Uh, engagement is the key, and what I believe, in my personal opinion, listening is the key, to success. Stop Requested.
This is Stop Requested. by ETA. I’m Christian. And I’m Levi. These are real conversations with the innovators, operators, and advocates driving improvements in public transportation.
Today, we’re talking about how transit. planning turns into reliable service people can actually use. Our guest is Shofi Ul-Azum, chief planning and development officer at Cherriots in Salem, Oregon. Shofi leads strategic planning, service development, scheduling, capital planning, and mobility programs for an. agency that has not only recovered from pre-pandemic ridership but moved beyond it. Today, we’ get into service planning, on-time performance, ridership growth, first and last mile connections, and the behind-the-scenes coordination it takes to build a transit system people can trust. Here’s our conversation with Shofi Ul-Azum.
Welcome back to Stop Requested. Uh, today we have a very exciting episode, especially for those listeners out there that are, uh, transportation planners or they have to wear that hat every now and then. Uh, today we’re joined by Shofi
Ul-Azum. Uh, he is the chief planning development officer at Cherriots, and he’s the leader responsible for strategic service development, scheduling, capital construction, and capital improvement planning. Uh, Shofi, how you doing today?
Good, good. I’m glad to be here. Good to see you, Christian and Levi. Yes, uh, it, it is exciting. Finally, we, we’ve had this conversation before and, you know, Shofi, uh, and I, we had a conversation, I think, at a, a conference earlier this year where, uh, Shofi, you shared with me that y- you’ve been listening to the show, uh, to Stop Requested and, you know, to you and all of those that are actively listening and, and they’ve, you know, um, listened to several of our episodes. We, we thank you for, for being a listener and supporting the show. Absolutely.
So Shofi, let’s jump into it. Uh, some of our listeners might not know who you are. It’s the first time, uh, hearing from you, uh, so they don’t know you yet. C- could you give us an introduction and, uh, what’s your role? Like, a little bit more details about your role at, uh, Cherriots? Sure thing. Um, I am the chief planning and development officer at
Cherriots. We are a public transit agency providing transportation services over a 78 square mile area in Salem, Keizer, and the mid-Willamette Valley in Oregon. We are a mid-size transit agency at the state capital, and we have a fleet size of 120, and then 22 of those are battery electric buses.
Our annual ridership is 3.6 million, and, uh, we’re one of those few agencies who have recovered from pre-COVID ridership level. And not only that, we’re actually 10% above the pre-COVID ridership level, so we’re super excited that we’re able to recover from that and keep growing. We operate, uh, Cherriots local bus service within the urban growth boundary, and w- we also offer a complimentary paratransit service within the urban growth area.
And then outside that, we offer regional express service to connect nearby small cities and major destinations. And we also offer a vanpool service, uh, in the Marion, Polk, and Yamhill County, which covers much bigger geographic area, and this service is one of the largest vanpool program in the state of Oregon. and, uh, also one of the most successful program, uh, vanpool program in the state of Oregon.
I lead, um, our strategic planning, service development, scheduling, capital planning, and mobility, uh, programs here, and my role is really about connecting the big picture vision to what riders experience every day on the system. No, I love that. And, and, and you’re very multimodal. I, uh, you know, I like that your agency have different ways to move people around. And, and congratulations for recovering from, um, pre-pandemic numbers and, and being now…
I, I feel like when a transit agency surpasses their pre-pandemic, that now you can leave the pandemic behind. You know? Like, forget about the- It is … pandemic now. Now we’re on our way. But when you have not recovered that, uh, pre-COVID ridership, it’s like, ugh, you are, you are still, like, comparing to, like, before COVID we used to be here or there. Right. But once you surpass that, it’s like, forget about COVID. We’re already over that. Yeah. We’re on our way, uh, to continue growing and, and succeeding. Uh, so, so that’s excellent. A- and I like the fact that you’re saying, so y- your role is, is really, um, you know, trying to, uh, improve the service or modify the service in a way that is gonna help the community and the folks in the community, or more people in the community to have access to what the community has to offer.
So, uh, you know, could you speak a little bit more about that connection between the planning, work and the actual rider experience? Yeah, absolutely. So you know what?
