Mike Hersh, chief operations officer for Lane Transit District, and board member Pete Knox described LTD’s capabilities and past roles in emergency response when the committee asked how transit agencies support statewide emergency management.

Hersh said LTD’s fleet, maintenance facilities, fueling capability and incident‑trained supervisors allow rapid repurposing of buses for evacuations, mobile warming/cooling centers and shelter transport; LTD maintains established communication channels with county emergency operation centers and incident command structures. Knox recounted the Holiday Farm Fire evacuation where LTD transported evacuated residents to a shelter at Thurston High School, using volunteers and cross‑jurisdictional coordination beyond LTD’s taxing district.

Why it matters: Transit agencies can move people who cannot self‑evacuate, provide staging and communications redundancy and speed community recovery. The chair indicated the committee will call LTD back for a deeper briefing and statistical follow‑up to evaluate statewide applicability.

What’s next: Committee members signaled continued engagement with LTD about statewide emergency agreements, capacity modeling and possible follow‑up hearings.