Today, we released a test version of our forthcoming mobile ticketing smartphone app to around 150 riders as part of a month-long beta test.

We recruited for beta testers back in March, and more than 1,500 people applied. (To keep the test manageable, we unfortunately had to narrow it down to 150, but we were thrilled with the response!)

We’re already seeing some great feedback from riders as they experience the process of buying and using TriMet fares instantly on their phone for the first time. These testers are vital to the success of the app, as they will help us work out the kinks and make it as easy-to-use as possible before we release it to all riders later this summer.

TriMet is the first U.S. transit agency to offer a mobile ticketing app for use systemwide on both buses and trains. iPhone and Android users can just download the free app, register a debit or credit card in the secure system, and purchase tickets and passes instantly–anywhere and at any time.

At least half of our riders have smartphones, so for many this will be a welcome alternative to ticket machines and waiting in lines!

We partnered with the local startup GlobeSherpa to develop the new app, which will be more cost-effective for us than traditional paper ticketing in the long run. 

Don’t worry, we’re not getting rid of paper tickets any time soon. But mobile ticketing is an important first step toward an electronic fare collection system, which we expect to begin testing around 2015. Eventually, you will be able to choose among smartcards, debit/credit cards, smartphones with near-field communication, and mobile ticketing, to pay your fare. Stay tuned!

Learn more about the mobile ticketing app and sign up for email updates

But there’s more to TriMet’s salary story.

Controlling costs. Reading headlines isn’t enough. Riders and taxpayers should know that TriMet held down non-union employee compensation by freezing salaries for 3 ½ years. We also reduced non-union health care benefits, required employees to contribute more to their monthly premiums, and reformed their retirement compensation. Over the past two recessions, we cut roughly 200 positions, including 11% of our administrative staff. These changes, which amounted to cuts in compensation for our administrative employees, helped us control costs during the recession and avoid more severe cuts to service.

During that same time, union wages increased 3% per year. There are 2,109 union employees and only 427 non-union employees.

Further, non-union employees hold a variety of roles at TriMet, from computer programmers to engineers. There are 49 general fund employees that make over $100,000 – fewer now than seven years ago when adjusted for inflation. See chart

Many of them could make a lot more money if they worked in the private sector or moved to another wealthier transit agency. Instead, they choose to serve the people in the TriMet district.

Skyrocketing health care costs vs. transit service. While some may be fixated on our wages, our focus is on our rising health care costs. In 2003, TriMet required non-union employees to share in the cost of these benefits. This group now participates in an 80/20 co-insurance plan that has saved the agency millions. We are offering the same fair health care benefit to our ATU union employees. The savings from this modest change will allow TriMet to put bus service back on the street now and into the future.

TriMet is not in PERS. In fact, in 2004 TriMet moved new non-union employees into a defined contribution plan (similar to a 401-K) which is also saving the agency resources that can be dedicated to more transit service.

Let’s get more transit service! So, while headlines and interviews are focused on the wages of a few employees, I am focused on fixing TriMet’s long-term cost structure. Let’s start talking about restoring Frequent Service and then adding more bus routes. It’s what riders ask for every day and I am firmly committed to making this happen.

Our riders, taxpayers and this region deserve nothing less.

Neil McFarlane
TriMet General Manager

Q&A about TriMet salaries

Q:. Who set’s the salary for TriMet’s General Manager?
A: TriMet’s Board of Director’s sets the salary. TriMet’s General Manager makes $221,450, which is below the average of other transit districts according to the American Public Transportation Association (a national trade organization). The average GM salary for agencies with more than 2,500 employees is $263,310 (TriMet has 2,536 employees.) See comparison chart

Q: Why are there so many people working on the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project making over $100,000?
A: The $1.49 billion Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project has 128 full-time non-union positions—of those positions, 21 earn over $100,000. They bring construction and engineering experience and their salaries are funded by project funds and not TriMet’s General Fund. PMLR project funds (federal, state, and regional) can only be used for the project.

Q: How can TriMet afford a Deputy General Manager position?
A: The Deputy Manager position is funded by the elimination of one position and other savings within the agency, so it’s a net zero impact on TriMet’s budget.

Q: There’s a lot of buzz around TriMet’s salaries. How does TriMet stack up compared to its peers?
A: Key performance indicators show how TriMet outperforms its peers.
View the full report.

