BETTER START DIGGING under your couch cushions. On June 25,
the TriMet Board of Directors is voting on a rate increase—and
they might raise fares by up to a quarter.

TriMet usually raises fares by five cents each year, to keep pace
with inflation. But this year, with diesel prices
skyrocketing—according to spokesperson Mary Fetsch, TriMet is
$4.5 million over budget for the fiscal year that’s about to end,
thanks to fuel costs that rose from $2.12 per gallon last July to over
$4 a gallon as of May 21—the board is poised to approve the
biggest one-time fare increase ever. The board is “watching diesel
prices” and will decide between a 20 or 25 cent fare
increase—bumping a two-zone fare to $2.

At the same time, thanks at least in part to increases in gasoline
costs, more people are hopping on TriMet’s busses and trains. This past
April, compared to April 2007, weekday boards were up 2.9 percent and
weekend ridership up even higher, for a new record of two million trips
each week. “Gas prices probably play a role in that,” Fetsch says.

So why does TriMet need to increase fares? Aren’t the new riders
increasing the fares TriMet is collecting—and won’t a steep fare
increase risk reversing that trend of increased ridership? Fetsch
concedes that “whenever you raise fares, you always have a little drop
off [in ridership]. People say ‘I’d rather choose other options.'” But
the drop is “usually offset by the increased revenue.”

Coinciding with the increased ridership, TriMet has collected more
at the fare box—revenues increased six percent from May 2007 to
April 2008, with two percent of that increase attributed to new riders.
Unfortunately, fare collection hasn’t kept pace with ridership
increases, thanks to factors like people already having a TriMet pass
and taking the bus more often, but not paying any more.

And it’s not enough extra cash to cover TriMet’s diesel bill. (If
only that were the case: April’s high ridership numbers meant 69,000
additional weekly trips. If you extrapolate that for a year, and every
new trip carried a $1.75 fare, TriMet would pull in nearly $6.3 million
in extra revenue—more than enough to offset the diesel price
spike.)

“Diesel costs a ton,” Fetsch says, ticking off “all the things we’ve
done” to increase fuel efficiency before resorting to a fare increase,
like making sure busses aren’t idling, and fixing transmissions. “We
have, we believe, the most fuel efficient fleet in the entire country,”
and TriMet has also dipped $2.5 million into reserves and eliminated 18
staff positions.

But the board still faces a tough vote on June 25—one that
will help pay for fuel, but might turn away potential new riders facing
their own fuel price crises.