HOOD RIVER — Hood River Board of Commissioners heard regional transit plan updates at their September meeting. Kathy Fitzpatrick, mobility manager at Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD), and Amy Schlappi, executive director at Columbia Area Transit (CAT), gave reports about the Gorge Regional Transit Strategy and operations in the Hood River County Transportation District.
Fitzpatrick, senior project manager for the Gorge Regional Transit Strategy, said her project utilizes state grant funding from Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) in cooperation with transit providers from five counties: Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Skamania and Klickitat.
She reported that it was a success, allowing federal, state and private transit operators to coordinate, strategize and form partnerships. Fitzpatrick said it’s been a huge step in the Gorge’s comprehensive transportation planning, which has grown significantly since 2011 when transportation routes were limited.
All parties agreed transit needs to be on the forefront of county planning and development, as it is extremely difficult to address transportation needs once development and construction has started. Fitzpatrick said transit should even be involved in preliminary discussions about development, during steps as early as land acquisition and creating land use ordinances.
Schlappi said the implementation of the newly-adopted regional transit plan means a busy 10 years for CAT, not to mention the grants they recently won, which will add to the workload. One such grant was from the Federal Transit Administration for $6.4 million to electrify the public transit fleet and make accommodations for proper infrastructure to support electric buses.
Another was the Carbon Reduction Program Grant from ODOT, which funds an electric bike-lending program. Electric bikes and cargo bikes will be made available to the community to borrow for free through this funding.
Yet another grant was awarded for the ODOT Impaired Driving Grant. CAT can use this money to work with local taxi services to provide vouchers for people who use transit to and from Hood River when drinking alcohol in town. Each of these grants is in the beginning stages and Schlappi said they are working hard to transition into the implementation and training portions of the projects.
Additionally, residents of Cascade Locks have had issues with consistent public transit and have expressed that to CAT. Schlappi said they are currently implementing a demand response system for Cascade Locks with door-to-door service as long as community members call at least one day prior and transit is available.
After the updates, Hood River Board of Commissioners requested quarterly reports to facilitate better communication between entities. The board also requested that CAT check in quarterly about Westside development plans, or more if needed.
All parties requested more engagement so transit has more time for input on routes and vehicle access points throughout urban development and county land acquisition.
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