Using TriMet? Open those wallets a bit more
In an effort to recoup some of the losses due to increased fuel costs, TriMet’s fares will be going up on Monday, September 1. Though, If you’ve already purchased a monthly pass for September, you likely noticed the bump as they went up by $10.
Ride the bus less often? Make sure you have at least a couple of dollars with you. A two-hour ticket will cost you between $2.00 and $2.30 depending on how many zones you’re crossing. An all-day, all-zone ticket will be $4.75. Not sure why TriMet didn’t just make that an even $5 and call it a day.
TriMet is also introducing a 14-day pass, which is not a half-month pass unless it’s February. I’m wondering how economical that is for most folks, considering you could buy a booklet of tickets to use as needed.
Given the increase in riders over the past few months — up about 10% over this time last year — perhaps this will keep another increase at bay for a while. Yep, not holding my breath on that one, either.
I love seeing the ridership increases, but I gotta say I hope it tapers off a bit soon. Rush hour is almost untolerable on the majority of routes alreay. If anything the major routes, like #12, MAX, and others need buffed up more before anymore increase can really be seen, unless TriMet and the city figure a way out to get companies to really encourage more remote and non-9 to 5 work hours.
Definitely agree that a lot of bus routes need to be run more frequently. I use the #6 line often and despite running about every 10 minutes during rush hour, it’s still pretty packed. In the evening rush, the bus runs every 15 minutes and it only takes one traffic jam to cause a back-up, which leads to more crowding.
That said, considering TriMet is just now trying to get ahead of the fuel costs, improving the bus routes and MAX runs are on the back burner.