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In an attempt to close a $27 million budget gap in the 2011 fiscal year, transit agency TriMet will cut back bus and MAX light-rail service in September.

“This is the second year in a row we’ve had to cut service to make up for a budget shortfall due to the economy,” said Mary Fetsch, spokeswoman for TriMet. “We made a lot of internal cuts first. The last place we look to fill a budget shortfall is service cuts.”

The first change riders will notice is that as of Sept. 1, TriMet will increase the cost of fares on many routes by five cents to cover increasing operating costs.

The additional changes, which will reduce the frequency of MAX and bus trips throughout the day, will begin Sept. 5. The time in between buses and trains will vary from line to line with some buses or trains coming every 20 minutes instead of every 17. TriMet has complete details of changes to its schedule, which affect 50 bus routes and all MAX lines, on its website .

“It doesn’t seem like two to three minutes would make a big difference, but by the end of the day you might be able to send out one less bus, and so you send out one less operator and you save the costs involved in that bus,” Fetsch said. “We get 53 percent of our funding from employer payroll tax. Fewer people working means less funding and less people riding. We get 22 percent of our funding from fares. Those two things make up three quarters of our funding.”

In addition to these cuts, TriMet is eliminating the 27-Market/Main and 157-Happy Valley bus lines due to low ridership and the two lines having additional transportation alternatives nearby.