TriMet's approval rating increases as agency invests in safety, security, cleanliness
Overall approval of TriMet's service increased five percentage points compared to 2023 according to the agency's 2024 Attitude & Awareness Survey.
Survey results indicate the public agrees the agency is improving its public transit service and the customer experience by increasing frequency and getting riders to their destinations faster, investing in safety and security personnel while expanding the clean team and connecting more people to more opportunities with a better onboard experience. Approval of the bus service alone is up seven percentage points compared to 2023 thanks to the rollout of the Forward Together Service Concept.
Measuring community sentiment
The purpose of TriMet’s annual Attitude & Awareness Survey is to help measure community perceptions among both those who ride and those who do not and gain insight into the opinions of the agency and the area it serves. More than 4,000 people participated in this year’s survey, which was done online and via phone from April 27 to May 31, 2024. Around 68 percent of those surveyed said transit is one of the primary ways they get around.
The 2024 report found opinions around TriMet service, safety and reliability holding steady or improving in most categories and perceptions of how things are going in the Portland, Ore., metro area improving as well, yet half of those surveyed said Portland is still on the wrong track.
Approval higher among those who use TriMet’s service
The 2024 Attitude & Awareness Survey showed TriMet’s ongoing focus on safety, security and cleanliness is making a difference. The survey found that 73 percent either strongly or somewhat approve of the job that TriMet is doing. That’s five percentage points higher than in 2023.
TriMet’s surveys consistently show that riders’ perception of the transit system is much higher than those whose opinions are based on what they have heard about it and that was again reflected in the 2024 survey. Nearly eight out of 10 riders (77 percent) approved of the job that TriMet is doing; only 44 percent of non-riders shared that positive view. While the gap between the sentiment of those who use transit services versus the opinions of what people have heard about it remains large, the approval of non-riders increased by six percent over the past year.
Is Portland on the right track?
In general, the 2024 survey found consensus around the idea that things are getting better – not only on TriMet, but also in the city of Portland. For the first time in more than a decade, perceptions around Portland’s direction showed a positive trend, according to TriMet. For 2024, about half of all respondents said the Portland area was on the wrong track but that’s a marked drop from 64 percent one year ago. Similarly, about a quarter of all respondents said the Portland area is headed in the right direction, an increase from 18 percent in 2023.
The survey also provided a look at how and where people throughout the region are working. About 40 percent of people who responded have no option to work from home; they must report to a work site. Of those who said they could work from home, about 70 percent had a hybrid work schedule that allowed them to work from home at least several times per week.
Forward Together helps drive bus system approval
TriMet says its bus service improvements coming out of the Forward Together Service Concept seem to be fueling optimism, especially among riders.
Created with the community to address travel changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Forward Together has two primary goals: Increasing ridership and improving connections for people with low and limited incomes. From expanding the number of lines that have buses arriving every 15 minutes for most of the day, every day, to adding midday and weekend service and adjusting routes so they’re faster and more direct, TriMet says Forward Together has been a game changer for bus service in recent years.
Approval of the bus system increased by seven percentage points between 2023 and 2024 to 77 percent. Among riders only, the approval reached 81 percent, up from 74 percent in 2023.
Opinions of the MAX system in 2024 remained unchanged but mostly positive at 76 percent. This comes amid the three-year A Better Red project. TriMet’s biggest light-rail project in nearly a decade, it required sections of the MAX Blue, Green and Red lines to be disrupted for weeks at a time. The project was completed in late August 2024, with the opening of the 10-station extension of the Red Line into Hillsboro. This gives more people a one-seat ride to and from Portland International Airport and reduces wait times for trains to seven to eight minutes during most of the day in a growing section of Washington County. The project also made track improvements between PDX and Gateway Transit Center that are keeping trains moving MAX systemwide.
More than two out of three riders express satisfaction
The 2024 Attitude & Awareness Survey found that most people who ride TriMet buses and trains – about 68 percent – are satisfied with their overall experience, with about 23 percent saying they are very satisfied. Overall rider satisfaction increased slightly from 2023. Regular and frequent riders appear to have the most favorable opinions, with nearly 40 percent saying they would enthusiastically recommend TriMet to friends and family.
Focus continues on safety and security investments, perceptions
TriMet continues to focus on safety and security investments and the perception of safety on its transit system improved slightly in 2024, to 68 percent from 67 percent the previous year. TriMet says serious incidents are rare on its system, which provides more than 1.3 million rides per week—resulting in one call to police for every 13,580 trips taken on TriMet in 2023.
One of the starkest contrasts of the 2024 survey was around opinions of safety and security. The survey asked, “From what you know or may have heard, how safe would you feel riding TriMet buses or MAX trains?” While nearly 60 percent of bus riders said they would feel safe riding, only 20 percent of non-riders perceived they would be safe. For MAX, 45 percent of riders said they would feel safe, with only 19 percent of non-riders feeling the same way, based on what they’ve heard.
About 46 percent of those surveyed said personal safety concerns have kept them from riding MAX at times, with about 37 percent saying they had opted out of a bus trip due to concerns.
The primary reason people felt unsafe while riding was other riders’ behavior. The second reason was a lack of transit police and the third was the time of day.
While riders are seeing and experiencing what non-riders are not, TriMet says it will continue adding personnel and efforts to advance safety on the system. The agency says it currently has more personnel dedicated to safety and security than ever before, with more than 460 field staff and contractors discouraging unwanted behavior, responding to incidents and educating people about rules for riding.
Riders also have a valuable resource that has been added in the past year: TriMet’s 24-hour security hotline. The agency strongly encourages riders to text or call the number to report non-urgent concerns. Dispatchers in the security operations center then alert TriMet safety or security team members who are nearby to the issue. Emergencies will always be handled by the police. For urgent matters, TriMet urges riders to contact 911 and alert the operator.
Cleanliness is another area of emphasis. The latest survey results come on the heels of the introduction of TriMet’s enhanced cleaning efforts, spearheaded in late 2023, with a focus on sprucing up and deep cleaning MAX stations, transit centers and park and rides, along with more cleaning of buses and trains.
About the survey
Communications, marketing and research firm, PRR, conducted TriMet’s 2024 Attitude & Awareness Survey between April 27 and May 31, 2024. They received more than 4,200 valid responses – the highest-ever level of participation. The survey was offered in six languages; however, the vast majority of responses – more than 98 percent – were in English. Participation was incentivized with an entry into a drawing for a $100 gift card. All three Portland metro counties were represented in the responses, with 63 percent coming from Multnomah County. The survey had a margin of error of +/- 1.27 percent. PRR is a certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Woman-owned Business Enterprise based out of Seattle, Wash.
