Cherriots | Salem to Albany Corridor Feasibility Study Project

Cherriots Local ›	Full Fare	Reduced Fare	Youth Fare
One-Ride	$1.60	$0.80	$0.50
Day Pass	$3.25	$1.50	$1.00
30-Day Pass	$45.00	$22.50	$10.00
Annual Pass	$540.00	$270.00	$120.00

Cherriots Regional 10X-50X / Polk County Flex ›	Full Fare	Reduced Fare	Youth Fare
One-Ride	$2.25	$1.50	$1.00
Day Pass	$4.50	$3.00	$2.00
Month Pass	$60.00	$30.00	$20.00
Universal Month Pass (good on Cherriots Local and Cherriots Regional)	$85.00	$42.50	$42.50

Cherriots Regional 1X ›	Full Fare	Reduced Fare	Youth Fare
One-Ride	$3.00	$1.50	$1.50
Day Pass	-	-	-
Universal Month Pass (good on Cherriots Local and Cherriots Regional)	$85.00	$42.50	$42.50

Cherriots Local ›	Full Fare	Reduced Fare	Youth Fare
One-Ride	$1.60	$0.80	$0.50
Day Pass	$3.25	$1.50	$1.00
30-Day Pass	$45.00	$22.50	$10.00
Annual Pass	$540.00	$270.00	$120.00

Cherriots Regional 10X-50X / Polk County Flex ›	Full Fare	Reduced Fare	Youth Fare
One-Ride	$2.25	$1.50	$1.00
Day Pass	$4.50	$3.00	$2.00
Month Pass	$60.00	$30.00	$20.00
Universal Month Pass (good on Cherriots Local and Cherriots Regional)	$85.00	$42.50	$42.50

Cherriots Regional 1X ›	Full Fare	Reduced Fare	Youth Fare
One-Ride	$3.00	$1.50	$1.50
Day Pass	-	-	-
Universal Month Pass (good on Cherriots Local and Cherriots Regional)	$85.00	$42.50	$42.50

When Cherriots asked the public in the past about potential future regional transit improvements, you often identified the lack of low-cost transit options between Salem and Albany, and the lack of transit to the smaller towns between these two cities.

We've begun a planning effort to explore the feasibility of a potential new route between Salem and Albany and we need your input! We need to hear from the people of Albany, Millersburg, Jefferson, and Salem-Keizer for your input on how a new transit route could best serve your values and goals.

The planning is led by Cherriots in partnership with Albany Transit and the Albany Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (AAMPO). Read on for more background on the project, listen to the recorded open house from October, and participate in our poll.

Project Background

This project is a planning study of public transit services for the I-5 corridor between Salem and Albany. This corridor currently does not have public transportation service (with the exception of Amtrak and the POINT bus service).

Historically, regional transit service funding has flowed from the state to counties, and the Marion/Linn county lines have been barriers to providing service across those lines. However, with the introduction of a new statewide transportation improvement fund in 2018, fueled by an employee payroll tax, these false-barriers are being erased and transit service is being studied on a larger region-wide basis instead of county by county. An affordable connection to these major urban areas is the focus of this study, but connections to communities in between will also be considered based on public outreach and feedback.

Background of the statewide transit network

Regional transit service currently provides access from Salem to rural Marion and Polk counties, as well as Wilsonville, McMinnville, the Oregon coast, and Portland, providing important mobility options for seniors, people with disabilities, low-income people, and the general public.

Get involved

Watch our October Open House for details on how we're creating proposals:

After you've watched the open house, take our survey to make your voice heard:

Open house survey

The statewide transit network works to ensure communities are connected via public transportation. Riders can access other transportation services via regional public transit service such as Woodburn Transit, the Silverton Silver Trolley, Canby Area Transit, Wilsonville SMART Transit, and Yamhill County Transit. However, there are currently no affordable connections from Salem to Albany that include the communities of Jefferson and Millersburg.

The I-5 corridor is the mainstay of population, commerce, education, and industry in the Willamette Valley. An affordable transit option is needed to boost non-single occupant vehicle travel.

Many people who live in Albany and work in Salem do not have a reliable and affordable transit option similar to Route 1X, which is a commuter express bus operated in partnership between SMART and Cherriots to provide public transit between Wilsonville and Salem. A new link would also set the stage for potential new links between Linn, Benton, and Lane County cities to the south of Albany. Currently, the only options are Amtrak or the Cascades POINT bus, which are four to six times as expensive as the current Cherriots Regional fare.

Connecting downtown Salem with downtown Albany would also create a link between other regional providers. For example, the Tillamook County Transportation District operates the Coastal Connector transit service between Lincoln City and Salem. Currently, people trying to get from Albany to Lincoln City have to go through Corvallis and Newport, but the connection via Salem would be much shorter. This is also true for all points north of Salem including McMinnville, Newberg, and the greater Portland Metro area.

Project timeline

We are currently on Step 2 of the first phase of this project with the release of the Choices Memo:

We've created this "Existing Conditions and Choices" memo as a result of the initial feedback we received at our October open house. Click below for a deep dive on this project:

Existing Conditions and Choices memo

Get involved

We still want to hear from you about your thoughts on this potential new corridor of transit service. Watch the recording of our open house that occurred in October, then take the short survey to make your voice heard!