TRIMET SHOT ITSELF IN THE FOOT

Cut and cut and cut, riders abandon transit by the thousands. 

Here in Portland I think its safe to assume that most of the bus cuts were as a result of the expanded rail network. 

A rail network is of limited value if you can't get to it, however developers love it because they are assured tax funded transportation right to their private enterprises. Who cares about transit riders when there is money to be made.

After suffering 10 straight years of bus cuts many citizens just gave up on Trimet and got a car.

Below the page break is a fantastic analysis of Trimet vs King County and Pierce transit

KING COUNTY TRANSIT RIDERSHIP 

Seattle recently got accolades for being one of the US cities with significant growth in transit ridership. This mirrors a national trend in which more people rode buses, trains, streetcars and subways last year than at any time since 1956.
A good part of that bump came from Sound Transit. But King County Metro’s bus ridership also grew by 3 percent last year, and it has nearly reached the record levels the agency hit in 2008 before the latest recession drove ridership numbers down.

TRIMET RIDERSHIP AFTER YEARS OF CUTS

In Portland, however, it’s a different story. From 2009 to 2012, TriMet had a series of significant bus service cuts. The upshot was that buses came less frequently, connections were easier to miss, and everyone from single moms to downtown employees to elderly riders found themselves waiting at bus stops. Commutes became longer and less convenient, while some night shift workers at hotels or restaurants found they couldn’t get a bus home at all.
So bus ridership took a nosedive and pretty much stayed there. And a city that was once hailed as having one of the best public transportation systems has missed out on the transit ridership boom that the rest of the country has enjoyed.

PIERCE COUNTY TRANSIT DESTROYED THERE TRANSIT COMPLETELY

You can read the entire analysis by the Sightline Institute HERE!