• TriMet delivers more service. Bus, MAX and WES service on the street is 25% higher than the peer group average, which includes SF Muni (vehicle revenue hours)

• TriMet has higher ridership. Boarding rides per capita are 25% higher than the peer group average

• TriMet’s expenses per ride are lower. Operating expenses per boarding ride are 23% lower than the peer group average

• TriMet’s overall administrative costs are lower. Administrative expenses per total operating expense are 1% lower than the peer average

• TriMet delivers more service with less administration. General administration employees per 1 million boarding rides is 38% lower than the peer group average

Bus Operator of the Year: Willie Jack

Willie Jack, Operator of the Year 2013

With his seniority, Willie Jack could choose just about any route he wants. And these days, he chooses Line 17. It touches so many schools, work-sites, medical facilities, restaurants, stores, parks and other destinations as it travels from SE 134^th and Powell and Concordia University and back out again.

If you’re on the 17 and getting a ride that’s amazingly friendly, on-time, safe and smooth—take a look in the driver’s seat and see if you’re in the capable hands of Willie Jack.

He has been inducted into the Million Miles of Safety Club and was also TriMet’s Operator of the Year in 1985.

Here’s what we heard from one customer who starts their trip on Line 71 and transfers to Willie Jack’s Line 17, “I take this particular bus to dialysis about three times a week and I have had him as my driver for about 4-5 months now. I am in a wheelchair. Yesterday the 71 was late getting to my connecting stop, and the 71 [operator] honked the horn, and this operator [Willie, on the 17] waited for me to get off and to get to his bus. I would have missed my dialysis had he not waited. I thought that was just great and he is a wonderful driver.” The customer added that Willie Jack was especially helpful when she came back to the 17 after a few months as a LIFT rider, post-surgery.

MAX Operator of the Year: Ivan Semenyuk

Ivan Semenyuk, MAX Operator of the Year 2013

Is there anyone who hasn’t gotten a ride from Ivan? He works a busy Monday-Friday shift, operating the Blue, Green and Yellow lines, crisscrossing the region from Hillsboro to Gresham, Clackamas to Expo Center. Our numbers show he provided more than 323,000 rides last year!

He is now a two-time winner of MAX Operator of the Year. He won the award for the first time in 2008 and then again this year.

Ivan has received many commendations, including, “I received a bag turned into lost and found for a customer, who did not speak English. This operator talked to them on the phone and translated for me, and helped get the bag to them, as they were elderly.”

Part-Time Operator of the Year: Terrie Sweet

Terrie Sweet, Part-Time Operator of the Year 2013

Do you commute to Marquam Hill in the morning on the 61 or 64? Maybe you catch the 38 from downtown Portland out Tualatin way in the afternoons?

Then you might be riding with Terrie Sweet, whose split shift schedule makes a sustainable commute possible for hundreds of commuters each week.

Four generations of Terrie Sweet’s family filled a table in the report area for the awards ceremony. “Grandma won!” exclaimed the littlest guest.

Million Miles of Safety

The ceremony also honored eight operators for reaching a prestigious safety milestone and earning admission into TriMet’s Million Mile Club. This is no small achievement.

It’s estimated that it takes at least 29 years of safe driving to reach the million mile mark. That’s the equivalent of driving 182,000 one-way trips on Line 25-Glisan/Rockwood; 15,000 roundtrips on the MAX Blue Line; or two trips to the moon and back. Million Mile Club operators must earn 29 annual Safe Driver Awards from the National Safety Council.

Congratulations to:

Chris Wolff

Teresa Woods

Douglas Hills

Rose Jordan-Fairley

Greg Butler

Karen Asio

Dennis Withrow

Howard Lee

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Yesterday was a challenging day. Most of the light rail system and the streetcar lines were shut down during the morning commute after a “surge arrester” on the Steel Bridge shorted out and overloaded downtown substations.

We deployed bus shuttles to bridge the service disruption, but many riders arrived late to their destinations. This is not how your commute is supposed to be, particularly on a Monday morning. We all know that Mondays are tough enough and I can’t thank you enough for your patience through it all. Dependable and reliable service is what you should expect from us.

Our operators, field operations and customer service teams stepped up to minimize the disruption. I received a heartwarming call from a rider who is visually impaired. He wanted to recognize all of the TriMet supervisors and security personnel who assisted him when the system went down. He was thankful for those individuals who helped escort him from the MAX to his bus connection.

Our rail maintenance crews and engineers from the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project restored nearly all service except the segment over the Steel Bridge by 8:45 a.m. Service over the bridge was restored at 7 p.m.

We know that preventive maintenance is the key. We are learning a great deal from this incident and will look at how we can prevent something like this from happening in the future.

Reliability is also why I’ve accelerated bus replacement in the coming three budgets. Our bus fleet is too old and as a result has become less reliable for riders. Another 70 new buses are arriving this summer, 60 next year and another 60 the following year. By 2016, the average age of our fleet will be the industry recommended standard of eight years.

Additionally, TriMet will receive well-timed federal State of Good Repair funds this summer to support maintenance of our region’s first rail line, the Eastside MAX Blue Line, which opened in 1986. This is part of a larger effort we call “Renew the Blue,” which included a new station at Gresham’s Civic Drive and a rebuilt station in Rockwood, among other upgrades.

