 We are pleased to have a new contract with the ATU. Please check out the details in the newsletter! Have a great weekend!
Tom Markgraf
 TriMet’s union members have ratified a new labor contract after a year and a half of negotiations between TriMet and the ATU Local 757.
The new contract will allow TriMet to restructure our maintenance hiring and training programs while filling critical positions needed to continue providing vital transit service to our region. The contract, approved by the TriMet Board of Directors on April 28, is effective December 2019 to November 2022.
 Thanks to Oregon Gov. Brown and the Oregon Health Authority, TriMet has begun vaccinating our staff against COVID-19 at our operating facilities!
Many of our employees, including operators, maintenance workers and other frontline staff, work shifts that make it difficult to get vaccine appointments elsewhere.
 As fans return to sporting events, we are letting those who ride transit to the games know we’re here for them and the precautions they’ll need to take.
Masks are required. We have free masks and hand sanitizer on board. And, capacity is limited on each train and bus for social distancing.
(See how TriMet staff have gone to great lengths to get supplies to help keep our riders and our employees safe during the pandemic.)
The bicycle and pedestrian bridge that crosses over the MAX Orange Line and railroad tracks near our Clinton St/SE 12th Ave Station is now the Bob Stacey Crossing.
 Our partners at PBOT renamed the bridge, referred to as the Gideon Overcrossing, in honor of the Metro councilor. Stacey, a former TriMet employee, has worked for nearly half a century to make our region more sustainable through land use and transportation planning.
TriMet built the bridge using remaining funds from the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project, before turning it over to PBOT. Stacey advocated for the project, which also brought us the Tilikum Crossing bridge and the MAX Orange Line, and he’s a strong supporter of TriMet. We could not imagine a more fitting way to honor Bob’s contribution to transit than to have his name on this bridge.
 We’ve been making repairs and upgrades throughout the MAX Blue Line, our oldest light rail line, to keep trains running smoothly and on time. While most of the work hasn’t blocked service, coming up May 15 through May 23, the biggest of the improvements—replacing 2,600 feet of rail and some 500+ railroad ties—will require disrupting the MAX Blue Line as well as the Green and Red lines.
We appreciate our riders’ patience and understanding as we complete this work, rebuild some rail crossings inside our Gateway Transit Center and other repairs.
 With construction of the Division Transit Project more than 50% completed, we're on track to bring faster, more reliable and higher capacity transit service to the corridor between Gresham to Downtown Portland in fall 2022.
Our Line 2-Division buses have already begun using two of the stations installed for project. With their shared bicycle and pedestrian design, these stations work differently than others. More amenities will be added to the stations in the future including shelters, seating and real-time arrival information displays.
The Division Transit Project also will bring vital safety improvements for the people who live and travel along here, including some 4.5 miles of protected bike lanes, nearly 81,000 square feet of new sidewalks and safer crossings. Get more details here.
The TriMet Board of Directors search for the agency’s next general manager is well underway. We have the position posted on trimet.org/careers and our consultant is actively seeking out candidates.
The Board hopes to have a new general manager in place no later than August. People can continue providing feedback about the priorities the Board should consider through our online survey at trimet.org/gm or by providing comment at our May 26 Board meeting.
 Since 2015, TriMet has helped with the development of 718 transit-adjacent housing units. Of those, 466—or 65%—are designated affordable housing.
Now, TriMet is partnering with Clackamas County and others in a new Transit-Oriented development taking shape at the site of our SE Fuller Road Park & Ride. It will create 100 affordable apartments just steps away from our MAX station.
The project will put people to work while building homes for those in need, including people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
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