Thursday, April 9, 2009
CHRIS PARKER GETS VISIT FROM FRED
Sure got a surprise today when Fred Hanson boarded my 29 in Milwaukee. At 1st I thought I was under the gun, but he was headed to the final public meeting at the Clackamas Sheriff's Office to discuss service cuts. I was a nervous wreck , so I thought I'd better do my best at calling out the streets and being extra nice to the customers. He sat in back reading a paper for a while, then came up to chat with me. Asked me how I liked this line , and how many years I'd been at Trimet. The conversation shifted to other lines In like , the 39 and 51 which are threatened to be axed for weekends.. At this time I was getting pretty comfortable talking to him , and I expressed my point of view on cutting service. He seemed very open on letting me state my opinion. I expressed my idea of reducing some frequent service on weekends to 20 min. or 1/2 hour , instead of canceling low ridership lines. He seemed to be against that idea now , but would consider that if the budget situation got worse . He was more interested in my idea of combining lines 39 and 51 to increase ridership on Saturdays , and would look into that. Pans are for combined service on 18 and 63. So combining any bus service seems to be an idea he's open to. I had to show him where the sheriffs office was, Yeh, he deserves going there. ( just kidding ) When he left my bus, he shook my hand, and that was it. In all the years I've been at Trimet, I never thought I'd have a conversation with any general manager . Whew !!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
WHY WE LOVE MAX SO MUCH
Due to an accident involving a MAX train and a truck, all MAX lines west of Gateway Transit Center are experiencing delays. The accident has been cleared, but it will take several hours before trains are operating on schedule. Riders should expect delays and irregular frequency of service until around noon.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
UNION ELECTION IS GETTING NASTY ALREADY
Hi Al,
If you remember several months ago I complained to the membership about the extra board liaison position being filled at Center Street by an individual who has a propensity for 'telling stories on operators' to upper administrative management, etc - specifically - Human Resources. My complaint was based wholly on the fact that no one was interested in the position except this type of character. It was my intent to get this out into the open and hopefully generate enough concern amongst the ranks to get operators involved in Union positions.
After I posted the "A Call to Arms" on our Union Board at Center Street, in his position as a Union Officer, Christopher Day removed it and took it up to HR where he signed another complaint against me. Apparently he was more concerned with the membership finding out about his habit of writing up operators then he was about the membership having knowledge about our state of affairs. He later dropped the complaint only because someone from the Union office advised him to - not because he had a second thought that there were other options available for solving problems.
The very latest is that he wrote up and complained to the ATU election committee (twice) just days ago because he didn't like people putting up BRUCE HANSEN'S flyer's. He felt it was a violation of the election rules. So, instead of contacting Bruce and talking with him directly or even asking for a clarification of the rules from one of the members of the ATU election committee he just writes him up and then sends him a copy of the write up.
According to Christopher Day's website, http://www.voteatu757.com/ He is running for the Executive Board position out of Center Street. The website, which he clarifies, is not authorized by or affiliated with ATU, local or international.
"Knowledge is Power"
Ellen Fox, 969
Center Street
If you remember several months ago I complained to the membership about the extra board liaison position being filled at Center Street by an individual who has a propensity for 'telling stories on operators' to upper administrative management, etc - specifically - Human Resources. My complaint was based wholly on the fact that no one was interested in the position except this type of character. It was my intent to get this out into the open and hopefully generate enough concern amongst the ranks to get operators involved in Union positions.
After I posted the "A Call to Arms" on our Union Board at Center Street, in his position as a Union Officer, Christopher Day removed it and took it up to HR where he signed another complaint against me. Apparently he was more concerned with the membership finding out about his habit of writing up operators then he was about the membership having knowledge about our state of affairs. He later dropped the complaint only because someone from the Union office advised him to - not because he had a second thought that there were other options available for solving problems.
The very latest is that he wrote up and complained to the ATU election committee (twice) just days ago because he didn't like people putting up BRUCE HANSEN'S flyer's. He felt it was a violation of the election rules. So, instead of contacting Bruce and talking with him directly or even asking for a clarification of the rules from one of the members of the ATU election committee he just writes him up and then sends him a copy of the write up.
According to Christopher Day's website, http://www.voteatu757.com/ He is running for the Executive Board position out of Center Street. The website, which he clarifies, is not authorized by or affiliated with ATU, local or international.
"Knowledge is Power"
Ellen Fox, 969
Center Street
UNION TROUBLE!
