Total ridership this month was 11,526, an increase of 5.9%.  The SAM-Gresham ridership increased by 7.9%.

The SAM Estacada route experienced a decrease of 34.7%.  This route experienced significant changes in November.  Ridership is incrementally increasing each month and has grown by 23.6% since January.  We expect the ridership to continue to rebound.

STAR ridership decreased by 1.2%.  Elderly and Disabled ridership on STAR remained high at 65%.  The Elderly and Disabled program (out-of-town medical rides) experienced an 8.4% increase in ridership as compared to March 2016.

The new Shopper Shuttle experienced a 22.2% increase over last month.  This route has grown by 92.5% since implementation.

Sandy staff attended an ESL class at the Sandy library for transit training.  Staff demonstrated how to schedule a STAR ride one week and took the class on SAM field trip in town the following week.  7 adults and 11 children were trained during the course.  Sandy also added Language Lines to SAM services in an effort to remove the language barrier and better communicate with ESL passengers.  This will allow staff to conference call an agency equipped with interpreters of 222 languages.

The TAC committee had an especially productive meeting with a variety of input from the members.  Heather Michet presented a list of creative ideas for TAC members to be involved and disseminate information in the community.  Caren Topliff shared her experience with the STF process and the funding received.  All members engaged in a vibrant discussion regarding ADA compliance and the service animal policy.  Due to some recent confrontations with passengers regarding the rights of their companion and/or service animals, Sandy staff has decided to take the focus away from eligibility as a service animal and focus the importance on the behavior of the animal and the owner.  All animals will be asked to be leashed and/or contained while on Sandy vehicles and will be removed, regardless of ADA status, if not under complete control of the owner.  By focusing on the behavior of the owner and animal, all passenger’s rights are respected.

*Updated by Andi Howell May 3, 2017 due to ridership data update.

Total ridership this month was 9,195.  Overall ridership decreased by 12%.  The SAM-Gresham ridership decreased by 12.8%.  SAM-Estacada ridership was 510 which is a 41% decrease from the previous year.  The SAM-Estacada route experienced significant changes to the route in November.  Although 510 is 41% decline from the previous year, it has steadily increased in ridership each month since the implementation of changes.   There was 21% increase since December 2016 and a 22% increase over last month.  We expect the ridership to continue to rebound for this route.

STAR ridership decreased by 4%.  Due to weather, there were a few days when STAR was for life sustaining services only.  Elderly and Disabled ridership on STAR remained high at 65%.  The Elderly and Disabled program (out-of-town medical rides) experienced a 12.8% increase in ridership as compared to February 2016.

The new Shopper Shuttle experienced a 57.5% increase in ridership since the December launch.

Sandy staff spent many hours preparing for the State Special Transportation Fund (STF) and Federal 5310 program grant cycle. Anticipated funding amounts were announced in February.  Both STF and 5310 experienced decreased funding for this biennium at 12% and 16% reductions.  Sandy Transit took the bulk of the funding loss in vehicle replacements to keep STAR, ED, Estacada and preventative maintenance funding as steady as possible. This biennium will be difficult and some policy changes may need to be made, especially to the Elderly and Disabled program as the demand for medical and life sustaining rides into areas outside of the Sandy area continues to increase.

The grant agreement for the ITS equipment for SAM and MHX buses is now in place and an RFQ will go out soon.  The Department has met many, many vendors and had the privilege of Joe Knapp’s presence at the last demonstration.  This proved very helpful with data capacity information and the possibility of self-hosting the data that is collected.  ITS equipment will allow real time arrival data, on board automated announcements and upgrade data collection for much improved reporting.

Finally, the minivan that was surplused last month sold for $10,000.  The company that won the bid provides medical transportation in the Portland area and are very excited to buy the other minivan when it is posted.