Gutting public transit in Portland
HAVE YOU heard that the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Tri-Met) plans to gut its service? Citing a budget gap of $13.5 million, the public transit agency has proposed severe service reductions on dozens of bus lines. There will be less frequent service on the MAX light rail. Some lines will be eliminated outright.
These proposed cuts come at a time when transit ridership has been at record levels. In fact, transit ridership in the U.S. in 2008 was the highest in 52 years. The architects of this decision have clearly forgotten that their mission is to provide transit service to the public.
It seems clear to me that those who are advocating for less-frequent service have never waited at a bus station late at night after working a swing shift while a driving winter storm pummels them. Nor have they tried to make their way from the Hollywood District to North Portland at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning after a graveyard shift. Proposing even longer wait times for working people and the poor is absurd.
Tri-Met's decision is not only insensitive, it's nonsensical. At a time when "carbon footprint" is a phrase on every progressive representative's lips in both Washington and Salem, Ore., the agency is choosing to make it harder for people who wish to reduce the use of private vehicles even harder. These cuts will be even more painful for the poor and the homeless, who very often have no private vehicles upon which to rely.
The cuts will also hurt disproportionately people of color. According to statistics from the American Public Transit Association, in 2007, people of color made up 59 percent of all transit passengers in the U.S., and people with incomes under $50,000 made up 66 percent of all passengers. Fifty-nine percent of trips were work-related.
Any cuts that limit the ability of working people to get to their jobs obviously undermine the economic recovery. Furthermore, unopposed, these cuts lay the groundwork for a slippery slope leading to more cuts and possibly layoffs for Tri-Met staff. These are good, living-wage union jobs that might very well eventually be at risk.
IRONICALLY, GOVERNMENTAL agencies can find money to cover budget shortfalls when they choose to do so. For example, the city of Portland has issued $60 million in municipal bonds to fund a new stadium and the refurbishing of PGE Park so that Merrit Paulson--the son of Henry Paulson, whose schemes are partly to blame for the current economic crisis--can have a playground for Minor League Soccer. At a time when there are unpaved roads within Portland city limits, the city council has voted to proceed with the building of a huge 12-lane bridge across the Columbia.
Congress can vote to bail out bankers and spend trillions on the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and indirectly in Palestine. Prison spending is growing faster than almost anything else, and Obama wants to put 100,000 more police on the streets. The Los Angeles bus riders' union has a slogan: 1,000 more buses, 1,000 fewer police! Last but not least, many corporations in Oregon pay only $10 a year in taxes, and the wealthy actually pay a lower share of their income as taxes than do the poor.
A group of concerned folks have joined together to fight these cuts and formed the Portland Transit Riders' Union. We have an online presence on Facebook.
Please take a moment right now to call Tri-Met and let them know how you feel. Their comment line is 503-962-5806, or you can e-mail [email protected]. You can also send a letter to TriMet, MK2, 4012 SE 17th Avenue, Portland, OR 97202. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors.
It is time to put an end to attacks on working people, the poor, the homeless, and the poor. If we all stand together, this is a fight we can win.
Mike Grigsby, Portland Transit Riders' Union, Portland, Ore.
