CET’s Mt. Bachelor shuttle bus offers safe, less-stress option to hit the slopes during storms, on busy weekends
(Update: Matthew Draxton adding video and comment from Cascade East Transit)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- With Presidents Weekend beginning with fresh powder, CET shuttles offer a great alternative to those trying to reach the mountain who don't want to drive in the conditions or even may want to save gas.
It is $7 one way, and $12 roundtrip to Mt. Bachelor, and the service even accepts exact cash. The shuttles run every 15 minutes during the weekends in the morning and afternoon. During the work week, shuttles run every half hour. Youc an also buy a season pass for $299 that'll give you unlimited rides.
The Mt. Bachelor shuttle starts trips at 6:30am and concludes the day with its last shuttle at 6pm. You can pay for the trip through the Umo app and scan a QR code when loading up. If you have cash, you can pay with exact change only on one-way trips. You can even buy a season pass.
Matthew Draxton is speaking to the Director of Outreach and Engagement for Cascade East Transit about the service, where funding comes from, and the benefits it adds to the community.
The shuttle service runs three separate buses frequently, seven days a week. At the beginning of the season, they run only two buses, but around Christmas time they transition to three buses as the demand rises in early January.
"that's where you see that 15 minute frequency during the weekends," said Derek Hofbauer, the director of outreach and engagement for CET. He continued, "and then we keep that generally through like Presidents Day weekend. And then once spring comes down, when springtime comes, we'll bring it down to a two bus schedule. So it's a little less frequent, but it still provides the service that, you know, people rely on and need to to get up to the mountain."
In the summertime, there is also a shuttle service. Hofbauer said, "we started a mount bachelor summer service last year. Our grant got extended for two years. This year we'll have a little more capacity to carry mountain bikes on the trails. So that one goes from to the visitor center to Winoga to Swampy Lakes.
The shuttle service is funded by a grant called the Federal Land Access Program (FLAP), a program designed to fund transit through national forests to make it more accessible. The $1.8 million of funding goes toward bus and shuttle maintenance, retiring old vehicles and buying new ones, as well as travel costs for frequent trips to the mountain.
“The fleet takes quite a beating when it goes up and down the mountain that many times," said Hofbauer. "So we’re working on getting a replacement and that’s through a combination of FLAP and then also some contributions from CET and Mt. Bachelor as well”
The program has been up and running for ten years now. Initially the program started as a way to "to take cars off the road. I mean we did 13,000 trips in just in January of this year. So you can imagine, you know, if half of those were car trips, you know, it's taking a lot of cars off the roads, helping with congestion up and down the mountain as a safe alternative to driving up there."
The service is used largely by Mt. Bachelor employees, but also mountain goers looking to have a day in the snow. Alan Hanson, a weekend and holiday patrol “All that cost savings is fantastic. No wear and tear, no gas. So, you know, it's a big, big cost savings. Be able to do this. And plus the roads like this today, I'd rather be in the biggest thing on the road than a regular car.”
Shuttle schedules can be found at Cascade East Transit website . Hofbauer said in regard to their drivers, "Our drivers are very well trained and they all have their car license and they go through extensive training and they’re the safest drivers out on the road."
"It's also great for kids", Hofbauer said, "parents to drop them off here at the park and ride it. Have them hop on the bus. They can ski snowboard with their friends all day and then they pick them up at the end of the day. it's a great way for the kids to learn how to ride transit and get a little independence." Parents can upload money onto the app so kids are able to enjoy a snow day with their friends or even get out of the house in the summer time.
