The Salem Area Mass Transit District’s board meets Thursday, June 22, to discuss adopting its budget for the next year, which includes implementing electronic busses and fare payment via phone app, and a donation of bus passes to local nonprofits.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be in person at the Senator Hearing Room at Courthouse Square, 555 Court St. N.E. The public is invited to comment in person during the meeting, over Zoom, or written submitted via email or mail. Comments are limited to three minutes, and can be about anything relating to the board.
Written public comments are accepted until 5 p.m. Thursday to [email protected], or by mail to Attn: Cherriots Board, 555 Court St. N.E., Suite 5230, Salem, OR 97301.
The meeting will be live streamed by Capital Community Media.
READ IT: Agenda
Adoption of budget
On Thursday, the board will consider adopting its proposed 2023-24 budget, totaling over $133 million. The Cherriots budget committee approved the budget on May 2, which has $95 million appropriated for expenses including operations, staffing and development, and $38 million in unappropriated funds and reserves.
The proposed Cherriots budget is funded using $14.7 million in local property taxes, at a permanent rate of $0.7609 per $1000 of assessed value. The budget also includes $52.7 million from federal and state grants, along with other grants and donations.
Operations is the largest expense at $60 million total combined using general, capital project and transportation programs funds.
In the coming year, district plans include the district plans to introduce a fleet of ten zero-emission electric buses to make Route 11 all-electric, and introduce an electronic fare payment system which would allow riders to pay fare with an app.
Day passes
The board will also consider whether to donate 7,500 day passes to United Way of Mid-WIllamette Valley for the year. Nonprofits in the Salem area receive the passes from United Way to give to residents who need help getting to work, health appointments, food, shelter and emergency services.
Depending on the fare needs of clients, the cost of the donated day passes will range from $24,375 for local services to $33,750 for regional day passes, according to a meeting memo.
Cherriots has been donating passes since 2005, according to the memo, when it donated 4,000 passes. The amount was raised to 5,000 in 2016.
Survey results
In April and May, the district surveyed 237 paratransit riders and 446 riders on scheduled routes for their thoughts on bus safety, community value and areas to improve. The survey was done by TransPRO, who interviewed riders in April and May, then used a third-party call center to survey 386 community members in Salem and Keizer.
On Thursday, the board will hear the results of the survey, which overall found riders are satisfied with Salem’s public transit service.
87% of surveyed fixed-route riders said they are satisfied with the bus service, and 95% said they believe Cherriots brings value to the community.
Customers were least satisfied with bus stop cleanliness, which had 64% approval, and hours of operation at 70%. Customers ranked hours, on-time performance and price as most important to them.
96% of LIFT paratransit riders were satisfied, and 100% said they believe it brings value to the community. On-time performance had the lowest approval, at 88%, followed by comfort at 90%.
Contract for security services
The board will consider a contract extension with DePaul Industries, or the DPI Group, for unarmed security services.
The contract would not exceed $275,000, according to a meeting memo.
Cherriots began contracting DPI in July of 2021 to deter unauthorized entry into its headquarters and reduce theft.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-704-0355.
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