The planning, and the rider experience are really the two sides of the same coin, in my opinion. Whether it’s route design, you know, the frequency, or how quickly someone can board our bus, those decisions shape how easy and reliable our transit feels.
And our goal is to connect people to where they live, work, and explore in a way that’s safe and simple and dependable. And again, in my opinion, I, I believe that the planning, is the bridge between the unmet transit needs and the world-class customer experience. Right. And that’s the mission I live in and believe in every day I come here’ to work. Right. A- a- and, you know, um, transportation’s, uh, transportation planning work never ends because you always operate- It- … in an, in an ever-changing, um-
Environment, right? Like things are, always changing and, and, you know, kinda like problems or situations are bri- being brought up to you constantly where you have to pivot. You have to be able to be dynamic.
Um, so I wanna, I wanna understand more about the, the vision and mission, uh, in the community. For, for someone hearing about, uh, the, you know, Cherriots’ mission for the first time, how would you describe the strategy in simple terms that you’ve taken to get to your, to deliver your, your mission?
Yeah. I think we’re very much mission-driven, so our strategy’s about delivering the mobility options that people truly value, and that means building a system that connects communities and supports daily life, and evolves as a region grows.
We focus on reliability, accessibility, and making sure transit is a practical choice for as many people as possible. What we believe, and we’re committed to making transit more than just a ride, and we want it to be part of what makes our community feel connected, supported, and proud.
So, and this is what we believe, and honestly, we have those mission and vision statements in everybody’s room and offices. So every day you come here, you look at those, so you lead by those mission and vision and values.
Yeah, I love that. I, I think that’s paramount. I, I, I- Yeah … and, and, and the main thing you have to start with is, is making sure everybody understands that, that mission and that vision of the organization.
You know, one, what’s the nature of, like, what’s our purpose? W- why are we doing this, you know? A- and then. the second thing is, that is also very important, and I wanna talk to you a little bit more about this piece, which is the vision, is where are we’ going, right? Because everybody should be contributing to both and understand how their role contributes to both. And I think in some organizations there is a big disconnect with, uh, their mission and vision. Uh, particularly planners are, you know, thinking ahead. People from operations are more urgent on the moment, you know, what I need to get this bus out today. But planners have to be thinking ahead. You know, what are these developments in our community, uh, you know, requiring for us, uh, from us? So I want you to tell me, what are the biggest long-term planning goals for, for Cherriots, over the next several years? What, what are you guys thinking about or, or having your vision, right, um, a- as your planning. goals?
Yeah. And we, as an agency have a, have a goal to become a true mobility integrator. So what does that mean? So we’ currently offer fixed route service and, complimentary paratransit service, but we don’t have a, like, bike share program, microtransit program. And, uh, we have just completed our bike share feasibility study, so we’re working on the next step, how, we, can actually implement the bike share program in our area to better connect those first and last mile.
Also, we are. conducting a microtransit, uh, feasibility study to bridge those gap or finding or serving the areas where fixed route is not a feasible option or economically viable option. So our goal in the short to medium term is to develop those new type of mobility service so that will give them more options in addition to the fixed route service.
So that will help us to become the true mobility choice and, people’s choice. So people will have, uh, the ability to choose what’ fits their schedule instead of people fitting their lifestyle to our bus schedule. So I’d like, to give them those options in our area that people can choose from a menu, and I would like to al- give them those options. So to do that, we have our long range transit plan, which sets the big picture framework, what we need, um, in, in our area. In addition to that, we are right now as we speak, we’re conducting a comprehensive operations analysis basically to dissect our system, where it’s working, where we have some gap of service, where we need to improve, uh, certain areas. So we’re hoping to complete that analysis by the end of this year. And this COA will help us to guide what changes we can actually implement in the near term and to improve the customer experience and improve the system performance overall. So those are the planning work going on.
And in the infrastructure side, what we have realized, uh, and to meet the future demand and the way a city is growing and transportation ridership is growing, we have also realized from different public outreach and surveys that we may need to have more, um, transit centers. So to do that, we are working on two transit centers strategically placed within our area to improve the mobility and transit flow. So one is South Salem Transit Center, another one is East Salem Transit
Center. So those are like a long-term thing. that will help us to drive, uh, the transit needs, and then to fulfill our community needs and unmet transit needs from both the planning side and also the infrastructure development side.
