This site may be easier to use if viewed in the "landscape" orientation.
 

Salem to Albany Transit Corridor Feasibility Study

Cherriots, Albany Transit and the Albany Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (AAMPO) are studying the feasibility of providing public transit between Salem and Albany. Your input here will influence how transit service is offered in this area in the future.

Visit the pages on this site using the buttons below or click "Get Started" to move through the information in order.

1
Learn about the Salem to Albany Transit Corridor Feasibility Study and the purpose of this process. 
2
When should transit operate? Consider the benefits of transit service at different times of the day. 
3
Give feedback on possible service options. 
4
How should the new service interact with other regional connections? 
5
Find out what happens next and how to stay involved. 

= Page includes questions or opportunities for comment.

Background

Today, the cities of Salem and Albany are not linked by low-cost public transit. The only options are Amtrak or the Cascades POINT bus, but tickets are four to six times as expensive as the current Cherriots Regional fare. Meanwhile, there is no transit service at all to Jefferson and Millersburg which are bypassed by Amtrak and POINT.

Image gallery contents:

Ridership Graphic

Coverage Graphic

Existing Transit Map

Transit planning beyond county boundaries

Cherriots recent transit plans have identified an affordable connection with Albany as a high priority for further study. While connecting the two urban areas is the focus of this study, service to Millersburg and Jefferson is also being considered.

Your input can influence the plan

As we explore the feasibility of a new route or routes between Salem and Albany, we want to hear about the type of transit route that would best serve your values and needs.


Ridership or Coverage?

One of the first choices we need to consider is whether new service should prioritize ridership or coverage.

Ridership Graphic

(Click to enlarge.)

We could concentrate service between the cities and towns with the most people. The bus would come more times per day and the routes would be very direct, so more people would probably choose to ride. This has the greatest potential ridership...but some areas would have no service.

We would prioritize high ridership by:

  • Targeting the busiest places where the most people are traveling
  • Running service that is direct and fast
  • Offering the highest frequencies and the shortest waits
Coverage Graphic

(Click to enlarge.)

We could spread out so that more places have a little bit of service. The bus wouldn’t come as often and routes would be circuitous and less direct. Fewer people would probably choose to ride, even from the biggest cities… but we would have provided more coverage of the area.

We would prioritize coverage by:

  • Stopping in smaller towns
  • Running a longer and more circuitous route
  • Offering service that requires a longer wait

Local and Regional Transit Map

Existing Transit Map

(Click to enlarge.)

Learn More

Existing Conditions and Choices Memo (PDF, 1.1MB) - The Choices report examines the needs and potential goals of a new transit service between Salem and Albany.


Questions

Thinking about your needs and your community, what should be the most important overall goal for a new service between Salem and Albany: providing service to more places (coverage) or getting the most people to ride the service (ridership)? (Check one.)

Transit Schedules

When should the new transit service operate? There are several factors to consider when thinking about how to schedule service in this corridor.

Considerations

When thinking about when transit should operate, there are several considerations to keep in mind:

Rush Hours

Offering the most service at rush hours is sometimes a way to get high ridership. Its success at getting higher ridership often depends on expensive parking, high gas prices and other factors that push people with 9 to 5 jobs to leave their cars at home.

Service Industry Commutes

People who work in retail, restaurant or service jobs tend to commute at all times of day and week, such as early morning, midday, or night, and especially on weekends. People with these jobs tend to have lower incomes and a greater incentive to use transit.

All-Day and All-Week

In the past decade, the U.S. transit agencies that attracted more ridership invested more in all-day, night and weekend service.

Non-Work Trips

Only one in five trips in the U.S. is a commute to work. The other trips are to run errands, go to appointments, shop, visit people and do the other things that make life complete. Those trips happen at all times of day and week.


Questions

What are the most important times to provide transit service between these cities? (Rank the following.)
Click and drag the options listed below into this box, then arrange by priority.
  • Weekday rush hours Not ranked.
  • Weekday middays​​​​​​ Not ranked.
  • Weekday evenings Not ranked.
  • Saturdays Not ranked.
  • Sundays Not ranked.

Service Options

The right type of transit service between Salem and Albany depends on the goals for the service. It could be designed to provide the fastest travel between the biggest cities, or to provide transit service to more places. Learn about possible service alternatives below and tell us what you think.


