Study: Public transit important

How much are people willing to pay for a ride on a Baker City trolley? A buck or two, a survey says.

How far would a Baker County resident walk to catch a bus?

No more than three blocks — and most of us prefer to walk only a block or two, or not at all.

Those topics and plenty of others are part of a Coordinated Transit Plan for Baker, Union and Wallowa counties, a plan uanimously approved Wednesday by Baker County Commissioners.

Among the 341 people surveyed by Cole through newspaper advertising in the three counties, 30 percent said that without public transportation, they’d have no transportation at all.

The primary destinations for area residents who use public transportation are medical appointments (22 percent), shopping (21 percent) and social services (12 percent).

Thirty-four percent of those surveyed said they use public transportation at least once a month, 31 percent said weekly and 6 percent hop aboard daily.

Cole also surveyed the business community to find out what business leaders think of Northeast Oregon’s public transit service.

Seventy percent rated the service either excellent or good, but 82 percent said that probably none of their employees use the service, which in Baker County is provided by Community Connection. Further, 59 percent of respondents said the saw no opportunity for increased usage of public transportation for their employees.

Forty-one percent of business leaders said that even if routed bus service were nearby their business, they wouldn’t allow flexibility in their employees’ schedule to utilize the service.

Half said their company would be willing to sponsor advertisements to support the local transit service.

Nearly 59 percent said their company would not be willing to purchase monthly public transportation passes as a benefit to their employees. But some companies, including Ash Grove Cement Company in Durkee and Baker City businesses Old West Credit Union, New Directions Northwest, Sterling Savings Bank and Behlen Manufacturing said they’d like further information on the topic.

Cole said that Baker County residents turned in more responses to the survey than either of the other counties. The survey appeared in the Baker City Herald, the La Grande Observer and the Wallowa Chieftain.

Baker County residents accepted about 20,000 transit service rides last year, a number Cole said will probably increase with the July 13 introduction of the fixed-route trolley.

“Community Connection is wise to have a high-profile bus,” he told commissioners.

Cole also credited the agency for its long history of providing people rides at a reasonable price.

“You can put Community Connection in the ‘You don’t have to worry about it’ column,” he told commissioners.

“The issue is always ridership,” said Fred Warner Jr., Cole’s successor as chair of the board of commissioners. “Mary Jo (Carpenter, who runs Community Connection of Baker County) has always been very good at making sure we are serving the people with the greatest need.”

Union County Commissioners approved the Coordinated Transit Plan Tuesday. Wallowa County Commissioners are scheduled to take up consideration of the plan Monday.