Wow. That, tho- those sound very exciting, uh, right? In terms of how you’re development, uh, d- uh, developing your infrastructure for public transportation, but also how you’re looking at mobility holistically, right? Mm-hmm. Like, you didn’t say, “Well, we’re looking at how we can add more fixed route routes and then just add more routes in different places.” You’re looking holistically at different modes and, and, and- Right … thinking about first, last mile. I’ll tell you, first, last mile is such an important connection or, you know, a component of, um, you know, your, your, uh, transit system, right?
Right. Because, y- you know, we had, uh, recently one of our guests saying every trip s- it starts as a, every transit trip, it starts as a pedestrian. I think that was, um, our, the CEO from Cap
Metro, uh, Dottie Watkins- Mm … who also, you know, mentioned, you know, that, that you need to have that robust infrastructure where you’re looking at, um, using the right mobility mode to address the right section with the community where there might be a, um, a transit desert. Like, there’s not, you know, first no, uh, justification for a fixed route line and, you know, like demand is low and maybe you need to do like micro transit or, or things to be able to address that transit desert, but then put the mode that fits that, uh, transportation demand. And, and it seems from what you’re, uh, explaining i- in your vision that that aligns with the same, uh, thought process, which is, you know, having different, uh, modes of transit, ways, ways to move people, uh, you know, um, enhance your first, last mile in terms of, you know, like shared bikes and, and things like that. And then being able to, you know, expand to, to address the needs. But then on those future planning and, and I, you know, again, I applaud the vision. I could not say, um, you know, um, how good I, I believe this is. I, I mean it’s, it’s, it’s great when you’re looking at transportation holistically versus just only thinking, well, we do fixed route then, you know, let’s put a fixed route. But then the challenge is how do you balance improving what you have today, your services today, uh, but then also being able to manage that growth for the future? So how, how do you manage, you know, thinking about those two things and make it mesh at the same time?
Yeah, I think that’s a wonderful question, and I agree with you, Cristian. So sometimes those first and last mile barriers, that, those are the defining moment. We lose a lot of those transit trips because people decide other way around. So we are specifically working on that, like where the transit demand is or where the mobility demand is, and trying to fit those, uh, with proper mobility choices.
Um, you know, like understanding where the transit demand or mobility demand, I should say, is the first step to figure out what kind of services we need to provide and where. So to do that, as part of our comprehensive operations analysis, we are doing a in-depth demand forecast and demand modeling, uh, that includes not only just the census data, but also the cell phone-based data. So we have now understanding where the demand is, and this modeling will help us to better understand where the future demand might be and how good is our system right now, and where we should focus on for any future growth or development.
To do that, um, we, every other year, we do the needs assessment study internally based on the, all the feedbacks and surveys. That helps us to keep up to date with where the demand is and where it’s heading to. So with combination of both, we, we, we, we focus on improving accessibility and riders’ convenience, and if frequency is the issue or is it the coverage issue. So we’re always trying to find those balance in what we can implement in the short term and what we can implement in the long term because of the financial constraint.
What we have learned, uh, Cristian, recently that only 12.5% of our riders need a transfer. So what it means is we’re doing pretty good right now, uh, to offer services to the major destination where people want to go or they typically go. But I think in my, um, priority is not just the existing riders, but also attracting the new riders.
So with all those, uh, new mobility options and the outcome of the potential COA end of this year will help us not only bringing new riders, but also maybe making it so convenient and user-friendly so that our existing riders will use our, uh, system more. I know ridership is the only one parameter out of the whole umbrella of customer experience and, um, the way we measure the success of any agency, but I would like to focus on it’s not just the ridership,
I think how we deliver the service and how essential is our service for people to get to their destination for their day-to-day life. And we hear this pretty much every outreach and, uh, how chariot service are helping them to go to doctor’s office, to go to schools or work, um, and how they’re really relying on our system. So finding that balance is really critical, and w- the way we do it, we rely on the data for sure.
