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Volume 7, Issue 5

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May 2009
     

Cedar Mill gets a new bus
by Bruce Bartlett, CPO 1 Chair

Two Cedar Mill area TriMet transit services have been affected by TriMet budget woes. The Cedar Mill Shuttle is being eliminated, and Line 60/Leahy Road is being folded into a new service, Cedar Mill Line 50, which attempts to serve riders who used both services.

Line 50

The new Route 50 loops through the area with locations for bus stops spread along the route. Riders may also “flag the bus” at cross-streets not officially designated as bus stops.

Cick map to see larger version

On Wednesday April 22, after nine weeks of public comment, open houses, and public hearings throughout the TriMet service area, resulting in more than 2,100 comments, TriMet started the adoption process for the final proposed service changes. This will conclude at the May 27 TriMet Board meeting. Changes are scheduled to take effect in September.

TriMet receives 55% of its revenue from the employer payroll tax. With the worsening economy and unemployment climbing, TriMet’s projected budget shortfall has grown from $13.5 million to $23.6 million for the fiscal year 2010 budget. The agency has taken numerous steps to reduce costs and improve efficiency, including an eight percent across-the-board expense cut, a hiring and salary freeze, and projected staff layoffs and furloughs. Additionally, TriMet is using a portion of federal stimulus funds to offset some planned agency investments, and in turn, avoid about half of the planned service cuts.

It is, however, important to note that if economic conditions worsen, additional service cuts will likely be needed. By mid-May, TriMet will have a better picture of actual payroll tax receipts for the first quarter of 2009. If additional service cuts become necessary, they would be proposed over the summer. For further details, please visit trimet.org.

Over the last month, TriMet representatives have been interviewing riders of the Cedar Mill Shuttle and Line 60-Leahy Road, which runs through West Haven, to determine how to best change the two services in the face of low ridership and declining revenues. Both lines have been running during commute hours on weekdays, primarily serving MAX riders.

Last month, TriMet staff members Tom Mills and Steve Kautz attended the CPO 1 meeting and gave a presentation about Line 50, which will replace the existing two lines. Line 50 will operate as a fixed route, as opposed to the door-step service provided by the Cedar Mill Shuttle. The proposed Line 50 route comes within half a mile of 70% of the current Line 60 and Shuttle riders.

Tests of the new Line 50 show it will take about 35 minutes to complete one loop. It would operate weekdays during the morning and evening commute times, starting from the Sunset Transit Center (STC) about 6:05 am and making its last run arriving back at STC at 9:15 am, then resuming about 3:10 pm and with the last trip leaving from the transit center at 6:50 pm. A smaller, 25-foot bus is planned, both because of expected ridership and to better maneuver on Cedar Mill roads. It would make seven trips in the morning and nine trips in the evening. During its operation, it would wait at the transit center for 10-12 minutes to synchronize with the arrival of two MAX trains.

Residents are expressing mixed opinions about the proposed changes. One rider feels that service for Leahy Road/Route 60 riders would actually be improved: “Earlier start times and later last-run options in the afternoon, with service every 30 minutes—it seems that Leahy gets more service than it had before...” But a Cedar Mill Shuttle rider says that, “If bus plus MAX takes triple to quadruple the time of a car trip, or triple a kiss & ride (drop-off at the station) or park and ride, this asks too much altruism for a commute to work.”

TriMet representatives are returning to CPO 1 on May 5 to present Route 50 to the group. Everyone is welcome—see cpo1friends.org for more information.

 

 

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