 Hello! Here’s a summary of our equity and inclusion news at TriMet!
 Mark your calendar: Our community-wide party to celebrate FX2-Division, TriMet’s first Frequent Express bus line, is Saturday, Sept. 17! We’re hosting three festivals along the Division Street corridor, at the OMSI Bridge Lot next to Tilikum Crossing, PCC Southeast and the Gresham Farmers’ Market.
Each festival site features local food, live entertainment and exclusive giveaways, including FX special edition posters (like the image above!), limited edition Hop cards loaded with fare, and more (subject to availability)!
We’ll also have free rides on the big, green FX buses along the route during the celebration! Come See. Ride Free. Learn more!
Can’t wait to check out the new FX buses? Take a quick trip through one on this cool drone fly-through!
TriMet will receive approximately $183 million in statewide transportation improvement funding in the next few years. We want to know what you think about our Public Transportation Improvement Plan, which proposes funding for reduced fare for people who earn low incomes, transit service expansion, growing our electric bus fleet, and more.
Share your input and help us shape the plan.
The survey is also available in:
Chinese: https://trimet.org/ptip/zh
Korean: https://trimet.org/ptip/ko
Russian: https://trimet.org/ptip/ru
Spanish: https://trimet.org/ptip/es
Vietnamese: https://trimet.org/ptip/vi
 TriMet has teams of people working to help riders and keep our system safe – and we’re actively working to increase their presence on and around our buses and trains.
We’re expanding the number of members on our Safety Response Team, a new team that came on board last fall. Team members are unarmed and focus on connecting people on and around our transit system with social services, such as housing, health care and counseling.
We’re adding more Customer Safety Supervisors, who are TriMet employees that check fares and address conduct on the system. We’re also bringing on more unarmed transit security officers, as the worker shortage allows. While that worker shortage has kept the number of police officers assigned to the Transit Police Division down as well, we are working with our law enforcement partners to try to fill the division’s 65 budgeted police positions. Learn more about our teams at trimet.org/personnel.
 Meet TriMet bus operator Leslie Newton. She recently shared her story on how she found a new beginning and a bright future at TriMet.
“When I got that call from TriMet, I cried. I cried because there was a sense of relief. It was a sense of knowing that I am now able to build a foundation and build financial stability for myself,” bus operator Leslie Newton said.
Know someone looking for a stable career with a bright future? In addition to a $7,500 hiring bonus, a two-year contract extension increases an operator’s base pay, currently $25.24 an hour, by 7.5% starting December 1, 2022, and by another 4% effective December 1, 2023!
Every three years TriMet is required to review and update our Title VI Program. We’re asking for feedback on our current draft Title VI Program Update.
We welcome any comments or questions you may have by September 27. Read more online.
 Heads up: From Sept. 23 to Sept. 26, TriMet’s “A Better Red” project will close a 1.5-mile stretch of I-84 in both directions near the I-205 interchange. Bus and train service will not be impacted by this closure. The closures will allow crews to set girders for a new light rail bridge we’re building over I-84.
During that same weekend, crews will improve tracks and a rail crossing at East 102nd Ave and Burnside St. MAX Blue Line service will be disrupted (Sept. 24-25). Shuttle buses will serve MAX stations between Gateway Transit Center and East 122nd Ave. Plan for delays or take an alternate route. Visit tripcheck.com for real time traffic information and trimet.org/betterred to learn more.
 Reminder: TriMet’s new pilot fare relief program for community organizations to provide fares to people who qualify based on income who are seniors, have a disability or are veterans is open through September.
The program provides organizations serving these communities up to $20,000 in fare grants to cover the cost of Adult, Honored Citizen and LIFT fares.
Community partners can apply here and join us for virtual information session on September 14. Learn more online.
The Transit Equity Advisory Committee meets the second Tuesday of each month. Get details here.
The TriMet Board of Directors meeting is on September 28. The public forum starts at 9 a.m. You can sign up to speak starting at 8:30 a.m.
The Committee on Accessible Transportation meets virtually the third Wednesday of each month from 9-11 a.m.
Learn more about our equity programs, including our income-based fare and high school transit pass programs, climate justice efforts, and more, online.
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