Death by a thousand paper-cuts.

From The Gresham Outlook, "TriMet cuts minutes from routes to save millions"

TriMet is shaving a few minutes off nearly two dozen bus routes to save about $3.5 million in its 2009-10 budget.

The changes, which go into effect Nov. 29, will cut two to four minutes from the frequency from the bus lines during off-peak hours. The changes should help TriMet close a gap in its $31 million in budget cuts.

The reductions will affect these bus routes:

• 4-Division/Fessenden

• 6-Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd

• 8-Jackson Park/NE 15th

• 9-Powell/Broadway

• 12-Barbur/Sandy Blvd

• 14-Hawthorne

• 15-Belmont/NW 23rd

• 17-Holgate/NW 21st

• 19-Woodstock/Glisan

• 20-Burnside/Stark

• 33-McLoughlin

• 44-Capitol Hwy/Mocks Crest

• 54-Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy/56-Scholls Ferry Road

• 57-TV Hwy/Forest Grove

• 70-12th Ave

• 71-60th/122nd Ave

• 75-Lombard/39th

• 77-Broadway/Halsey

In addition, the 35-Macadam/Greeley route will be adjusted by up to five minutes. Weekday and Saturday buses will leave Oregon City Transit Center up to five minutes earlier.

Schedules for buses traveling to Oregon City will be adjusted up to five minutes earlier in the South Waterfront area. Sunday service will not change.

TriMet has already implemented hiring and salary freezes and executive furloughs, cut 9 percent across the board and implemented service cuts to offset the gap.