SAM contracts with MV Transportation to provide the City with a professional driving staff. They are the engine that makes our service top notch!! SAM would like to take a moment to recognize one of those exceptional employees. Alan McGuire-Nash is one of the outstanding employees that make up the team. Alan has been with SAM since 2015. He started out driving Mt. Hood Express but moved to the SAM-Gresham and SAM-Estacada routes. He quickly showed an ability to lead, strategize and troubleshoot so he was soon promoted to the dispatch office. Throughout several changes to the organization, SAM has been able to rely on Alan’s leadership. Alan was recently promoted to Operations Manager. In this role Alan creates the weekly schedules for drivers, handles customer service, covers driver shifts as needed and provides overall support to the staff. He is the go-to-guy to analyze best practices. When Alan is not working, he is helping his husband Dennis with their nursery or playing with his dog Myrtle. If you see Alan out and about give him a warm hello and thank him for all he contributes to making everything flow smoothly!

Ridership Stats

SAM’s overall ridership rose 16.9% in August, compared with August of 2022. SAM-Gresham provided 6,096 rides, an increase of 11.65% compared to last year. Estacada had an increase of 7.21% with 476 rides. The Shopper Shuttle provided 750 rides, increasing 41.51%.

SAM rides grew from August of 2022 by 7.6%, with a total of 878 rides. ED provided 321 medical rides (including a special travel training noted below) for an increase of 723.08%. Without the additional travel training ED increased by 135.9%.

SAM is Travel Training with Ant Farm!

On August 21-22, SAM had a travel training session for the Ant Farm youth! We provided a total of 168 rides to and from the Mt. Hood Community College where they were able to tour the facility. On August 25th we also provided transportation to another 61 students for the end of season work recognition. SAM is pleased to be able to assist young adults in learning life skills. Travel training is a service that SAM provides to anyone who is unfamiliar with public transit. It educates individuals or groups on how to board, ride and deboard safely; bus rules and etiquette; understanding schedules; making connections to other buses and the many benefits of public transit. Along with lots of learning, a great time was had by all! Although a SAM rule is that music can only be played with headphones, there may have been a sing-a-long to a few songs played by the appointed DJ. Check out the City’s Facebook and Instagram for the videos. SAM looks forward to partnering with Ant Farm and others in the future.

Oregon Conference

This year the Oregon Transit Association (OTA) and the Washington State Transit Association (WSTA) partnered together to provide a conference. Two Sandy staff and 3 board members were in attendance thanks to the generous scholarships through ODOT! Classes included trainings on compliance, contract and grant management, microtransit, customer service among many others. These conferences provide an opportunity to learn and stay up to date with the newest trends. It also provides an opportunity to network with other professionals and brainstorm. At the end of the conference the OTA recognizes individuals and agencies who have made a considerable contribution to the transit industry. As President of the OTA, Andi Howell was the presenter at the Awards Banquet.