Cities' transportation
models may help Canby
create its own bus service
By David Howell
The apparently positive experiences two Clackamas County cities have
reported since beginning their own bus services is likely to encourage Canby as it
assesses whether to start offering a city service, too.
Scott Lazenby, Sandy's city manager, said residents in his city of about 5,000 have been
enthusiastic about Sandy Area Metro since its solitary bus started its engine Jan. 3.
The $72,000 bus, which has a handicap lift and two rows of seats that flip up for
wheelchair access, runs from Sandy to the Gresham Transit Center, which connects people to
Tri-Met buses and MAX light-rail trams.
The bus, which resembles an airport shuttle and was largely paid for with an ODOT grant,
makes on-demand pick-ups in residential areas of Sandy, and people - often the home-bound
elderly - book in advance.
Even though it's been up and running for just a couple of months and only offers limited
service, SAM ridership numbers have increased from about 700 per week to about 900 per
week, the city reports. Sandy estimated about 50 to 60 people per day used Tri-Met service
to and from the city limits.
"It has exceeded our expectations," Lazenby said. "Saturday service is
surprisingly popular. We've got plans to expand the service, if additional grant support
to help the elderly can be secured.
''We're hoping to expand to half-hour service at peak periods, and then begin service
earlier on Saturdays, which is currently 12-10 p.m."
A local firm, Luxury Accommodations, won the city's contract to operate the bus and to
provide drivers. Its bid of $34 per hour was the lowest of two bidders, Lazenby said.
Sandy's move toward providing bus service actually began many years ago, but lacked focus
until Portland company Nelson-Nygaard was contracted to draft a transit system plan.
"The plan sure made the service look feasible," said Lazenby, who has been the
Clackamas County city's manager for eight years. "They helped us figure out how to
budget it."
Sandy opted out of
Tri-Met; saves tax
Numerous planning meetings were held, and Tri-Met allowed Sandy to withdraw from its
service in December 1998.
"We spent '99 gearing up, ordering the bus, hiring a full-time transit manager (Julie
Stephens) and putting up bus stops," he said.
Lazenby said the city felt existing service was incomplete.
"Tri-Met had fairly decent rush-hour service, but nothing at midday or the
evening," he said. "Our whole goal has been to complement Tri-Met's service. It
is a great resource. We just want to link better to it.
''Sandy no longer pays taxes into their system, so they, obviously, have concerns with
other communities doing this . . . We consider ourselves a feeder service, or satellite
service, and Tri-Met agrees with that."
Lazenby has spoken with Canby City Administrator Mark Adcock, Canby Community Development
Director Jerry Pineau and city councilors about Sandy's service at a recent county cities
meeting. The Canby officials said the talks were helpful.
"I thought it was very informative," said Adcock, who's also talked about buses
with Wilsonville City Manager Arlene Loble. "He (Lazenby) is very proud of that
system."
Adcock said city staff will present a recommendation at tonight's City Council meeting
suggesting an initial $2,000 feasibility study and needs survey be conducted by Portland
State University's Center for Urban Studies in April.
The thorough assessment would address who would want to use a bus service, to what
destinations, on which days, and at what times. An advisory task force would be formed
later.
"A strategy would need to be devised to try to determine what type of ridership needs
are not met by the existing bus service," Adcock said. "The whole process is
community-oriented and will be based on public inclusion and input."
Mayor Scott Taylor, councilors and others in the community have expressed concerns with
Tri-Met's costs and limited existing local routes.
A recent meeting of five key local agencies found general support for starting a bus
service, which is seen as especially benefitting seniors, students, the disabled and
low-income families.
In Molalla, the South Clackamas Transportation District has an average daily ridership of
about 100 people and a recent survey shows the public uses and likes the established
service, said District Manager Shirley Lyons.
The district subcontracts for drivers, who undergo background checks and drug testing, and
has been serving rural parts of Oregon City, Canby and Molalla for 10 years.
The bus service is funded by business payroll and self-employment taxes, she said.
Lyons said Canby may want to examine the possibility of partnering with SCTD to better
serve the region's rural residents. The city of Wilsonville has expressed possible
interest in partnering with Canby if, and when, the city begins a bus service, Adcock
said.
A coordinated and comprehensive approach would best serve people's transit needs,
especially if a proposed Wilsonville-Hillsboro-Beaverton commuter train and an Oregon City
Amtrak station move from the drawing board to reality.
