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11/21/2025
TriMet this week announced it has eliminated 68 staff positions as part of a $17.7 million cost reduction plan to address the Portland, Oregon, transit agency's ongoing structural budget deficit.
The cuts included layoffs of 26 nonunion employees. Some unionized employees were transferred to other jobs due to their positions being among those eliminated, TriMet officials said in a press release. The transit agency is offering severance and reemployment assistance to the 26 terminated employees.
The staff reductions follow months of workforce analyses and other cost-cutting measures, including a hiring freeze, spending cuts and efforts to identify internal efficiencies, agency officials said. Like many transit agencies, TriMet is facing ballooning maintenance, operational and security costs, paired with lower revenue from decreased ridership after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the agency's service cut information webpage.
The agency also is making service cuts on its bus network. More service slashes are planned for 2026 and 2027. TriMet will gather public input on what services to cut, which may include TriMet's light-rail and commuter-rail offerings.
TriMet is facing a $300 million shortfall between projected revenue and expenditures over the next several years. In addition to cost-savings, TriMet is pursuing new funding sources, exploring the use of fare increases and other revenue opportunities. The goal is to entirely eliminate the agency's ongoing budget deficit by July 1, 2028, said TriMet officials.