Cherriots Board to Start Review of draft Long Range Plan

This evening the Cherriots Board will get a first look at the draft Long Range Plan. (I am late to this, as it is a week early because of Thanksgiving, and I missed that. Full board packet, containing the Plan is here.)

Draft Long Range Plan

For the moment here are some selected clips and brief comment. SKATS and other agencies will also be reviewing and commenting, and there will be more to say. Final adoption for now is scheduled for December 15th.

The first two chapters are introduction and context. Chapter three starts the long range plan itself.

Map of future service areas and routes

It is interesting to see neighborhoods identified for expanded services (and in some cases wholly new service), new candidate enhanced transit stops and mini transit centers, and some new frequent service lines.

The embrace of ride hailing is a little dodgy, though, and deserves more scrutiny. Do they really serve any "last mile" function, or do they just cannibalize transit? So far it has seemed like the fad rather than genuine function is driving the embrace here. Bike rental hubs seem more promising, though the way bikes were handled at the Keizer Transit Station needs a very close look and real revision. Cherriots will need to center bikes and those who ride them a good bit more in order to avoid bikewashing with merely decorative bike facilities.

Prospective new service areas

Bus stops with features and amenities

In the discussion of more frequent service, the Plan prefers to discuss what it calls "High Capacity Transit" instead of full Bus Rapid Transit. This appears on the surface to be a compromise, and it will be interesting to learn more about that.

Not quite full BRT

There is also a section on the future for the Transportation Options group.

Action items for Transportation Options

There will be more to say later. The Board meets at 6:30 tonight the 17th.