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State audit finds 23 areas where TriMet needs to improve

By: Jeff McDonald//January 29, 2014//

State audit finds 23 areas where TriMet needs to improve

Jeff McDonald//January 29, 2014//

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The Oregon Secretary of State‘s office on Wednesday released findings of a recent audit of TriMet, and 23 areas were identified with room for improvement. Those included unfunded liabilities, labor issues, employee safety and train maintenance.

The audit was requested by the 2013 Oregon Legislative Assembly after concerns arose about union fights, red ink and service cuts increasing in the past few years.

The audit reported that the “most serious and looming concerns” were the health benefit costs of employees, and the $852 million unfunded liability to pay for current and future retirees and their beneficiaries. Auditors also found that TriMet had fallen behind on preventive maintenance.

TriMet agreed with and accepted each of the recommendations and noted that it has already begun many of the safety initiatives concerning equipment and infrastructure.

“That’s an issue we’ve been addressing, including reorganizing to better focus on our aging system and hiring an outside firm to assess the state of repair of our rail assets, including light rail vehicles and maintenance of way infrastructure,” TriMet wrote in its response to the audit.

The agency committed to spending more than $3 million on MAX track and system improvements over the next two years.

The audit is available at .



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