Convention visitors could be issued passes if Free Rail Zone is eliminated
A comprehensive package of reforms – ranging from a revised benefits package for union employees to more sidewalks near transit service – are needed to help the region's main transit service head off future budget problems, TriMet's general manager said Tuesday.
Neil McFarlane, in his second year as head of the region's main transit agency, continued his PR campaign Tuesday in the midst of his transit agency's look at its coming fiscal year's budget.
At a Metro Council work session, McFarlane spelled out the perils of his transit agency's present course – and the changes he says would help TriMet avoid trouble in the future.
TriMet's battles with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 are well-documented; McFarlane says union members' benefits are unsustainable and far outweigh those offered to non-union employees.
But McFarlane didn't just focus on the union contract his 70-minute presentation. He spelled out the importance of transit to the region, and the relationship between TriMet's service and Metro's mission and endeavors.
TriMet is independent of Metro, run by McFarlane, who is appointed by a seven-member board of directors, who in turn are appointed by the governor.
One of McFarlane's proposals for the coming fiscal year is to eliminate the Free Rail Zone in central Portland. That, he said, would raise $2.7 million in revenue for the system.
The Free Rail Zone's predecessor, Fareless Square, was created in the 1970s to address air quality problems, McFarlane said. "Those problems are no longer with us, so we can declare victory. It worked to solve those problems," he said.
One of Metro's concerns with that is the effect of eliminating free rail service for visitors to the Oregon Convention Center, many of whom stay in hotels in downtown Portland.
"We've been working with your staff and others to make sure we have a convention center delegate visitor pass," McFarlane said. "That would actually provide greater benefits than they currently get with the free rail zone, because they'll get a pass that will get them anywhere."
Beyond the city center, McFarlane said the region and its cities need to do a better job helping people get to transit.
"Sidewalks are a key," he said. "Access to transit is a fundamental need in many parts of the region. They're the most humble part of our transportation system, but may be the most important to focus on."
Most of the council's commentary and questions were related to broader-level issues, like state regulations on LIFT paratransit service and the financing structure of the Free Rail Zone. But in closing the session, Metro Council President Tom Hughes said the region and its main transit agency need to do a better job talking about how transit, land use planning and the protection of the environment, farmland and forestland all tie together.
"You really have to have to be dependent upon a robust transit system in order for that to function," Hughes said. He pointed to his work recruiting businesses to Washington County while mayor of Hillsboro.
"We were beginning to get pretty consistent requests for information, from companies interested in locating here, about the quality and availability of transit," Hughes said. "What is increasingly becoming part of what businesses are looking at … is how to acquire and keep the workforce they need, as well as reducing the demand on the highways for freight movement.
"All of those things tie together in a way that is complex enough that sometimes we don't bother to share that with the general public," Hughes said. "Your success has a lot to do with whether or not we're going to build the kind of economy we need to build, going forward into the 21st century."