Financial- COPS (Official Statement/Drafts)

Home Browse Search

~ ) ~~ ~ Lack of space at Cherriot Stadon, for customers and for buses, imposes a ceiling for transit ------~riderstup-in oiir area. And we are very close to that limit at today's passenger volumes. This is occurring at a time when all of the transportation plans for our area call for substantial increases in public transit ridership as the most effective means of managing traffic flow in our area. Salem's adopted transportation plan states that the only altemative to building more streets and widening existing ai*_erials is to substantially increase the public use of alternative modes of travel. Cherriots has been called upon in planning documents to as much as quadruple its peak-hour passenger loads, a goal which, if inet, would add over 20,000 daily trips to the system. The call for enhanced public transit is not limited to Salem. Urban areas arsoss the Northwest, and across the country, are looking to new land use planning methods and public transit enhancements as a means of reducing the tremendous investmem in stree:s and infiasti acture that growth will otherwise necessitate. Portland has invested billions of dollars in bus service improvements, dov~mtown transit facilities, and light rail service. Eugene is in the consbuction stage of a new, off-street transit center in their downtown area, and is preparing to make a major investment in a"bus rapid transit" system wluch will double its passenger capacity. And in Salem, the Transit District is actively developing service improvements and ridership incentive programs which, within the next two or three year timespan in which Courthouse Square might be developed, could raise Cherriot riderslrip to between 18,000 and 2Q000 riders per day. The existing Cherriot Station could not, and does not, fit into this scope of growth in the Cherriot system. The Cherriot Station is not sufTciently ADA-accessible. When unloading riders in wheelchairs, the rear-door wheelchair ramps frequently extend in place too close to one of the station shelters, necessitating the reloading of the wheelchair rider and jockeying one or more buses into a position where the ramp can clear the shelters. This moving of the buses is . dangerous to persons on the island, and can easily make the person in the wheelchair feel awkward and embarrassed. The tight front-to-back atignment of buses in the lanes precludes the use of the Cherriots' popular bike racks at the station. Bike riders who arrive at the station to load their bike are asked to move to one of the few other bus stops in the dovmtown area. Further, when a bus breaks down while in one of the lanes, all others behind it are immobilized until repairs can be made or the stalled vehicle is towed out of the way. The lack of passenger amenities is a disservice to our customers, and is a significam disincentive to attracting new riders. There is virtually no seating on the station There is no lighting to provide security in the new, later evening hours of service. There is insufficient weather protection for the numbers of people who are using the facility, and none of the shelters are heated. Not the least of the deficiencies with the current transit station is the fact that the District has been mandated by the City af Salem to vacate Cherriot Station in order to restore needed traffic capacity to I~'igh Street. The formal request was initiated by the 11Rayor and council in 1993, and sought to have the area cleared by 1995. At the request of the District, the time has been extended to allow the Courthouse Square process to proceed. The city's position is not