Cascades East Transit set to roll out improvements

Cascades East Transit announced Wednesday that improvements to the regional transit system, including a new Sisters to Bend route, will be taking effect, starting next Monday.

After nearly a year of identifying needs for the Community Connector routes and vetting proposed changes with community members and stakeholders, the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council Board adopted proposed changes to the Community Connector routes late last year.

The changes will provide various schedule improvements and an easier user experience for riders taking transit to other Central Oregon communities, as well as the launch of a new direct route from Sisters to Bend.

The new Sisters to Bend bus route, Route 29, will provide three round-trips from Hawthorne Station to downtown Sisters at the following locations – near the Sisters location of the Deschutes Public Library, West Main and Oak, and Rays Food Place.

Riders have the opportunity to catch the new route in the early morning and two times in the afternoon. CET is offering free rides on the Sisters to Bend route the first week of operations, February 6 – 10.

Additional benefits of the Community Connector schedule changes include:

· Retiming Community Connector routes to a 90-minute cycle time

· Prineville – Redmond – Bend connection on a single bus

· Addition of Metolius and Culver stops on Madras to Redmond runs and deviated fixed-route in Madras and Warm Springs

· Community Connector schedules that sync better with Bend fixed-route reducing transfer times at Hawthorne Station

For more information about the Community Connector routes, visit cascadeseasttransit.com