Hi Everyone,I would like to state for the record and to reiterate Bruce's statement below that he has never asked me to or so much as suggested that I post his flyer's anywhere. Bruce does not have any control over what people say. I have, however, been handing out buttons and handouts and will continue to do so until I either run out or the District notifies Bruce and he notifies me to stop.Thanking you, I amEllen Fox
Bruce Hansen wrote:
I would like to let you know, I am glad that you are informing me of my stuff being posted. However, I would also like to let you know that I have had conversations with TriMet ASM at Merlo pertaining the concerns of postings at the properties. Per our agreement anything posted prior to May 1st maybe removed by them at anytime. However, Buttons, and handouts can still be handed out per guidelines. If the district has a problem I'm sure they will contact me directly. I have also spoke with Jeff Hunt when he raised a concern in late February when people started to post my flyers and told him that I did not have a problem with them being removed by the managers. I would also like to point out to you that I am personally not posting any flyers and I have not asked anyone to post anything for me. So, in fact I am following the guidelines that the properties sent out. Thank you Bruce
From: xday@comcast.netTo: atu757election@gmail.comCC: bruceh_merlo@hotmail.comSubject: RE: ATU 757 Election InfoDate: Sun, 29 Mar 2009
Bruce Hansen is not following TriMet guidelines for postings. Please log that Saturday 03/28/09 his flyers had been posted at Center Street Garage in a few locations. One flyer was next to the station agent window and another was posted next to the union board. Ellen Fox was at Center Street Garage handing out buttons to drivers promoting Voting Bruce Hansen for ATU president.
From: atu 757 [mailto:atu757election@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 4:50 PMTo: atu 757Subject: ATU 757 Election Info
Please be advised that some employers have responded to the Union's letters and provided rules in many instances. You can access those rules through the www.atu757.org website--hit the "election" button. It appears that none object to the Union's request that campaigning be allowed to begin early on May 1, 2009.
A word of caution. The Election Committee does not enforce employer rules. That is up to the employer. It does, however, notify the employer when members complain about rule violations.
What you need to realize is that if an employer allows one candidate to break its rules, it must allow all candidates to break its rules. If only one candidate is allowed to break the rules and that candidate wins the election, then the losing candidate can file a complaint of employer favoritism and overturn the election. So...in addition to keeping the employer's good will towards our democratic processes, compliance will also protect you from have your win overturned further down the road.
Thanks!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
TRIMET VOIDS RIDERS FARE EVASION CITATION
'In the interest of justice,' TriMet tears up rider's no-fare fine ...
By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
Sunday, March 29, 2009
TRY THESE NEW FAREBOXES
New Golden Gate Transit bus fareboxes flummox Marin riders
Marin Independent-Journal - San Rafael,CA,USA
Marin Independent-Journal - San Rafael,CA,USA
TRANSIT BEER CONFERENCE
Multiple parts in a long playlist, individual episodes are available at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TransitIntelligence
http://www.youtube.com/user/TransitIntelligence
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Management gets it wrong!
In order to save money, our managment declared that there would no longer be any REGULAR DAY OFF WORK to be had.
This would save money by cutting overtime.
Only one problem; THE BUSES CAN'T RUN WITHOUT A DRIVER, and they have no drivers at straight time!
They canceled the directive less than 6 hours after they issued it!
This would save money by cutting overtime.
Only one problem; THE BUSES CAN'T RUN WITHOUT A DRIVER, and they have no drivers at straight time!
They canceled the directive less than 6 hours after they issued it!
Transit going under across America-Transit executives do well however
MTS bus service to be pared down, fares increased
San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego,CA,USA
Bus routes to be closed; stimulus money can't help
CNN - USA
Missouri has last, clear chance to avert mass transit collapse
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - St. Louis,MO,USA
Public transit at a crossroads, needs overhaul
The Desert Sun - Palm Springs,CA,USA
Legislature plans fix for NYC transit budget
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority needs more money to keep ...
KTKA.com - Topeka,KS,USA
MassTransitMag.com » Article » Bay Area Officials Set to Try Anew ...
By rss@masstransitmag.com (Michael Cabanatuan)
San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego,CA,USA
Bus routes to be closed; stimulus money can't help
CNN - USA
Missouri has last, clear chance to avert mass transit collapse
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - St. Louis,MO,USA
Public transit at a crossroads, needs overhaul
The Desert Sun - Palm Springs,CA,USA
Legislature plans fix for NYC transit budget
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority needs more money to keep ...
KTKA.com - Topeka,KS,USA
MassTransitMag.com » Article » Bay Area Officials Set to Try Anew ...
