6
S moke S ignals
FEBRUARY 1, 2018
Formulating the future of transit
Community meeting
offers opportunity to
give input on a new plan
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
People who lack cars in urban ar-
eas are typically not far from cabs,
ride share options or public transit.
But rural residents without a
vehicle face an uphill battle. Simple
tasks, such as going to a grocery
store or work, often involve plan-
ning and coordination.
The Grand Ronde Tribe has fund-
ed regular bus service from Grand
Ronde to the coast, McMinnville
and Salem since 2007 to help with
area transportation gaps. A meet-
ing was held Wednesday, Jan. 24,
at the Community Center to gather
input on the future of the Tribe’s
transportation plan. Although the
crowd was small, ideas were not in
short supply.
Workshop goals included discuss-
ing transportation needs, gaps in
transit service and mobility chal-
lenges of Tribal and community
members, especially seniors and
people with disabilities.
Tribal member Veronica Gaston,
Tribal Elder and Transit Plan Proj-
ect Advisory Committee member
Louise Coulson and interim Tribal
Employment Rights Office Director
John Mercier attended.
An increased number of bus
stops, bus shelters to shield riders
from the weather and a local con-
nector service to transport people
within the community were three
of the main suggestions offered at
the meeting.
“There are some events I would
love to go to, but I can’t make it up
there,” Gaston said. “I know our
Elders would appreciate having
a bus stop at the Elders Activity
Center, too.”
Coulson said that offering routes
that coordinated with shifts at
Spirit Mountain Casino would be
helpful.
“Because I go to the casino a lot
and talk to employees, I know that
many of them ride the bus and are
not yet used to the new system,”
she said.
“The casino is the largest employ-
er in the region, so why not tailor
the transit system toward that?”
Yamhill County Developmental
Disability Services Program Man-
ager Paul Partridge said. “It’s an
area for exploration and coordina-
tion. … You might be able to solve
a problem by doing that.”
Tribal Planning and Grants Man-
ager Kim Rogers said those in at-
tendance provided good input.
“The suggestions to add more
stops here in Grand Ronde and to
look at some kind of local connector
service to get people around the
community will of course have some
cost and we will see where we end
up on what services we can afford,”
he said.
The Tribe hired Kittleson & As-
sociates of Portland to assist with
updating its 2007 Coordinated Hu-
man Services Transportation Plan,
creating a new one and combining
the two into an overall Transpor-
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal member Veronica Gaston, right, gives input during the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde 2018 Transit Plan
Community Workshop held in the Tribal Community Center on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
tation Plan.
Senior Engineer Zachary Horow-
itz discussed the background of the
plan, work-to-date and future goals.
“We’re trying to find out the needs
of the community,” he said. “Where
we are going, for what reason and
what we can do better. We want to
gather as much information as pos-
sible and figure out the best use of
Tribal money for the Grand Ronde
community.”
Part of the firm’s research efforts
have focused on where people in
the Grand Ronde and Fort Hill
areas work. These include Grand
Ronde, Salem, Mulnomah County,
McMinnville, Washington County,
Yamhill County, Polk County, Dal-
las, Sheridan and Benton County.
Of these locations, Multnomah and
Benton counties and Dallas do not
have direct transit service.
“We wanted to develop a real
sense of where people in this area
work,” Horowitz said. “It is pretty
underserved by transit. In a lot of
cases people drive up to 60 miles
one way to go to work. Gas is cheap-
er now than in the past few years,
but transit is a really viable option
for several reasons.”
History of public transit
On July 27, the Salem Area Mass
Transit District Board of Direc-
tors voted to end the Cherriots 2X
service between Salem and Grand
Ronde at the end of 2017.
The route had provided public
transit service from Spirit Moun-
tain Casino to Salem eight times
daily Monday through Friday
starting at 7:30 a.m. and running
through 11:30 p.m.
The Salem Area Mass Transit
District operated the bus service
between Grand Ronde and Salem
since 2009 through a contract with
the Tribe.
Funding for bus service comes
primarily from federal Tribal tran-
sit dollars provided through the
Tribe’s federal and state transit
grants from the Federal Transit
Administration and the Oregon
Department of Transportation. The
Transit District agreed to cover the
cost of one of the round-trips.
When the Tribe recently request-
ed new proposals for the same
route, the Salem Area Mass Transit
District decided not to bid again,
citing declining ridership.
The Tribe began working with the
Tillamook County Transportation
District to provide service between
Grand Ronde and Salem. It was
a logical choice as the Tillamook
transit district already operated
the Coastal Connector that ran
from Lincoln City to Grand Ronde
three times daily and on to Salem
on Saturday and Sunday.
Starting Dec. 30, 2017, the Coast-
al Connector (60x) began service
to Salem three times daily, as well
as on the weekends. On Jan. 2, the
Grand Ronde Express (70x) began
operating four round trips a day
between the Tribal campus, the
casino and Salem. The cost is $3 for
a regular fare, and $1.50 for a re-
duced rate. Tribal members with ID
ride free on both. Bus stops include
the Grand Ronde Community Cen-
ter, Grand Ronde Road and South
Street and Spirit Mountain Casino.
The routes are contracted with
the Tillamook County Transporta-
tion District, using the Tribe’s state
and federal transit funding. The
Coastal Connector route also in-
cludes the Siletz Tribe as a partner.
The next steps in the new tran-
sit plan process include creating
a vision and goals memo, a public
survey, needs assessments, recom-
mendation, draft plan and then a
final plan/community meeting in
September.
Contact Rogers at kim.rogers@
grandronde.org or 503-879-2250 to
provide input on the transit plan.