From Portland Afoot

TriMet fiscal year 2012, starting July 1, 2011, was a 12-month period in the TriMet budget. As of April 2011, the year was expected to cost TriMet $1,018,661,833.

Contents 1 Key changes from 2010 1.1 Service increase 1.2 New bus purchases 1.3 More fare inspectors 1.4 Safety recommendations 1.5 Rising diesel costs 1.6 Labor contract

[edit] Key changes from 2010

[edit] Service increase

The budget assumes slightly more frequent service on 10 buses and the Blue Line.

[edit] New bus purchases

TriMet would buy 55 40-foot buses, its first in four years.

[edit] More fare inspectors

The budget added six new full-time fare inspectors, almost doubling the district's resources devoted exclusively to fighting fare jumping.

"We actually have been doing some fare surveys and have begun to see some additional fare evasion on the MAX that we want to be sure we're on top of," General Manager Neil McFarlane said in June 2011.

McFarlane said the agency's plan was "to deploy these fare inspectors in a very scientific way, where we actually go out and survey where evasion may be occurring" and deploy inspectors based on that data.

[edit] Safety recommendations

McFarlane said the budget included money to meet "all" recommendations associated with the TriMet Safety and Service Excellence Task Force, notably training reviews for all bus operators.

[edit] Rising diesel costs

The budget assumed a $3.46 per gallon cost of diesel fuel for the year, the equivalent of $4 per gallon in retail diesel prices. (Retail prices include taxes from which TriMet is exempt.)

[edit] Labor contract

The budget assumes TriMet remains able to freeze its wages and medical costs to unionized workers throughout the year. As of June 2011, this freeze was subject to an "unfair labor practice" charge by the union and could be overturned by the federal Department of Labor.