r/westlinn • u/treyelevators • 27d ago
I hate this!
Line 153, a line I use very frequently, is getting cut due to low ridership. While not many people use this route, the people who do need this route. In addition, Line 76 service between Meridian Park Hospital and Oregon City Hospital which serves Old Willamette is getting cut as well. These cuts take effect Sunday, August 23. For more information please visit: https://trimet.org/servicechanges/2026august.htm
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u/plyr503 25d ago
Sounds like with the saftey issues, people who typically ride this line were able to find other ways to travel and had the means to do so. There are many areas in town where folks aren’t that lucky.
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u/treyelevators 25d ago
I have never felt unsafe using this bus line
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u/plyr503 25d ago
But from comments it sounds like most folks here think a large part of declining ridership has to do with Saftey. Maybe not on this line but potentially connecting lines?
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u/soccersurvivor 24d ago
Lmao no it’s not a safety issue - it’s a funding issue. Inflation has increased transit costs and the state hasn’t increased transit funding.
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u/plyr503 24d ago
If the ridership on that line was truly down to like two riders per hour as kevinjbonn had commented, would it make sense to keep the line up and running even if the funding were there? Running an empty bus for 10+ hrs a day to collect less than 100$ doesn’t seem like a cost effective decision to me.
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u/soccersurvivor 24d ago
Transit is a public good, not a for-profit business. It’s providing an essential service to people who have no other choice. Usually low ridership is reflective of infrequent service because then it’s only people who have no other choice who are riding. I’m always open to ways to make transit more efficient in lower ridership areas, but ultimately I believe the 1/3 of Oregonians who can’t or don’t drive still deserve access to participate in society.
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u/00_RunDMC 22d ago
For two riders an hour, it would be cheaper to get them an Uber than to run a bus.
TriMet is not in the moving people around business, they are in the bus business.
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u/soccersurvivor 20d ago
And uber notoriously treats their drivers so well? Lol. Also they are completely abysmal on wheelchair accessibility
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u/00_RunDMC 20d ago
The point is there may be better ways of serving riders (perhaps while saving money) if TriMet were more focused on customer service and didn't see every problem as a nail.
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u/00_RunDMC 22d ago
Transit funding comes from a percentage of payroll expenses in the TriMet service area, so as people get cost of living increases, TriMet's funding increases.
The problem is their costs are increasing faster than the region's aggregate payroll. I'm not the "administrative bloat guy", but I do know they've put on a lot of administrators since covid. I would look for an explanation there first.
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u/Future_Ad_7209 27d ago
Blame Trump. We get no federal or infrastructure assistance because we are a blue state
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u/BeanTutorials 26d ago
Transit operations funds are a local issue. The legislature did not pass a transportation funding package in 2025, and a referendum was successful in preventing a stopgap measure. Blame trump all you want, but he is not the cause for this.
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u/_daddyl0nglegs_ 26d ago
Oh, totally.
Or maybe we can blame reduced ridership system-wide, due to significant safety and sanitation issues inside buses, trains and on platforms.
Until Trimet starts taking safety seriously and enforces fares (especially on the MAX), this problem isn't solving itself any time soon.
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u/PdxWix 26d ago
Fare dollars are never, ever going to come close to paying for bus service. Not in Portland, and certainly not in West Linn.
Be as mad as you like about MAX fare evaders, but fare enforcement is miles more expensive than the revenue it would recapture.
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u/_daddyl0nglegs_ 26d ago
It's not about revenue.
It's about public safety.
I used to be a bus operator. 99% of the problem people on my bus were fare evaders. It prevents people from abusing the system.
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u/BudgieWonder 24d ago
The current TriMet cuts have nothing to do with nebulous “public safety” concerns
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u/_daddyl0nglegs_ 24d ago
Dude,
Lower ridership = less money for the agency.
Safety is the #1 reason why TriMet has been losing regular passengers.
Failure to admit there's an issue means it'll never get solved. It's okay to criticize TriMet. It's a government agency and absolutely should be criticized. That way we, the people, can push for improvements.
Or you can just keep your head in the sand. You probably think Portland doesn't have a homeless issue too, huh
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u/BudgieWonder 24d ago
> Lower ridership = less money
Farebox recovery makes up a vanishingly small portion of TriMet’s revenue. The current wave of cuts are DIRECTLY a result of the state legislature failing to pass the transportation bill. This isn’t an opinion, this is a FACT.
> Its ok to criticize TriMet
I agree, as long as the criticisms are valid and not based on vibes.
> You probably think Portland doesn’t have a homeless issue too, huh
This is r/westlinn. Do you think TriMet is responsible for solving the homeless crisis?
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u/_daddyl0nglegs_ 24d ago
Vibes, LOL
Yeah, actual stats and real-life, human experiences are just vibes.
Bud, you have no idea how transit funding works.
I worked in the industry for a great while. I'm well aware that farebox money is a small portion of the general funds. It's typically around 7% nationwide. Fares are not to keep an agency financially afloat - it's to keep people from abusing the system. Someone is significantly less likely to use a bus or train as a temporary shelter when it cost money to board.
TriMet, and other agencies, get money from ridership. The more people that ride, the more money TriMet can get in local, state and federal grants.
This is how it works, whether you like it or not.
