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Gorge Regional Transit officials brief Skamania County on services, Gorge Pass and access gaps
Summary
Gorge Regional Transit staff presented an overview of regional coordination, the Gorge Pass, ridership growth, accessibility and outreach — and answered questions about weekend hospital discharge transport and grant-dependent service changes.
Kathy Fitzpatrick, regional mobility manager for Gorge Regional Transit, told Skamania County commissioners on March 20 that coordination among the Gorge's five public transit providers is the system's chief strength and the reason fixed routes now link communities across county lines.
Fitzpatrick said the Gorge Pass — a single fare product coordinated by four providers — costs $40 and is valid for 12 months from purchase with unlimited rides during that period. She also described outreach tools and rider services including an interactive website (gorgetransit.com), text alerts, travel-training staff and a modest equity fund that receives roughly a dollar from each Gorge Pass sale and provides passes to riders in need through vetted social-service partners.
The presentation laid out recent usage numbers and local benefits. Fitzpatrick said Gorge Transit provided roughly 26,000 rides systemwide last year and that Skamania County’s fixed-route service accounted for about 11,000 trips (the presenter described these as trips rather than unique riders). She highlighted one example in which travel-training helped a 19-year-old resident with developmental disabilities take a summer job by using the Stevenson–Carson route.
Fitzpatrick described other features riders told the agency matter: aligned animal-transport and child policies across providers, bikes-on-buses and bike-trail connections, ADA-accessible vehicles and driver training, a forthcoming trip planner app and an accessibility-audit project for stops. She also described the travel-trainer program and said the region will hold a Gorge Transit Summit on April 10 with workshops and panels for local leaders.
During the commissioners' question period, transit staff and Fitzpatrick clarified service limits. County transit representatives said Skamania County does not offer weekend dial-a-ride service for hospital discharges. That kind of discharge transport is handled through senior-services dial-a-ride programs during weekdays, and the county lacks dispatchers and drivers on weekends to support ad hoc hospital release trips. Staff said some other providers in the region (for example, Columbia Area Transit) operate limited weekend service because they maintain weekend dispatch and driver capacity, and the county coordinates with Community in Motion and private brokers for additional medical-ride options.
On funding, presenters said the system relies on state grant programs (WSDOT/ODOT) and other contracts, and that future service changes depend on upcoming biennial grant awards. Fitzpatrick said some service expansion proposals submitted in the last grant cycle asked for additional Stevenson–Carson hours and later-evening service to help commuters.
The commissioners and staff discussed next steps for outreach and planning; Fitzpatrick asked county leaders to consider coordination opportunities and to attend the April summit. The transit team provided materials on fares, the equity fund, and rider tools for staff follow-up.
Fitzpatrick concluded the presentation by underscoring the role of interagency coordination in building rural transit connections in the Gorge.
