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Deputy city manager outlines ridership impacts and options as fares return to Redmond routes
Summary
Cascades East Transit staff summarized post-pandemic ridership, described a likely ridership dip after February fare reinstatement, and offered options for Redmond service including added routes, reduced frequency, or a pilot commuter schedule; council asked for data and return metrics before making funding commitments.
Jason Matt, identified in the transcript as deputy city manager and the meeting's presenter, gave an informational briefing on regional transit performance and Redmond-specific service options. He said the system reimplemented fares in February and that fare reinstatement typically reduces ridership; overall fixed-route service remains below pre-pandemic levels while system totals are closer to pre-pandemic figures. Matt emphasized capacity and peak utilization as key metrics and highlighted the Redmond'to'Bend community connector as the system's highest-use connector, with some morning runs reported at about 75% full.
Matt described how the system now uses registered accounts and group-pass partnerships with social-service providers to preserve access for riders who cannot pay fares. He said the agency has multiple group-pass agreements with organizations that provide reduced-fare access and mentioned a local community movement fund and private donations used to buy passes for service partners.
On Redmond service design, Matt said Dial-A-Ride in Redmond is an on-demand service open to anyone inside the urban growth boundary (a $4-per-trip service) and that FlexRoutes A and B run on roughly 45-minute intervals. He explained that Deschutes County Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund dollars and federal 5310 on-demand funds pass through the state and county to local providers, and noted limits on which funding streams pay for which service types.
To address low ridership on some fixed routes, Matt sketched three options: add routes c and d to expand coverage; pause or pull service until demand grows; or maintain routes A and B but reduce frequency by alternating one driver between the two routes to save cost. He said each option carries trade-offs: expanding routes would widen coverage but increase the subsidy gap; reducing frequency saves operations costs but can lengthen wait times and depress ridership; and pulling service risks leaving gaps for riders who depend on it.
Council members pressed for additional data before making any city-level commitments. They asked for a breakdown of who uses Redmond services, how many trips carry through to Bend, and a clear accounting showing how county passthrough dollars flow to CET and Redmond. Matt said the agency can now pull more trip-level data through new transit cards and apps and offered to return with a proposal for a time-limited pilot (for example, an alternating 6:00'7:30 a.m. commuter window and metrics such as 5% ridership growth over two months) so the SIP committee and budget bodies can evaluate reallocation decisions. He reminded the group that final funding allocations are determined by the county committee that controls the passthrough dollars and that the city can decide whether to supplement those dollars for targeted trials.
No formal decision or motion was made during the session. Matt said staff would prepare follow-up data and a proposal with clear evaluation metrics for council to review during the next budget cycle.
