🤯

Can someone please explain to me why large boarding islands like this one are not just all sized for level boarding?

I figure there is some easy explanation, but I can't figure it out.

Heat pumps are the most efficient heating technology ever invented.

They harvest and compress pre existing heat in the air, ground or water and transport it where it is needed.

That energy is all around us.

And it does not have to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Important update: my dogwood bloomed today!

Sunset views from the bus stop.

He's not just transporting dozens, he's educating and entertaining most of us.

He just gave us a protip that you can't always trust city street names in Salem. Portland Rd will take you to Portland. Silverton Rd will take you to Silverton. Pennsylvania Ave, however, will not take you to Pennsylvania.

I just boarded a Cherriots bus to go home and I'm delighted to report that the operator is telling us about how this line used to be a streetcar line. It ran from downtown to the state's only penitentiary.

Had a bit of a fowl ride to work

Medford removing controversial bike lanes on Main Street The Medford City Council voted this week to abandon its controversial bike lanes on Main Street, just three years after installing them.

"Counts of bicycle traffic since the bike lanes were installed showed that traffic increased sixfold. Engineers also didn’t find any major congestion issues with automobiles after the revamp."

Medford traffic flows faster but also kills more people than in Bend. Lots of strip malls, too.

@aortarail.org, can you send a letter to Santa for me?

Alas, there are no existing rail lines that go to Lincoln City. The closet one ends in Toledo. A robust intercity bus network overlaid on top of the passenger rail network would/should serve Lincoln City though.

A map of proposed and existing passenger rail routes in Oregon. Routes: Cascades (existing) - Eugene to Vancouver, BC Coast Starlight (existing) - Seattle to Los Angeles through Portland and Klamath Falls Lewis and Clark (new) - Astoria to Portland Bay to Valley (new) - Coos Bay to Portland Umpqua Rogue (new) - Medford to Eugene High Desert (new) - Redmond to Eugene Pioneer (new) - Portland to Boise/Salt Lake City via Hood River, Pendleton, and Ontario Oregon Daylight (new) - Klamath Falls to Eugene

All I want for Christmas is this.

It was great to talk with @wilsonxcassie.bsky.social about the importance of transit in Salem, Keizer, and beyond.

Now, more than ever, public transit is a ready-made solution for so many of Oregon's problems, whether that is slowing economic growth or low school attendance rates. Let's fund it!

I unironically love the proposed name University of the Northwest

A new study reports that almost half of all urban and suburban US car owners are open to living car free.

We need to significantly increase the level of transit service across the US to enable people make that *choice*.

Without adequate service, we force people into $$ depreciating assets (cars).

It's Vote at Home, folks.

The place I feel safest is my *home*. Voting in my *home* affords me the luxury of time to consider the issues and candidates on the ballot.

Stop focusing on how the vote gets there and focus on where the vote happens.

#orpol #orleg #Oregon

A wayfinding sign directing riders to "Federal Way Downtown" and "Downtown Redmond"

For the life of me I do not understand Sound Transit station naming convention.

At Cherriots, our mission is "creating community connections." Sometimes that means connecting you from Point A to Point B, and sometimes it means connecting you to the resources you need at no cost to you because it’s what’s needed.

Of those 90,000 in Marion and Polk Counties who will not receive their SNAP benefits, almost 30,000 are children, about 9,000 are seniors and about 17,000 are disabled.

Just tell the driver where you are going when you board the bus and your ride is free.

Cherriots is offering free rides to and from food banks and pantries starting Nov. 1 through the end of the government shutdown, the transit agency announced Thursday. The agency said it mirrors their free rides to warming shelters. With those rides, passengers just need to tell the driver where they’re going for a free trip. “With many families facing uncertainty and added stress, we want to ensure that accessing food is never a barrier,” said Allan Pollock, general manager, in a statement. “Our community depends on us, and we are proud to step up for those who need support right now.”

90,000 in Marion and Polk County depend on SNAP. In two days, because of failures at the highest level of our federal government, our neighbors will not receive SNAP food assistance.

In response, beginning November 1, 2025, Cherriots riders traveling to and from food banks may ride at no cost.

I can and will celebrate in my heart! I don't have to travel to Bend to celebrate Blockbuster.

I thought I would only spend two hours responding to questions, but I ultimately spent four and a half hours fielding questions.

Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful questions!

Of course!

Tomorrow, I will be answering your questions about the service enhancements Cherriots is proposing over at r/SALEM.

Our proposed service enhancements are decades overdue and would *finally* begin to provide the level of service we need.

You can post your questions now: bit.ly/IanDavidsonAMA

Long story short, the line was operated by Tillamook County Transportation District, but they had to suspend service on the route suddenly. PCBL is now operating the line on an interim basis, but the funding for it and the history (and likely future) of it is a local transit route.

Salem to Albany Corridor Feasibility Study Project | Cherriots Providing public transportation services in Salem, Oregon and the surrounding region.

FWIW I agree that POINT is not local transit. I think the Salem to Albany gap is the only remaining local transit gap in the Willamette Valley.

We've studied closing the gap, but presently do not have funding to start running this much needed route.

www.cherriots.org/salemtoalbany/

Of course!

You must be riding up the coast then 🤔. Either way, excited to watch your trip unfold here and on YouTube. Safe travels!

@milesintransit.com @64streetcar.bsky.social if you pass through Salem, OR (which is another way of saying do you count the POINT bus as local transit?), depending when you come through, I can hook you two up with a Cherriots transit card to both pay your fare and to then keep if you collect them!