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TriMet cuts 68 staff positions to help close budget gap
Rail News Home Passenger Rail11/21/2025
Rail News: Passenger Rail
TriMet cuts 68 staff positions to help close budget gap
TriMet's light-rail service may face operational cuts in the next few years, as the agency balances cost-saving measures with rider needs.
Photo – TriMet
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.
{snip}
Rail News: Passenger Rail
TriMet cuts 68 staff positions to help close budget gap
TriMet's light-rail service may face operational cuts in the next few years, as the agency balances cost-saving measures with rider needs.
Photo – TriMet
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.
{snip}