Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Transit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Yamhill County Transit reports progress on stops, smart-bus tech and contract talks; warns of cost pressures
Summary
Transit manager Cynthia updated the Board on recent accomplishments — new leased facility, temporary bus-stop signage at 75 stops, five buses on order and a smart-bus rollout — while flagging higher contract and vehicle costs and potential service reductions if costs are not controlled.
Yamhill County Transit Manager Cynthia updated the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners on March 13, describing recent operational changes, progress on bus-stop signage, fleet orders and a potential service redesign to address rising costs.
“We have placed temporary signs at nearly all the stops now. We have 75 bus stops,” Cynthia told the board, summarizing an eight-year initiative to site and geocode stops and secure permits with ODOT for groups of signs.
Cynthia said the county leased a new facility with a four-bay shop and consolidated staff and buses. She reported five buses are on order, that the agency received five smaller vans for demand-response service in late 2024, and that the system recently completed a Federal Transit Administration compliance audit with no findings.
The transit manager said contract costs with the current service provider, Transdev (which acquired First Transit), have risen significantly and that staffing turnover at the operator has affected training and mobile-technology rollout. “Because of the cost increases, we have developed a new service plan,” Cynthia said, outlining scenarios that would reduce annual service hours from current levels (about 39,000) to between 35,000 and 32,000 hours if costs are not reduced.
Cynthia described options tied to each scenario: reallocating Dial-a-Ride hours, redesigning low-performing fixed routes, restoring Saturday fixed-route service in some corridors, eliminating a low-performing single-run commuter trip (Route 44X), and reallocating service to better serve commuter routes and employers. She also said the transit advisory committee will meet with the board on May 8 to discuss fare policy, where options range from fare-free to a revised fare structure and public outreach that would begin in May and June with possible implementation in July–August.
Board members asked for rider headcount and other performance metrics to inform fare and service decisions. Cynthia said she would include an analysis of rider counts in upcoming fare-policy materials and deliver an updated cost proposal from Transdev by April 1 to guide decisions about extending or rebidding the service contract. She also reported progress on inventory, mobile-technology training, and grant awards: “Between 2023 and 2027, we will secure $14,000,000 in operating grants and $4,000,000 in capital,” she said, while noting some bus grants are authorized but not yet obligated.
The board did not take formal action during the presentation. Commissioners asked staff to return with ridership head-count data, the updated Transdev cost proposal and fare-policy materials ahead of the planned May 8 work session.