I love data to make any decision, but that’s not the end. So we also engage and listen our communities, not just the riders, but the communities, what they want and how we can bridge the gap and what we need to do to make it more convenient and user-friendly system for them. So the balance is, yeah, it’s we, we rely on the data, and we look at the community input to make some Adjustments, it could be a short-term adjustment. Sometimes some adjustments requires, uh, money. Like, for example, like our, uh, weekday service, it’s already picked. I mean, if we’d like to increase any weekday service, we need not only revenue hour increase, but also infrastructure, like we need to buy more vehicles.
So, and th- which takes more money. So, and it’s hard to implement right away. So, um, these are the balance to, and our needs assessment helps us to find those balance, what is the immediate need, and what are the financial constraint in there, and what we can implement when money comes in. This episode is brought to you by ETA. Legacy CAD/AVL systems were designed when on-prem servers were the only option. Today, agencies need systems that leverage modern technology that are faster to deploy, easier to use, and built for constant change.
ETA was built to replace the old model. ETA’s web-based CAD/AVL platform works in any modern browser, connects seamlessly to what you already have, and eliminates vendor lock-in. No server rooms, no fragile workarounds, just a modern command center that scales with your operation. The next generation of CAD/AVL is here. Learn more at etatransit.com.
Well, Shophie, it sounds like public engagement is a pretty big part of your process. I mean, just in the few minutes that we’ve been talking, you’ve, you’ve mentioned it- Yeah … several times, that you have been- Yeah … out into the field. You’ve talked to people who are using it, people who aren’t using it, and I’m assuming ask why. Can you get, give us some more depth as to what your public engagement process looks like?
You know, where do you go? Do you hold charettes? You know, what, what are those sort of techniques that you do to be able to pull the information o- out from the riding public? Yeah, and engagement is the key. And what I believe, in my personal opinion, listening is the key to success.
And we use surveys, which includes the rider survey and community survey, and we use outreach events. Our outreach department and marketing, marketing department, they go out and, uh, share what kind of services that we have. And also on the planning side, we do outreach as part of different kind of projects, like we’re doing for microtransit, like, uh, for comprehensive operations analysis, origin destination service. We also try to engage with our riders and communities through outreach events, ongoing community events to understand what matters most to riders and also other community members. You know, we understand that not every request can be fulfilled or implemented right away because of the financial constraint, but at least those conversation helps us to prioritize, uh, the need and also make better decision.
And sometimes, uh, you see, like finding the common ground and, and what is the most important thing at this point is really critical and help us to fulfill some of those unmet transit needs. And we do this on a regular basis. We al- we are always in touch with our customers, and non-customers in this case would be the community members who value transit system in our area, but they don’t use it, and oftentimes we try to understand, okay, what are the barriers? And what we have heard, the barriers is like, like as you say, like from my home to the bus stop. So it’s, it’s already one mile away, so I’m not gonna try that. So we’re trying to bridge those gap. Okay, what can we do? So that’s why we’re focusing on multimodal options to bridge those gaps based on the feedback that we have received from the people. And some people saying, “Hey, I’m not, I’m not gonna use the fixed route system because it doesn’t fit my lifestyle or schedule.” But, and then we explain, like, “Would you be interested in microtransit? It is something on demand, very flexible, and you can call the service and make the reservation whenever you need to.” And, and certain group of people in our community is like, “Yeah, I will try this.” So, and all that to say, it’s really essential to listen to your community to make a better plan and come up with a plan that actually works and, uh, for your community, not only just the riders, but also the non-riders.
Yeah, it, it sounds like that, that public engagement effort is, is, is pretty extensive on, on your part and on Cherriots’ part. Uh, you know, regarding the, uh, the on-demand, uh, portion of your, your services, I, I… and it sounds like what you’re trying to do is provide that good foundation of transit service that’s, that’s frequent, and if it’s not frequent, at least it provides the coverage to be able to get you to a, a frequent line.
I, I know that those types of changes don’t happen overnight. Do you feel or do you think that the, uh, community, uh, understands what the, the timeline is for, you know, doing a study and then being able to get the funding and then, you know, roll out the service?
Or is it, like you said, you know, trying to find some common ground? Yeah, absolutely. So, um, the, those studies are still in progress. We are, uh, in, uh, in the engagement process for microtransit. We’re gathering feedback.