These investments should improve reliability for riders moving forward. In the meantime, we greatly appreciate your patience.

TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane met with riders at Basic Rights Oregon and Western States Center on May 2.

This group of riders expressed many of the same concerns I hear all over our region about service cuts, ticket vending machines and the financing of the new Portland-Milwaukie MAX. I explained that although we are only able to provide a very limited number of service increases and improvements this year, our ultimate goal is to increase service significantly.  But first, TriMet needs to decrease its health care costs to create a sustainable budget.  Another piece of good news I shared is that by July 1, we will have replaced more than half of our oldest ticket machines.  It’s not a cure-all, but we think this will translate into a better customer experience.  Finally, I explained that the financing of the new MAX makes up less than 5% of the TriMet budget.

One rider asked if TriMet offers cultural competency training to its employees. I was pleased to report a new development: I have set aside funding for the next fiscal year to give a pivotal group of over 100 of our frontline employees – the ones with the most contact with customers and operators – training that will strengthen their understanding of the diverse communities they serve each day.

One rider, who recently moved to Portland from Chicago, asked about our [outdated] fare system (it was said more nicely than that)! Thankfully, I had my smartphone handy and could show the group TriMet’s new mobile ticketing app, which a small group of riders will be beta testing very soon. And that’s just the first step: We’re also moving toward a fully electronic fare collection system, which could be in place by 2017-18.

Once again, it was a great to get out and meet our riders one-on-one. Thanks to everyone who joined me for coffee this sunny May morning!

What do these things have in common? They’ve all been turned into our Lost & Found department recently. Lost & Found, located at our Center Street office in SE Portland, is staffed by station agents like Kathy Guirado, who told us that some of the items left behind on buses and trains are anything but “common.”

From wine and whiskey to dog food and cat litter pans, our Lost & Found department receives a steady flow of weird, lost items. A few years ago, someone even left a human skeleton on board! (That’s the weirdest one we’ve seen.)

In 2012, our Lost & Found department processed more than 26,000 lost items. For years, umbrellas were the most frequently lost item… These days, it’s cell phones.

Visit our website for more information on what to do if you find or lose something on TriMet. We’ll do our best to get your item back to you as quickly as possible. (Note that unclaimed items turned into Lost & Found are given to charity after 14 days.) Once, we returned a plane ticket to the airport so a rider wouldn’t miss her flight!

This poster of Janet Zwick appeared on buses throughout Portland in August 1961.

At the time Janet had a “penchant for pink and broiled grapefruit,” was an avid skier and swim instructor for the Red Cross, and was headed to the University of Oregon to study social services.

Do you remember these Miss Commuter ads? Do you remember Janet Zwick?

P.S. Anyone have good broiled grapefruit recipes to share?

Last night, General Manager Neil McFarlane, Board Member Travis Stovall and Executive Director of Finance Dave Auxier met with OPAL and Bus Riders Unite at their office in Southeast Portland.

This spring, I am spending more time in the community meeting with riders at coffees and visits to transit centers.

Last night, Board Member Travis Stovall, Executive Director of Finance Dave Auxier and I had the pleasure of meeting with members of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon and Bus Riders Unite at their office in Southeast Portland.

We had a good discussion about OPAL’s Campaign for a Fair Transfer, which is a proposal to extend the transfer time from two to three hours and provides for a free return trip for riders using the system after 7 p.m.

We heard directly from OPAL members about how extending the transfer times would help offset the impact of fare increases and service cuts, particularly for riders who are transit-dependent. No question, riders throughout the region are experiencing longer wait times, more crowded buses and missed connections.

Wherever I go in region, riders ask for more service, particularly to get access to jobs. Rightly so, transit play a critical role in our local economy. We are committed to increasing service, which is why we have focused on getting our cost structure under control, particularly our employee health care costs.

In the meantime, TriMet will provide OPAL and the public with an updated estimate on what it would cost to implement a 3-hour transfer and a free return trip after 7 p.m. We committed to providing that analysis, based on newer trend data, by the end of June. We requested the opportunity to hold a workshop with OPAL and Bus Riders Unite members to review the proposal in detail in July. We’ll also share the analysis with the TriMet Board of Directors.

Any recommendations to the TriMet Board would happen later this summer.

4-19-13 conference call with Neil McFarlane

Riders will continue to have additional opportunities to discuss transit issues with Neil in May and also during evening hours. We’ll let you know about those events as soon as we have them scheduled.

Click on the link below for an audio recording of today’s conference call.

Conference call with Neil 4-19-13 (mp3)

The following changes, if approved, would take effect in September 2013:

Learn more about the proposed improvements and how you can provide your feedback