Cherriots is celebrating the beginning of Saturday service with free rides on Sept. 7, 14, 21, and 28.
The District’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the fare change.
“We are excited to provide this service to our community,” said Ian Davidson, president of the board. “We invite everyone to come check out our service and enjoy the ride. It’s on the house.”
The enhanced service changes, which also include later evening hours, are made possible by a dedicated source of funding approved by legislators in 2017. For Cherriots, this is the largest service expansion in its history.
In addition to service changes, Cherriots has been replacing dozens of vehicles driven past their recommended useful life, including those providing Cherriots Local, Cherriots Regional, and Cherriots LIFT services.
To cover the extended hours, Cherriots has hired and trained 30 new operators. Additional positions have also been hired in maintenance and customer service.
For more information, go to Cherriots.org.
The Salem Area Mass Transit District's Board of Directors has elected its president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.
Because of changes to Oregon law, seats on the board are now governor-appointed instead of publicly elected. The change was effective July 1, 2019.
Three of the newly appointed board members were elected to be officers: Ian Davidson will serve as president for the next four years, Sadie Carney will serve as vice-president, and Chi Nguyen will serve as secretary. The fourth appointed board member is Charles Richards. Robert Krebs, who is the outgoing board president, was elected to serve as treasurer.
The Board establishes priorities, evaluates the performance of the transit system, and adopts budgets. It works with community members to improve bus service and address transit-related issues. Three external committees provide advice to the Board: the Special Transportation Fund Advisory Committee, Citizens Advisory Committee, and Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund Advisory Committee.
For more information, go to http://www.Cherriots.org/board.
The wait is over. A Better Cherriots is here.
Beginning Sept. 3, the Salem Area Mass Transit District will be delivering later evening and Saturday service to communities in the Mid-Willamette Valley.
Because the 2017 Oregon Legislature established a dedicated funding source through a payroll tax, public transportation providers throughout Oregon are expanding their services.
“This is the largest service enhancement in Cherriots history,” said Allan Pollock, the SAMTD general manager. “We are grateful to our state legislators who have made this momentous investment in public transportation to ensure the mobility of Oregonians for generations to come.”
Additional service hours apply to Cherriots Local, Cherriots Regional, and Cherriots LIFT, which is the District’s paratransit service. All later evening service begins Tuesday, Sept. 3, and all Saturday service begins Sept. 7.
Lastly, in May more service changes are coming. For the first time, the District will begin providing service on Sunday. Buses also will begin operating on several federal holidays in 2020.
For more information about services and for details about the specific changes to routes, go to Cherriots.org.