Increase Public Transit

Context

Public transit is a crucial piece of public infrastructure. When done well, it allows large numbers of people to move around a city easily and with low greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation accounts for the largest portion of emissions in the State of Oregon. Public transit can help reduce this by carrying more people per unit of energy used.

Though Portland does not control TriMet, City Council could work with TriMet to move toward fareless transit, or free and low fares for certain groups such as students or certain regions of the City. Passenger fares make up less than 10% of TriMet’s budget, and yet these fares are costly for individuals who use the service (see TriMet’s FY2025 budget, “Understanding our funding”). Additionally, more people may ride if TriMet became more affordable, accessible, and frequent, with the impact of reducing emissions. See OPAL’s 2024 report, “Riding the Free Fare Wave: Learning from Fareless Transit Cities.”

Oregon’s transportation funding crisis makes fareless transit advocacy more urgent but also more challenging. The Oregon Legislature’s inadequate transportation funding package in 2025 does not include enough funding to maintain transit at current levels, so TriMet officials warn they must reduce services in August 2026. This creates a transportation equity emergency that strengthens the case for fareless transit as both a climate and social justice imperative.

Actions

Make public transit affordable and accessible while lowering emissions from transportation through accelerating the transition to electric transportation.

Move toward affordability through programs such as free transit for children under 18, a Free Rail Zone, and eventually fareless transit.
- Bring back the Free Rail Zone for all residents within Portland city limits.
- Make transit free for individuals aged 18 and under, regardless of current school eligibility. This would encourage those living within the city to take transit, reducing emissions and congestion, and removing some financial barriers to public transit.
- Expand the City of Portland’s portion of TriMet funding to move toward a zero fare transit program. Begin with Portland Streetcar, making the entire system free.
- Institute a dedicated local revenue streams such as payroll taxes, employer fees, or progressive income taxes to sustainably fund fareless transit
Increase frequency of service and expand TriMet LIFT.
- Increase service frequency especially on lines serving communities of color and low-income neighborhoods that have historically experienced service gaps.
- Significantly expand TriMet LIFT services to ensure full accessibility for disabled community members and those with mobility challenges. Given TriMet’s planned service cuts, expanding LIFT becomes even more crucial as regular bus service becomes less accessible to disabled riders and others with mobility challenges.
Reduce Portland’s emissions through encouraging people to ride public transit, as well as reducing emissions of transit vehicles and other public vehicles.
- Support TriMet’s transition to a zero-emissions fleet through direct City funding, federal grant applications, and local ordinances.
- Implement transit-priority infrastructure including dedicated bus lanes, signal priority, and transit-oriented development to improve service speed and reliability.
- Advocate for regional coordination to ensure transit connections serve the entire metro area equitably, with particular attention to east Portland and neighborhoods with majority communities of color.

Case Studies

Albuquerque, NM and Kansas City, MO institute zero fare transit programs:

Holcombe, Megan. “Breaking financial barriers with fare-free services: Offering a more equitable transport system for transit-dependent riders.” Intelligent Transport. January 9, 2024.
- The city implemented zero-fare in 2022 after finding that it cost more to collect fares than to not. The program is extremely popular with 90% of riders saying that free fares is the best thing transit can do for them.
Smith, Sandy. “Kansas City’s Zero Fare Transit Program Shows Major Success – And What Still Needs to Be Done.” Next City. July 27, 2022.
- The city implemented a fareless system during the COVID-19 pandemic due to health concerns and decided to continue offering it even after the pandemic was over. The system is in danger of shutting down due to budget constraints which threatens to decrease ridership by 17-33%. Missouri is one of the states with the smallest amount of funding dedicated to transit and once federal grants run out, the program will likely cease to exist.
“CTS Funding/Fares.” City of Corvallis. https://www.corvallisoregon.gov/cts/page/cts-fundingfares.
- The city implemented a fareless system in 2011. The program’s popularity was immediately apparent with ridership increasing 38% in the first year alone. The program was able to be implemented due to a Transit Operations Fee tax which was instituted in 2010.