In May, Transit Staff, Andi Howell and Muna Rustam attended the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) conference. At the conference, the Oregon Transit Association was named as the state organization of the year. Andi Howell holds a position on this board and both Andi and Muna were excited to be presented as the Association was presented with this award. The courses taken at the conference were engaging and inspirational

At the end of May, Transit put an electric bus in service for a day to see how this type of transit bus (made by BYD) would handle Sandy routes. This bus did very well on both SAM Gresham and SAM Estacada. Passengers, drivers and operations personnel were impressed. The bus was able to handle the routes, was easy to drive, and had a lot of power and range. Sandy continues to work with the Master Plan consultants, meet with PGE and speak with ODOT to plan for a future transition to electric. This process will require a large capital outlay and careful financial planning.

SAM services provided 11,670 rides in total, an overall decrease of 5.6% compared to May 2018. SAM Gresham provided 9,158 of those rides, a drop of 6.4%. SAM Estacada experienced a small, 4.1% decrease. The Shopper Shuttle experienced a 10.8% increase with 594 rides in May. STAR experienced a 3.5% decrease, likely due to riders choosing the Shopper Shuttle.  ED decreased from 110 rides to 66, a 40% decrease.

In April, the very important stakeholders group met to discuss Sandy’s future transit priorities. The meeting was held at the Community Center with 17 community members. Additionally, public outreach occurred in April, with both on board and online surveys. The Public Input Summary Phase One: Key Choices can be found on the Transit webpage.

Sandy staff were involved with the Mount Hood Transportation Alliance group which has begun holding their quarterly meetings at the Sandy Operations Center. The focus of this group is to prioritize transit projects, schedules and services in and around the Mount Hood Communities. The expansion of the Mount Hood Express service to Timberline Lodge arose from this group and they continue to seek solutions to the traffic and safety conditions in the Highway 26 corridor. Currently, members of this group are also interested in the “Vision Around the Mountain Plan”. Sandy is a participant in this plan and is working with other agencies, including Clackamas County and Hood River Special District to create transit service “around the mountain”.

SAM services provided 11,144 rides in total, an overall decrease of 1.5% compared to April 2018. SAM Gresham provided 8,675 of those rides, a drop of 2.2%. SAM Estacada experienced a small, 3.3% increase. The Shopper Shuttle experienced a 47.6% increase with 583 rides in April. STAR experienced a 6.7% decrease, likely due to riders choosing the Shopper Shuttle.  ED remained relatively unchanged providing 72 rides compared to 74 last year.