Express Service

The Express would offer fairly fast and frequent service between downtown Salem and downtown Albany. It would not provide any service to Jefferson or Millersburg, and it would not operate outside of rush hours.

Image gallery contents:

Express Service Stops

Express Service Route

Service Features

Local Stops

The Express would have just a few stops in Salem and downtown Albany with no intermediate stops in South Salem, Jefferson, Millersburg or north of downtown Albany. Having few stops would make it fast and more frequent, which makes it more attractive to people traveling between the big cities.

Express Service Stops

(Click to enlarge.)

Schedule

The Express would offer departures every 30-minutes, but only during rush-hours (7 - 9 am and 5 - 7 pm) on weekdays.

Coverage

This route would stop within 1 mile of 28,000 residents and 44,000 jobs.

Express Service Route

Express Service Route

(Click to enlarge.)


Questions

Do you think that this type of Express service option would benefit you or others in your community? (Check one.)

Intercity Route

The Intercity Route would connect the large and small towns of Salem, Jefferson, Millersburg and Albany. But departures would be offered only every two hours, and the total ride time between the biggest cities would be longer.

Image gallery contents:

Intercity Route Stops

Intercity Route

Service Features

Local Stops

The Intercity Route would make three stops in Salem, one in Jefferson, one in Millersburg, and two in Albany.

Intercity Route Stops

(Click to enlarge.)

Schedule

The Intercity Route would offer departures every two hours, between 7 am and 9 pm on weekdays.

Coverage

This route would get service within 1 mile of 60,000 residents and 60,000 jobs.

Intercity Route

Intercity Route

(Click to enlarge.)


Questions

Do you think that this type of Intercity service option would benefit you or others in your community? (Check one.)

Comparing Options

While the two options would cost roughly the same, each offers distinct benefits and drawbacks.

Express Service vs Intercity Route Comparison

Shorter waits at rush hour?

Available at midday and evening?

Faster trip between the busiest places?

More stops?

Smaller towns included?

Express Service
Intercity Route

Questions

Having considered the benefits of each, which option do you feel would best serve your needs or those of your community? (Check one.)
67% Complete

Regional Connections

A new Salem-Albany transit route could make well-timed connections with some regional transit routes.

Image gallery contents:

Regional Connections Map

Regional Connections Map

A new link in the statewide network

Salem and Albany are both places where people can make connections with regional services among the Portland Metro area, the Oregon Coast, the Willamette Valley and beyond. Regional services are used by people traveling for work, for study, to visit friends or family, to access medical services, and more. They can also be used to travel long distances across and around the state, whether people are traveling for fun, to visit family or for essential needs.

A Salem-Albany route would be useful to people traveling between those two cities, but because it would be part of a larger statewide network it could also make other routes more useful.

Regional Connections

Regional Connections Map

(Map courtesy of NWCONNECTOR.org - Click to enlarge.)


Questions

Which connections would be most important for you or your community? (Check all that apply.)
83% Complete

Next Steps

Thank you for helping to shape transit planning on the Salem-Albany corridor. Your input, and that of the rest of the community, will inform a Final Report this summer. 

The three agencies partnering on this project will also do more detailed planning and more public consultation, if and when new funding for a Salem-Albany service becomes available.

Image gallery contents:

Timeline Graphic

Timeline Graphic

Stay Involved

Consider sharing the link to this survey with other people who care about transit in the area.

More Information

For more information, visit www.cherriots.org/salemtoalbany

For project related questions or comments, contact Tracie Heidt (503-235-5881 x 116)

For general information, contact Cherriots:

Timeline

The public’s input is important to us. See the timeline below for the times we’ll be looking for your help in shaping the Salem to Albany Transits Corridor Feasibility Study:

Timeline Graphic

(Click to enlarge.)


Final Questions

(All questions are optional.)

Tell us about you

Please provide your contact information if you would like to be added to the project mailing list to receive project updates.

Demographic Information

Help us understand who is answering this survey! By answering the optional questions below, you can help us know whether this survey has reached a representative cross-section of the community.

How do you describe your race or ethnicity? (Check one.)
What is the combined pre-tax income of all the people in your household? (Check one.)
100% Complete