Access to and from linking transportation options will give citizens greater versatility,
and may cut down on some traffic congestion, depending on ridership numbers.
Wilsonville says SMART bus ridership increases
In Wilsonville, its bus service - South Metro Area Rapid Transit - released its 1999
ridership figures in January, and they indicated more people than ever are using SMART,
which began operations in 1988.
"More and more people are becoming aware of the service and are riding it,"
interim Transit Director Steve Allen said.
The 1999 total of 171,981 passengers was more than 5 percent higher than 1998's total of
163,275.
"SMART's ridership continues to grow, but not at the pace it had in earlier years
when we expanded service," Loble said. "We're very pleased that service
continues to grow on the routes we have."
Three runs in particular are responsible for the overall increase, Allen said. Perhaps not
coincidentally, all three of those routes began offering expanded service about five
months ago.
Ridership jumped 15 percent on Route 204, which serves Wilsonville Road, Allen said. The
route added Saturday service for the first time in September 1999.
Route 201, which goes to the Barbur Boulevard transit center, also saw a ridership
increase of 15 percent. That route added three extra mid-day trips starting in September,
Allen said.
And Route 1x, the Wilsonville-to-Salem route, saw a passenger increase of 12 percent. An
additional morning round trip was added to the route in September.
The service's Salem route now makes a stop at the State Capitol, in addition to its other
Salem stops. This will save people who want to go to the Capitol an eight-block walk from
the Cherriot station in downtown Salem.
Allen said the potential is there to increase SMART ridership even further. "It's
amazing the number of people who aren't aware Wilsonville has its own transit
service," he said.
It costs nothing to ride with SMART. The only exception is the new Blazer Bus, which
operates before and after every Portland Trail Blazers home game at the Rose Garden arena.
That costs $5 per round trip per person.
SMART is supported by a 0.3 percent payroll tax on local employers. As in Sandy, city
officials point out it costs less than half the amount local employers would be paying if
Wilsonville were still a part of Tri-Met.
Wilsonville Spokesman reporter Curt Kipp contributed to this story.
Overcrowding is big
issue at Trost school
By Stephanie South
Out of all the schools in the Canby School District, Trost Elementary
School has the fewest maintenance problems.
But it does have a problem - overcrowding.
"You can really notice it (overcrowding) in the hallways, in the cafeteria, at
assemblies and on the playground," said Roberta Wiesehan, first-grade teacher at
Trost.
"With all the building going up around here it's just going to get worse. We've got
to be able to accommodate the children who are coming in."
Trost is located in Southeast Canby, which has experienced more housing and industrial
growth than any other quadrant of the city in recent years.
The Canby School District has submitted a bond measure for $30.8 million seeking voter
approval on May 16. The bond will cover school maintenance repairs and the purchase of
about 20 acres of land to build a new middle school. The land is estimated to cost around
$2 million.
"If this bond doesn't pass, it's the kids who will lose," said Brian Huggins,
fourth-grade teacher at Trost.
"If the bond fails, we'll still have to put in new roofs throughout the district and
that money has to come from somewhere. Programs will have to be cut and the kids will just
think they aren't worth the support."
Statistics taken this year by Portland demographer Judy Barmack showed large growth in
enrollment, particularly at Trost.
A new middle school would allow the Ackerman Middle School Lee campus to reopen as an
elementary school. The school is now being used as part of the middle school, due to
overcrowding at Ackerman.
A second bond attempt is anticipated in about 2004 for the construction funds.
In the short-term, the May 16 bond would allow the district to purchase or lease modular
classrooms to meet capacity issues at Trost.
"We need to have the vision for future growth in Canby," Huggins said. "The
key is to buy the land now, while it's still available at a reasonable cost - it is only
going to get more expensive."
During Trost assemblies, about three classrooms currently have to sit on the floor because
of overcrowding, Huggins said.
Another place where overcrowding is apparent is during lunchtime - there are four lunch
periods to accommodate students.
"The lunches are back-to-back," Huggins said. "Eating the first lunch is
like eating breakfast.
We just keep pumping them (students) in so they can get their food down. It's like
treating them like cattle, rather than humans . . . it's just really sad."
Huggins said when he was a student he felt there were numerous opportunities and community
support for the schools.
"Now, it's as though we have to beg the community to get what we used to have,"
Huggins said.
"I think people see the numbers rather than the individuals."
