Central Oregon transit service looks to future

Cascades East Transit is kicking off a series of six open houses to find out what Central Oregonians want to see in the future of transportation.

Andrea Breault is a senior transit planner for CET. She said Tuesday public houses are incredibly helpful when it comes to development.

“I would say public input is probably the most important, because those are the folks we want to take the service. And so hearing where their needs are is obviously essential to the entire plan,” Breault said.

The new master plan looks ahead to 2040 and would go into effect in 2020.

CET riders NewsChannel 21 spoke with seemed fairly pleased with the service, including Andrea Owens, who has been riding the bus since last April.

“Actually, every bus driver that I’ve met has actually been really nice, and maybe the buses are a little late, but it’s fine,” Owens said. “But its actually great to have a mode of transportation for people who don’t have cars and people who are trying to save up, you know?”

The master plan also will also improve the connectivity between Central Oregon communities, according to Michelle Rhoads, the transportation manager for the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council.

“Central Oregon communities have grown dramatically, and it’s not just the size, it’s the changing needs and also the interconnectivity between the communities, and how we’re very connected as a business community, as well as a livable community,” Rhoads said.

The open house events are being held until the end of January.

They’ll be in all the CET-serviced communities, including La Pine, Warm Springs, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Bend.

For more information about when and where, you can visit this website: http://kaiproject.com/websites/56/meetings