CET launching Saturday Community Connector service
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Shopping, running errands, visiting friends and reaching appointments will be easier with new Saturday service on Cascade East Transit’s Community Connector routes that begin next month.
Starting Feb. 1, CET will launch its first Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) project introducing Saturday service for regional Community Connector buses traveling between Bend, Redmond, Prineville, La Pine, Madras, Sisters and Warm Springs.
To commemorate this new service expansion, CET is offering FREE rides each Saturday in February on Community Connector buses and routes only.
Join CET and Commute Options staff on Saturday, Feb. 1 from 9-11 am at Hawthorne Station in Bend (334 NE Hawthorne Ave.) and from 12-2 pm at the Redmond Transit Hub (777 SW Kalama Ave.) for food, games, and prizes to celebrate regional Saturday service!
CET staff will raffle off monthly multizone transit passes and hand out blinky lights, sunglasses, and schedule information to riders.
Tammy Baney, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council’s Executive Director, noted “We are very excited to launch Saturday Community Connector service to help Central Oregon residents access employment and education opportunities, shopping needs, medical appointments, and social activities.
"Our organization is grateful to utilize Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund dollars to provide an enhanced transit system that helps alleviate traffic congestion and improves community health and livability.”
Jordan Ohlde, a longtime CET transit rider, advocate, and member of CET’s Regional Public Transportation Advisory Committee, mentioned “This is a long time coming and I’m glad we are able to start providing Saturday service to communities outside of Bend.”
Saturday service schedules are posted on CET’s website at www.CascadesEastTransit.com under News and Updates.
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Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) was designated a Council of Governments in 1972 under ORS 190. Cascades East Transit, operated by COIC, provides fixed-route and Dial-A-Ride services in Bend, Community Connector regional services, general public Dial-A-Ride services in Redmond, La Pine, Prineville, Sisters, and Madras, flex-route service in Warm Springs, and recreational routes like Ride the River, Lava Butte, and the Mt. Bachelor shuttle.
