale is at an all-time
low and public trust in the agency is broken. What the audit left out is
TriMet’s mishandling of transit equity and civil rights issues, which
threaten to undermine our region’s livability.
We all know how essential affordable, frequent and accessible transit
is to our region. Access to jobs and services. Cleaner air and less
carbon emissions. Decreased congestion and increased safety. TriMet once
helped make Portland a great place to live, regardless of your
background or privilege.
But years of fare hikes and service cuts, the result of poor
management and a “see-no-evil” culture, have finally caught up to us.
Ridership is down, bucking a national trend, along with on-time
performance, down a whopping 22 percent. Off-peak service is awful and
prices are too high. Riders know a bum deal when they see one.
TriMet has gotten away from its core business of providing transit
service and has instead become a regional development engine, shrouded
in a culture of secrecy, increasingly out of touch with the public.
Bus riders first prioritized the need to extend transfer times for
cash or ticket riders back in November 2010. Transit is a lifeline to
opportunity for the vast majority of cash/ticket riders, who are
low-income. Others might choose to leave their cars at home and use
transit with more time to get around. Extending transfers helps restore
value to runaway fare prices and increases ridership and farebox
revenue.
After two years of exhaustive study, the agency realized that
everyone benefits when you provide targeted relief to those who need it
the most. On Jan. 22, the board was set to pass ordinance 332 and extend
transfers to 2.5 hours. But then politics and hubris got in the way.
Until recently, TriMet had generally met the letter of the law on
civil rights compliance, if not the spirit. The agency has massaged
"transit equity" into a PR buzzword; another "advisory committee" with
no authority was created to keep up appearances. But last year the
agency fell well short of the mark, failing to keep up with changes to
federal civil rights guidelines and with the region’s changing
demographics.
Last July, TriMet quietly reversed its 1994 decision to provide
weekend bus riders with longer transfers due to insufficient service,
cutting an hour off the time, without adding any service. TriMet then
whitewashed a civil rights report to FTA, submitting it before allowing
its "advisory committee" or board of directors to even read it first.
And let's not forget the secret raises for management in the FY’13
budget while raising fares and cutting service on riders.
The recent executive decision to indefinitely table ordinance 332
because of “uncertainty” around civil rights compliance is a new low,
reeking of retaliation for OPAL’s attempt to enforce federal
requirements. Two years of solid analysis is sufficient to resolve this
issue. TriMet is holding all of us hostage by continuing to punish
low-income riders who have been squeezed the most and desperately need
relief.
Riders have lots of great ideas, but TriMet's disdain for authentic
engagement has exhausted any remaining goodwill. The audit’s
recommendations are a start, but serious reform is needed. Riders urge
the board to extend transfer times so we can get back to the real
business of increasing access to opportunity for all.
Jonathan Ostar is executive director of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon.
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