According to an analysis of TriMet figures conducted by the conservative think tank Cascade Policy Institute, the agency is also failing to meet longer-term projections of how many riders would take the Yellow and Green lines. By 2020, the Yellow Line, which opened in 2004, was supposed to have nearly 4,700 more daily riders than it actually did last year. The Green Line, after extensions opened in 2009, was supposed to have 12,000 more riders than it does.

TriMet doesn't dispute the failure to meet projections, but does dispute its significance.