TriMet has eliminated 68 positions and laid off 26 people, the latest of several steps by the regional transit agency to close a $300 million budget gap.

The layoffs contributed to a $17.7 million decrease in spending, the agency said in a statement. The agency has also put in place a hiring freeze and cut discretionary spending.

“Layoffs are always a last resort,” TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. said in a statement. “We’ve worked hard to limit them as much as possible, but the financial realities we face made some layoffs unavoidable.”

None of the people who were laid off were unionized.

TriMet said it aims to balance its budget by July 1, 2028. In addition to staffing cuts, the agency will reduce night-time bus service on some lines beginning Nov. 30. “More extensive” cuts

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