Seven things TriMet could do to ease the pain
TriMet announced the new downtown detour routes for bus lines that’ll take effect next January – you can find the details on their website. (Portland Transport’s got some initial rider feedback already…)
And at first glance, my daily commute isn’t going to be that much more painful. The distance between downtown stops is problematic, and taking the #14 out of the mix (it’s moving to 2nd Avenue) gives me one less bus to catch across the river (it’s also the move people seem to be questioning.). All in all, it could be worse.
But when you toss in yet another fare increase (and more in sight to pay for all these projects), I think TriMet needs to get creative here to proactively woo riders to put up with all the upcoming aggravations. And of course, I have a few ideas:
- The five-day passes are a good idea – do more package deals. I’d love to see a reasonably-priced summer youth pass, for example.
- This is a no-brainer – give discounts for bulk ticket purchases. Right now, buying tickets in books of ten gives you no price break at all. That’s just silly.
- Do the Fandango thing – let people purchase printable tickets (or those five day or special passes I mention above) online.
- Start half-month ticket sales at the beginning of the month – color code them differently or something (My kid’s leaving town midway through July, I won’t be buying his pass that month.)
- Do giveaways for monthly (or yearly) passes (or those package deals I keep talking about.)
- Work with event planners to offer discount passes for conventioneers, good for their duration in town.
- Make sure you’ve got staff on hand to help direct people during those first few weeks in January. And hey -handing out free coffee and doughnuts wouldn’t be a bad touch, either.
Oh, yeah – before I forget. Put the Stop ID numbers on ALL of the existing signs already. (Yeah, I just beefed about this last week. But why not consolidate my handy-dandy list of to-dos in one place?)
Why does Tri Met need to “proactively woo riders”… folks already bitch about the capacity issues, and a few less people will make things less crowded.
Yes, there are crowded lines, especially during rush hour. But there are also several lines running under capacity – even during rush hour – or lines that might up their frequency if they had more riders overall.
I also think they’re going to lose riders during this transition, and they can’t afford to do that – it’s a chicken and egg situation. Losing riders on a line means you cut back service on that line means you lose more riders, etc. etc. etc.
Finally, some of the initiatives I’m suggesting might encourage off-peak ridership – always a good thing.