Morrow County Public Transit's 14-passenger fixed route bus stops Feb. 16, 2024, at Port View Apartments in Boardman. The transit system is premiering a new fixed-route public bus service with published timetables, and the rides are free.

MORROW COUNTY — Residents of Morrow County can catch free rides on new public transportation buses plying the roads in Boardman and reaching out to Lexington, Ione and Heppner.

“The maps that you’re seeing are all brand new,” said Ben Tucker, transit manager at Morrow County Public Transit — The Loop.

“The Loop” refers to the service’s new Boardman route — in red on the new transit maps. Service on the red route runs 1:15 p.m.-1:57 p.m. with 36 stops in between. The same sequence starts again at 3:15 p.m., 4:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. It is an elaborate loop all over the city of Boardman.

Morrow County also is publishing maps of a blue route that starts at Hanley Energy in Boardman at 7:15 a.m., makes multiple stops in the city, then heads south to Lexington, then Ione, back through Lexington, and ends at 9:13 a.m. at the Morrow County Courthouse in Heppner. This entire north-to-south route repeats 12 hours later at 7:15 p.m.

The last piece of the new routing is the blue route more-or-less in reverse, running south to north. The green route begins at 4:45 p.m. at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner, winds through Lexington and Ione, back through Lexington, heads north to Boardman where it makes multiple stops, ending at 6:42 a.m. at Lamb Weston West. The entire route repeats at 10:30 a.m. and at 12:15 p.m.

Tucker said there is no charge to ride these bus routes.

He said the service will have a grand opening with a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony April 1, but after some testing of the new vehicles, passengers were allowed onboard as of March 11, and they have been running the new routes ever since. 

Prior to the fixed routes, the service operated as a “demand-response” system, where riders would call in for a pickup, Tucker said. That service still will operate Monday-Friday, and the new fixed routes will run Monday-Saturday. Neither service will operate Sunday.

“There has been a big financial component to this,” Tucker said. “There’s currently four brand new buses.”

Tucker said the county has hired five new full-time employees to support the expanded system, “and we’re definitely looking to hire more in the near future.”

He said funding was through grants from Oregon’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Program and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 

Tucker also said public reaction has been encouraging.

“The feedback we’ve received has been positive,” he said, “A lot of curiosity. People want to know more about it. It seems to be well-received.”

Tucker said as funds become available the county intends to provide a transit facility, and there will be a study to determine where individual bus stop shelters will be provided.

Tucker said dispatchers are trained to help members of the public figure out how to get where they need to go, and bilingual personnel are included in the crew.

Tucker said the route timetables likely will be adjusted when more is known about how to best schedule the system.

“In the transportation world there are constant tweaks as things are evolving,” Tucker said. “Some of them could be incredibly minor that the majority of people would never notice, but to stay up-to-date on current information would be wise.”

To find more information about The Loop, visit co.morrow.or.us/the loop. Email question to theloop@co.morrow.or.us or call 541-676-5667.