Jarrett Walker is right about one thing: TriMet’s shrinking service should concern the entire region (“Trimet is shrinking. Do we care?” Aug. 23). But there is another part of TriMet’s crisis that deserves considerably more attention — the experience of the people who actually use the system.
TriMet’s customer service has declined dramatically over the past 30 years. The problem is not simply that buses and trains are less frequent. It is the growing impression that riders themselves have become an afterthought.
When a bus is late, canceled or simply does not appear, the rider is the one left standing on the side of the road. When service is cut, the rider is the one who must reorganize a work schedule, miss an appointment or find some other way home. And when the system provides poor information or indifferent customer service, the burden falls almost entirely on the person who has already paid for the service…