Businesses and agencies including the Cherriots are limiting public access to help stem spread of the virus. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)
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Local bus service is expected to roll out again across Salem and Keizer on Tuesday, but Cherriots won’t run as often and nine routes still won’t see a bus.
Cherriots shut down service on Tuesday, March 31, after employees tested positive for COVID-19 and so many drivers were calling in sick that the agency couldn’t run. The modified service will include 17 routes, with most in the city running on an hourly basis.
The Cherriots also will restore express service to Woodburn, Dallas and up the Santiam canyon to Gates.
The Salem Area Mass Transit District was the only public system in Oregon entirely to shut down, and the plan Tuesday is for limited service for people going on essential trips.
“The level of service the district can provide this week will be reduced significantly and seating on buses will be limited to allow for social distancing,” the agency said in a statement.
Cherriots considers “essential trips” to include those for riders to get to medical appointments, pick up medicine, get to work or do “critical grocery shopping.”
The revised service with times and routes is available online at www.cherriots.org/temporaryservice.
The transit district said it is conducting a deep cleaning on the buses and will still require riders to enter by rear doors. No fare is being charged.
Riders waiting to board also will find markings at transit centers to help them maintain the recommended six-foot spacing between people, the district said. The buildings at the transit centers remain closed, however.
And seating will be limited on each bus to space out riders, with exceptions.
“If a parent and child or a couple, for example, are traveling together, they will sit together. If all the available seats are occupied, the bus becomes drop off only until a seat becomes available,” said Patricia Feeny, the district’s communications director.
The routes that won’t see service restored yet include the commuter shuttle to Wilsonville.
West Salem loses service on three routes – 16, 26 and 27 – that serve the West Salem hills.
Other routes remaining out of service. Include Route 6 and 18, serving parts of south Salem; Route 12, which circulates in Keizer; Route 12, running from the Keizer Transit Center to Chemeketa Community College; Route 22, which loops from the downtown transit center to city hall; and Route 23, which serves northeast Salem.
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