, TriMet has backed away from many of the service cuts that it proposed earlier this year as part of a plan to fill a $12 million budget gap.

Among other things, Oregon's largest transit agency has decided to spare what is now the the Line 89-Tanasbourne -- serving the Cedar Mill area, Beaverton and Hillsboro -- from a plan to discontinue several daily trips. However, come September, the line will be merged with Lines 47 and 48. There will no no longer be a Line 89.

Still, the final budget proposal released Wednesday calls for significant schedule and fare changes that will mean higher costs and more transfers for many riders.

still plans to end fare zones, saying a systemwide flat fare where an adult ticket jumps to $2.50 would increase revenue by $6 million.

, which will go before the TriMet board April 25, also eliminates the Free Rail Zone in downtown Portland, creating an estimated $2.7 million in additional revenue.

This change would eliminate free rides on MAX in downtown and the Lloyd District.

When it comes to service cuts, however, TriMet has eased the pain by about 50 percent. The initial proposal in February totaled $2 million in cuts. The final plan calls for $1.1 million in reductions, with no elimination of any weekend bus service or MAX service.

“With nearly 16,000 comments received from the community, it truly helped shape our proposal and focus on our shared priority that preserving service was the top priority,” said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane.

Starting in September, Line 9 will only serve Powell Boulevard, while Northeast segment of the current route will be combined with the No. 17. "It will be called 17-Holgate/Broadway" in Northeast Portland, said TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch.

In another change, the Line 15's Montgomery Park segment would extend into the Northwest Industrial area.

In fact, all of the cuts would affect bus routes:

15 bus routes will be reconfigured

Routes will be changed on two bus lines.

Bus trips with low ridership on 9 bus lines will be eliminated.

At the same time, TriMet expects to add service on seven bus lines to alleviate overcrowding: 4, 9, 33, 35, 44, 76 and 94.”

TriMet would also adjust the LIFT paratransit service boundary, reduce its annual contribution to the Portland Street car by $300,000, sell ads on its website and find “internal efficiencies” of $1.2 million.

Officials initially said they needed to deal with a budget shortfall of up to $17 million. But the agency said it's now counting on a state arbitrator to rule in its favor in the long-simmering labor dispute with Amalgamated Transit Union 757. The unresolved union contract, which ended in 2009, would add $5 million to $10 million to the fiscal year 2013 budget shortfall, said TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch.

Speaking to the TriMet board last month about deferring $5 million in cuts, TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane said, "We will kick that down the road."

The union has repeatedly rejected TriMet's proposals to have drivers, mechanics and support staff contribute more to their generous benefits. And a recent Employee Relations Board ruling removed certain cost-saving proposals from TriMet's final offer, saying it broke state labor laws.

In May, both sides will go before an arbitrator, who will be charged with picking one contract proposal over the other with no compromises, with a final decision after July 1. The latest changes to TriMet's budget plan come after a series of town hall meetings.

TriMet has also reversed an initial proposal to allow only one-way transfers. So, riders will still be able to take "short-hopper" trips – running quick errands or going to appointments and then catching the same bus or MAX line home on a single two-hour fare.