The Yamhill County Transit Area extended its bus routes out of McMinnville, providing students and residents with more transportation options.
The extended bus line runs to Tigard, where passengers can catch the WES Commuter Rail, which meets up with the MAX Red Line in Hillsboro.
Using the MAX lines, passengers can go, for instance, to the Portland International Airport — a common destination for Linfield students.
“The connection makes a convenient way to get to the airport, without the hassle of short- or long-term parking,” Professor of Anthropology Thomas Love said.
Love often commutes to Linfield on the new bus route.
Route 44, the regular bus route, runs several times a day Monday through Saturday between McMinnville and Tigard. Route 45X, the new express transit, runs from the Tigard Transit Center to Linfield, but it is only offered once every weekday morning, with a returning express bus in the evening.
“Taking the express bus between Tigard and Linfield College is only 55 minutes, just 10 minutes more than a trip in the car,” Love said. “It is aimed at faculty and staff who commute down Highway 99W from the metro area, but it could be used effectively by students, as well.”
In addition to routes 44 and 45X, another bus route was added that runs from downtown McMinnville directly to the MAX in
Hillsboro.
The extensions are
funded by state grant money, in partnership with Linfield, Yamhill County Transit Area and Oregon Mutual Insurance Company.
“We’re in this narrow window where we have this subsidy,” Love said. “But that isn’t going to last
forever. Now the goal is to build ridership.”
Bus routes and the MAX are also inexpensive and gas-efficient forms of transportation. One-way daily passes are $1, and 10-day passes are $15 for all bus routes.
“This is a unique opportunity to support sustainable transportation alternatives,” Tonya Saunders, transit manager in Yamhill County, said.
Full details on routes and schedules can be found at www.yctransitarea.org.
Shawn Fisher
News reporter Shawn Fisher can be reached at [email protected]