By rss@masstransitmag.com (Michael Cabanatuan)
FRED SAYS
March 24, 2009
By General Manager Fred Hansen
We are facing unprecedented challenges to meeting our mission at TriMet. It is impossible to read the newspapers or watch the news and not see what perilous times we as a nation, let alone a state or region, are facing. And on a personal note many of us know of a family member, friend or neighbor who has been laid off or is facing substantially less work than they enjoyed just a few months ago.
I believe as I hope you do that we will emerge from this recession stronger and with the best years of TriMet and our region yet ahead of us. But until then, we need to take bold and decisive actions to keep TriMet on solid financial footings.
On Wednesday March 25,we will be announcing service cuts that will be taken out to public hearings, adopted by the Board in May, and in place for service beginning in September. This is one of the most difficult decisions any of us in transit ever have to make - cutting the very thing that we are all about, particularly at a time of increasing demand for transit service. But it is absolutely necessary.
Many of you have seen the reports of where we are financially today. Let me reiterate. For the FY 2010 budget we are down $13.5 million. In January of this year I imposed a hiring freeze covering all positions in TriMet (unless specifically approved by me in emergency situations) and a wage freeze on non-union positions. This will be in effect from now through at least all of FY 2010.
Overall, about 55% of our revenue comes from the payroll tax, an additional 20.5% comes from the fare box and the remaining comes from various Federal programs with a very limited contribution from some state sources such as a little cigarette tax money for the elderly and disabled LIFT service. The only source that is up is fare box revenue as we have seen more riders, but this increase is not nearly enough to offset the reduction in payroll tax revenue.
To address our $13.5 million reduction I initially directed a 5% cut across the whole of TriMet, including service. And although we received almost $45 million of stimulus money (ARRA) we are only able to use a small portion to offset service cuts. Most of the stimulus money is required to be used for capital building, thereby putting some of our fellow Oregonians back to work. But by directing what stimulus money we could to preventative maintenance we were able to offset about half of the expected 5% service cuts.
These budget reductions were based on reduced payroll tax receipts; however, unemployment continues to increase. Recently the unemployment rate hit nearly 11% further reducing payroll tax revenues. As a result, I asked each division to prepare an additional budget reduction of 3% as a contingency. This 3% additional reduction, combined with the original 5% reduction, reflects essentially flat payroll tax revenue when comparing FY 2009 with FY 2010.
As of today, I am directing that this contingency budget be put in place because I am convinced it will be necessary when we see actual payroll tax revenue payments in mid-May. Meantime, I am asking each Executive Director, Director and Manager to closely review every expenditure this fiscal year to determine whether it is absolutely necessary.
Further, I have imposed on myself an unpaid 2-week furlough during this year and have asked the Executive Directors to do the same. I believe that in these very difficult times it is appropriate for your senior management to lead by example.
As we learn more about payroll tax revenues in mid-May, we may need even further reductions. Our options will include layoffs, other budget cuts, furloughs, a fare increase, and additional service cuts. These are options that will need to be weighed as we deal with the continuing deteriorating economy.
Because the last thing we want to cut is service, I am holding off ordering any additional service cuts until we actually see the payroll tax receipts in the mid-May timeframe. Knowing the lead-time necessary to do run-cuts and meet postings for the December operator signup, holding until mid-May for these decisions makes sense.
I wish I could say that all these steps will be sufficient to see us through this very challenging economic time. But I can't. We will closely monitor the employment picture and the subsequent affect on payroll tax revenues and take additional steps when necessary.
I know that the changes we are implementing including a combined 8% budget reduction, the wage and hiring freezes and the executive furloughs are not easy. But we all have an obligation to ensure that the most important service we provide, transit service on the street, must be preserved to the greatest degree possible.
Thank you for your assistance during these difficult times.
Friday, March 27, 2009
NY TIMES SAYS PORTLAND SYMBOL OF WHAT IS WRONG
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/business/economy/27portland.html?_r=1
Of course, the Times misses a large part of the Portland tragedy: the part about the City Council wrecking the municipal government's financial future with one expensive, harebrained stunt after another for the benefit of the local developers and construction companies.
Of course, the Times misses a large part of the Portland tragedy: the part about the City Council wrecking the municipal government's financial future with one expensive, harebrained stunt after another for the benefit of the local developers and construction companies.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
THE CHURCH OF FRED
THE OFFICE OF FRED
FRED MADE $233,960
FRED’S EXECUTIVE ADVISOR MADE $143,196
FRED’S EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR MADE $67,944
FRED’S EXECUTIVE COORDINATOR MADE $51,093
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