About $9,000 of the $30.8 million bond would be spent on the maintenance needs of the
6-year-old school.
Other minor maintenance needs at Trost are: Upgrade technology; rewire data and electrical
systems; integrate bell, clock, alarm, public address, telephone and media delivery
systems; provide acoustics in front hallway and gym lobby; add tackboard to halls; upgrade
elevator to meet code requirements; add electronic door locking system for student safety
and building security.
Federal lawmakers
urged to support Medicaid waiver for
Spousal Care program
By David Howell
A state senator is confident federal lawmakers heard his call to action on
the issue of saving Oregon's Spousal Care program.
State Sen. Rick Metsger, D-Welches, who represents the Canby area in Salem, met with U.S.
Reps. Darlene Hooley, Earl Blumenauer and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden during a Feb. 28-March 3
trip to Washington, D.C.
Spousal Care, an innovative 13-year state program that pays people a subsistence wage to
care for their seriously ill spouses, was recently saved by the state Legislative
Emergency Board.
Due to legislative cuts in the state Department of Human Resources' budget last session
and because the federal government would not fund it, most of the 198 families currently
receiving assistance under the $7 million Spousal Care program would have lost the state
funding of their benefits on March 31.
Wayne and Patricia Poulson of Canby, 27 Clackamas County couples, and at least two couples
in Woodburn are among the 198 Spousal Care recipients, and the Poulsons were naturally
happy to learn the program had been spared from being cut.
Patricia Poulson has fed, clothed, catheterized, moved and treated her husband since
multiple sclerosis deprived him of his mobility 56 years ago.
She said she can, has and always will provide her husband with the best possible care.
The E Board vowed to inject money to maintain the program, but legislators want to see how
much money is needed after the state rebalances its budget in April. The Spousal Care
program will not be enlarged until financing is secured.
If the program had been cut, the spouses of very ill husbands and wives would have had to
leave them to find wage-paying work, thus potentially harming family life. The state had
planned to hire outside caregivers to aid the unwell at a cost of about $1,525 per month,
about $325 more than spousal caregivers are paid.
"The E Board leadership did not want to set aside dollars, although we did get them
to agree that if we don't get (federal) waivers they will have to allocate monies to keep
the program going," Metsger said.
Metsger and the E Board are working to try to get federal waivers to allow Oregon to use
those federal Medicaid dollars for the Spousal Care program.
Metsger has already told the Oregon Department of Human Services that he has requested the
federal waivers.
Attracting and securing federal funding was Metsger's goal during his recent time with
federal lawmakers.
"They were very receptive," he said of Hooley, Blumenauer and Wyden. "They
each wrote a letter to the director of the Health Care Finance Administration, which
administers the Medicaid program, urging attention be given to the Spousal Care matter . .
. Our delegation has enthusiastically promised to use their influence to expedite these
waivers.
''That's really, really helpful. That's the kind of congressional muscle we need back
there."
The state is awaiting federal government approval of the federal Independent Choices
waiver, which will provide continuing assistance to about 60 families.
"We hope to hear within 60 days, but it could take 90 days," Metsger said.
"Everybody seems to have a sense of urgency about it."
The U.S. government is expected to approve a one-year project by July 1 that would help
pay spousal caregivers in Clackamas and four other counties. The project could eventually
be expanded statewide.
"We must make sure that families are not put through the trauma of losing assistance
and having to bring strangers into their homes to take care of their personal needs,"
Metsger said.
"Expediting these waivers is critical. While my colleagues in the Legislature
recognized the need to fund this program, I am deeply concerned that they still did not
provide specific funding beyond March 31. Spousal Care needs to be taken care of . .
."
By the end of the 1999 Legislature, 220 families were on the program, but the number
dropped to 207 at the end of December, and to 198 at the end of January - mainly because
recipients had died, Metsger said.
State Sens. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, Metsger, and Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, and state Rep.
Barbara Ross, D-Corvallis largely spearheaded the effort to save the Spousal Care program.
Hannon is chairman of the E Board's human services committee.
Canby Democrat Kurt Schrader, who is one of 18 members of the E Board, called the decision
to save the program "a big victory for healthier families."
While in the Beltway, Metsger said he also met with the Oregon Credit Union League and the
state's federal delegation to discuss credit card debt issues, and later met with Sens.
Wyden and Gordon Smith to discuss Sandy River, Columbia River and salmon issues.
