TriMet Budget speech
Possibly from January 2016
President Warner, directors, Neil good morning.
I give you credit for doing this and not accepting the status quo, however I see many improvements that TriMet could make with existing revenues in order to really deserve the rate increase.
Speaking of the payroll tax, why not use it as leverage to get more. Give a credit to get more employers to purchase passes for all of their employees, and take advantage of tax savings for both the company and worker when passes are provided pre-tax, something I've never been able to get.
Also consider using credits to fund employer shuttles like those proposed in the service enhancement plans, as long as they're open to the public and don't duplicate existing service. This would be a way to get lower-cost service without contracting out.
Overall, it seems that employers would be more amenable to paying more if they can get something directly in return.
Why not convert some of the service on 82nd Ave or elsewhere during rush hours to limited stop? Now, during weekday afternoons on 82nd, there's buses every 6 minutes, which is beyond frequent, and each is subject to stopping at every single stop. Faster service is a double positive in that it both encourages ridership and takes less labor cost per trip.
Also look into getting articulated buses. Not only can the extra capacity allow trips to be combined, but it can also result in better service since there's less buses to get bunched and overloaded. Furthermore, if they were used in peak directional service, they can mean double the savings when a bus that must run empty the other way and to and from the garage can be eliminated.
MAX disruptions could also use them, since there is a lot of people at once to transport, and fares are not checked meaning boarding could be done through all doors.
There is no parking on 82nd Ave that would have to be removed in order to lengthen stops, and if the extra capacity meant that service every 10 minutes was enough, that would still be a 40% reduction in trips
Other ideas
rider's advisory panel (compare to Committee on Accessible Transportation)
supervisors mobile CAD/AVL access
MAX alerts
turn-by-turn
managers and supervisors believing that their job is to support operators and wouldn't exist without them, like at Market Basket
health care
making detailed ridership data and other stuff that the agency produces publicly available
combining runs where one goes to the garage right before another one comes from the garage and starts at the same place