Metro subcommittee hears update on Community Connector transit study

Ali Holmquist, lead presenter on Metro's Community Connector transit study, told the Metro C4 subcommittee that the project team refined opportunity-area boundaries and tested potential connector services with neighbors, community-based organizations and business groups.

"We executed contracts with local community-based organizations," Holmquist said, describing outreach that included disability-focused partners and tribal-focused groups and business engagement with chambers and alliances such as the Clackamas County Business Alliance. She said the team applied feedback to revise maps (including adding key destinations such as MAX stations and community libraries) and layered a readiness analysis to flag near-term, medium and future opportunities.

The study offers guidance on pilot testing and performance benchmarks, Holmquist said. Early pilots might operate at 2 to 4 riders per hour while a successful pilot could grow toward 4 to 10 riders per hour; programs that regularly exceed about 10 riders per hour are candidates to transition to fixed-route service, she said, while cautioning these are "guidelines, not hard and fast rules" because equity or community-destination needs can justify lower ridership targets.

Holmquist also reported a governance review and recommended convening a regional transit forum where providers can coordinate on operations, benchmarking and shared technical assistance. "The forum is more getting at the coordination piece of the recommendations and less the oversight," she said when asked whether the forum would change existing STIF (Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund) qualifying-entity arrangements.

Members raised equity and county-specific concerns. Commissioner Savas asked whether counties could act as qualifying entities to ensure funding distribution and warned that past regional efforts have left Clackamas County behind; Holmquist said the forum would not replace existing qualified-entity roles but could be a venue for deeper coordination. Mayor Joe Buck and Councilor questions focused on timing and destinations, including airport shift hours and weekend/weekday timing for park and recreation access. Holmquist said the team is producing cut sheets with area-specific timing recommendations and will bring updated materials to future committee touchpoints.

The study recommends incorporating ready opportunity areas into the regional transportation plan's transit network vision to support future grant competitiveness and to allow local plans and transit development plans to reflect connector options. Holmquist said draft materials will return to committees this summer and a draft report will be shared with JPAAC in September and MPAC in July for additional feedback.

The presentation prompted discussion but no formal vote. The subcommittee asked staff to bring more detail on governance options and cut sheets with timing and routing assumptions ahead of final actions.