For almost a year residents of Forest Grove have had an easier time getting around their city without using a car. A new local bus service has been so successful that elected officials from around the region visited Forest Grove this week to see it in action.
Last August, the free GroveLink transit service began picking up riders on three different routes and has seen its ridership grow each month – from 40 riders a day in its first month of operation to more than 130 riders a day this May.
The Metro Policy Advisory Committee, a group of elected officials from around the region, has been learning about local transportation options this year as they look at alternatives to help the Portland region reduce its carbon emissions. On a hot evening this week they gathered in Forest Grove to hear about GroveLink and ride the buses around town.
Forest Grove staff and representatives from Ride Connection, the nonprofit that operates the buses, attribute the success of GroveLink to the inclusive process they used to plan the routes.
"We designed a service for the community, by the community," said Julie Wilcke, chief operating officer of Ride Connection. "We reached out to the community before we even thought about what the service should look like."
The residents of Forest Grove have also been very receptive.
"We have had tremendous community support," said Jon Holan, the Forest Grove community development director. "There was only one person, during the entire process, that objected."
The final design of GroveLink includes two regular service routes, the east and west loops, and a commuter route for the morning and evening rush hour, which travels to major employment centers in Forest Grove.
There are 7 stops on the west route and 5 on the east, but riders can wave down the bus anywhere along the route to be picked up. Riders can also arrange to be picked up anywhere in the city by calling ahead. Known as a deviation, this more personalized service means riders can be dropped off anywhere as well.
Wilcke said that GroveLink does about 5 to 12 deviations a day and the majority are drop offs – after a rider gets on they ask to be taken somewhere off of the bus line. After the first month of operation Ride Connection used the deviations to improve service.
"We listened to where people were calling for deviations and adjusted the routes to accommodate," Wilcke said.
The cost of operating GroveLink is $242,000 a year and purchasing the two 14 passenger buses cost $134,450. But there is no cost to riders – no fare is needed to ride.
The GroveLink buses have big, cushy seats and the drivers are friendly. During the MPAC tour the driver got out and helped a regular rider with her bags and joked that she needed to be on her best behavior because they had guests.
The east and west loops mostly go through residential areas including the historic districts in town. GroveLink also provides service to Forest Grove High School and a nearby health clinic that did not have transit access before.
According to Elyse Brouhard, Ride Connection's staff person in charge of GroveLink, specific stops and routes were chosen to ensure that low-income and elderly housing developments had access to GroveLink. Providing this transit access for traditionally carless populations is the reason GroveLink was created and why federal funding for the bus service was secured.
A 2011 study by Nelson-Nygaard found that Forest Grove has a larger share, compared to Washington County and the Portland region, of elderly, youth, disabled and low-income residents that rely more heavily on transit.
Comments and questions from MPAC members attempted to find out if GroveLink could be a model for complementing TriMet service in areas that are underserved by the regional transportation agency, allowing for those last mile connections between a TriMet stop and the rider's final destination.
“This can be replicated in any community anywhere,” said Elaine Wells, Ride Connection executive director. “As long as you listen to your community and their needs.”