TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen said today the agency will have a proposal for service cuts in two weeks that will include less frequent bus service and may also include a fare hike or a partial cut to Fareless Square.All changes would take effect in late November. The discussion at a TriMet board meeting today came just two weeks after the board voted to cut four bus lines and reduced bus and MAX light rail service in sweeping cuts to be implemented by mid-September.

When the board approved the September cuts, Hansen said a further cut would be needed later in the year. Today's discussion was the first time he has hinted at what could be included in the November cuts.

The new service cuts would be less severe than the September cuts, in that they would not eliminate bus lines, TriMet officials said. The agency is considering two-to-five minute service adjustments for about a dozen bus routes during off-peak times. That could mean a bus that comes every 15 minutes would come every 17 minutes or every 20 minutes.

Some of the popular "frequent service" routes would be affected by the November cuts, spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said.

TriMet officials are still writing the proposal, and it's uncertain if changes to fares or downtown Portland's Fareless Square would be included, Fetsch said. In public comments gathered on the September cuts, some TriMet riders called for fare hikes and cuts to Fareless Square, she said.

TriMet has been studying Fareless Square for more than a year. A TriMet consultant, with input from a Portland Business Alliance task force, produced a report in January outlining options for how to trim the fare-free zone.

Hansen mentioned the possibility of ending Fareless Square for buses. Surveys have shown two-thirds of trips that stay within the fareless zone are on rail, so most users would not be affected.

The November cuts would not be finalized until after the agency gets public input in the weeks after the proposal is unveiled, Fetsch said.

"It's all still being created," Fetsch said. "We'll know more in two weeks."

-- Dylan Rivera; dylanrivera@news.oregonian.com