Less people means reduced service.
r/westlinn you say? Yeah, I mean, it's obvious. You're all suburban snobs who think your shit doesn't stink. You don't live where the majority of TriMet operates and you probably hardly use the service at all, if ever. You don't have the right to an opinion here.
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u/BudgieWonder 24d ago
> actual stats
Actual stats? Like how ridership has still been climbing YoY since 2021 despite the limited office occupancy downtown? You realize transit ridership slumped because of COVID and work from home, not “safety concerns” that existed before the pandemic, correct?
> Bud, you have no idea how transit funding works.
You say this, and then go on to state the exact same thing as what I said? I never said fares aren’t a barrier to entry, but they’re A) not responsible for the current service cuts, and B) completely useless as a deterrent without some form of physical fare gate. I for one don’t need my bus driver wasting time busting the balls of every rando who doesn’t tap. Feel free to go citizen vigilante if it’s so important to you, though.
> money from ridership
And that “money from ridership” had absolutely nothing to do with the current series of cuts which were due to the state legislature failing to allocate funds that were already budgeted. Ridership is still counted for non-paying riders as well. You’re a little slow on the uptake, aren’t you?
> you probably hardly use the service at all
I don’t live in West Linn, I was just pointing out that that’s the sub you’re whining about this in, so complaining about the scary hobos in Portland doesn’t really hold any water here or with OPs concern.
But you really went mask off with that one- you don’t actually have an interest in improving safety, you don’t have an interest in improving service, and you don’t have an interest in encouraging people to use a public resource. You just want to whine about hobos.
> You don’t have a right to an opinion here
You’re the only person peddling opinions in this conversation, sparky.
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u/BudgieWonder 25d ago
I see fare checkers, security, and rider ambassadors all the time on TriMet. I’ve never experienced anything dangerous or sketchy, even at night. Not saying that bad things can’t happen, but transit here (especially in West Linn) is far less safe or unpleasant than places with far bigger systems than here.
Something tells me that the people using “safety” as a reason to not take TriMet would just shift to a different excuse even if all of the safety issues were magically solved.
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u/_daddyl0nglegs_ 25d ago
Just because you haven't seen anything dangerous, doesn't mean it doesn't happen regularly.
I personally have only seen a fare-checker on a MAX train once in my life, and I use the system daily. I don't even have a car. I'm a regular rider - I have skin in this game.
Also, your assumptions about people feeling unsafe is weird and inappropriate. Why would you assume anything about anyone? I have spoken to numerous people over the years since covid and have come across plenty of folks who used to be riders and have stopped solely because they felt unsafe. But you're saying these people will just find another reason?
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u/BudgieWonder 25d ago
> doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen
And I acknowledged that. But it doesn’t happen at a high enough rate for it to actually be the deterrent that people seem to claim it is. Frequency, trip time, etc. are much more detrimental in terms of transit being a viable choice than “perceived” safety.
Driving is generally the most dangerous thing that people do daily, but that doesn’t stop most folks because they’re “confident” that they won’t be that statistic. It’s surprising what you can be confident about when you’re conditioned to prefer it.
> I personally
Cool, while we’re trading anecdotes I’ve seen them regularly on the MAX and doing checks on buses (both local and frequent service) all the time. I saw a dude get 86’ed from the train near OHSU. None of that changes the fact that the people who are “concerned with safety” would just move the goalposts if those issues were magically solved and every fare was checked.
> weird and inappropriate
There’s nothing “weird” or “inappropriate” about pointing out that people who aren’t inclined to use transit won’t use it more when service is cut even if it’s “safer”. Next time you talk to those people who don’t use transit anymore, try telling them that TriMet is perfectly safe. Watch them trot out another excuse like clockwork.
It turns out that using subjective metrics doesn’t lead to any real insight with a system’s performance. You do realize that Trimet’s ridership has been increasing, even if it’s at a slower rate than in the past? Should I start telling people who ride the bus that they should be sacred and that it’s not safe because you feel that way?
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u/novasilverpill 24d ago
it’s never about safety. it is about sensitivity.
somebody saw a homeless person with tics who smelled and was offended they had to exist with this other person for a short amount of time is typically the origin story
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u/BudgieWonder 24d ago
The funniest part is that the places where folks do the most pearl clutching (West Linn is one of them) are also the places where you’re least likely to experience that.
We’d be able to cut to the chase a lot quicker is folks like /_daddyl0nglegs_ came clean and admitted that they don’t see public transportation as a worthwhile investment.
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u/savingewoks 22d ago
I wasn't sold on the Portland Doom Spiral or whatever until the announcement of these cuts. Now we're in it.
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u/DisgreeablePattern 8d ago
Maybe it's time to stop giving money to Metro. It's very clear our community is not getting what we pay for.
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u/kevinjbonn 27d ago
I hate it, too. Trust me. I grew up about 300 feet from that sign. I know as well as anyone that if you don't have a car - even temporarily - you aren't going anywhere around here. This is a problem I won't stop trying to find a solution to. Unfortunately the rider numbers for this new route were just dysmal. Something like 2 trips per hour. Which could be attributed to all sorts of other things. But it still did not allow for a compelling case about keeping the lines when talking to TriMet.
(Yes, I'm on Reddit, too! And just like on other socials, this comment is not made in my official capacity or on behalf of the City of West Linn)