Um, and even the last week I was presenting this, uh, to NAACP. We’re engaging all, uh, all communities in our area, person of color, minorities, and, uh, immigrants and everybody because I want to provide or develop a service that works for all. So to do that, um, yes, that is one of my goals, that to explain what this program is and how this can be beneficial for them, and we are gathering feedback. Uh, we’re using consultant service as well, gathering feedback from people and explaining the project and explaining what is on-demand service. What we have realized that since there was
In the recent past, I think we had a pilot back in 2017, just only for one year. Uh, but other than that, on-demand is pretty much a new concept in our service area. So one of the biggest thing that I’m emphasizing on explaining what it is so that people understand. So far, we have received really good feedback, positive feedback from our riders and our other community members about those on-demand service and micro mobility, like bike share options.
So the, all of those are positive, but, uh, uh, at end of this year, we’re gonna have more concrete answer, like, uh, how actually we can implement those. And I have already a state funding for the very question that you asked. It’s about, okay, so now we have recommendation from the COA and, uh, micro mobility and micro transit, what to do next, right?
So if the recommendation is, yes, let’s do it, what is the timeline? Okay, what are the, what, what are the logistics that we need to have in place? What kind of funding source that we have? And, and to answer those, w- I have already a project in line, and funding also, to develop a mobility integration plan. So it’s gonna be combining all those recommendations and how we can implement that. So w- yes, we will be communicating those with the people. So one of the things that I believe, the key, it’s not just engaging with people, but what you have done post-engagement, because people would like to know what happened. Chariots did all the survey, and then what happened after that? So that’s my goal, is to go back to the community that we have heard your voice, and we have developed this plan, and this is the timeline, and we can implement those within the next three to five years. We can implement those in three to s- and, and, and five to 10 years. So my goal is to go out and then share that plan, uh, with the community so that they have clarity and, and they understand. And I’ll also explain why some of those are, uh, critical and why some of those will take longer time, and just because some of those are financially constrained. So my goal is to explain the why so that people feel like their voices are heard and matters.
So to do that, that, yeah, so it’s gonna happen maybe sometime next year, because by the end of this year, we’ll have all the study complete and recommendations will be available. And then this mobility integration plan, which is basically the implementation and what we can implement when and how, what kind of funding we’ll need, and we’ll go back and share this information pub- with, with public, and, um, so that will be helpful, uh, for us. Uh, Shofi, when you’re doing these public engagement efforts and, you know, you’re, you’ve got consultants involved who are looking at the data and trying to project where the demand is going to be, is there anything so far, and I know it’s still ongoing, but is there anything so far that has surprised you about, uh, your service area or about the riders that are using the service? Uh, maybe even feedback that you’ve received from those public engagement efforts. Yeah. And the first thing that I would say, our riders, they really value our service, and they really appreciate the service that we provide.
Uh, one of the recent surveys that we have completed that shows, like, 90%, 92% of our riders actually depend on chariots to get around, and 82% of those use it for work, shopping, and recreation. So all that to say, what we have learned is it’s really important and critical for us to focus on our service reliability and accessibility, because those people really relying on us. And with that connotation, and my division particularly paid, uh, a lot of attention and efforts to improve the service reliability. And I’ll share this with you, like right now, our on-time performance is 90%.
So, which is you can say, is really high, uh, if you compare with other transit agency. And it is not a surprise, or it just didn’t happen overnight. It’s very intentional approach and effort to improve the service reliability, and right now we’re sitting at 90%, which is a huge improvement from about three years ago. Yeah, and, and some might, uh, find it unrealistic for bus to- It, it might, yeah. I mean.
They’re like, “How are you measuring that, Shofi? Is that, like, 5 to 10? You know, 5 early, up to 10 minutes late?” Because those- Yeah
… those numbers… Yeah. It, yeah, and it’s five minutes late, and it’s ch- pretty standard. But yes, but and, and as I say, like, we have invested a lot in those. Route 11 is the longest route in our corridor.
It offers, like, s- serves more than half a million rides a year, so we understand how critical it is and to connect with employments and other key destinations in our area. But this route consistently suffers with on-time performance, and it was in the early ’70s.
And then we deployed a transit signal priority system late, uh, 2025 with the goal to improve the on-time performance at that route. Um, and we deployed the technology, and so far we have received positive feedback, and we’re sitting at, um, about 80% on-time performance on that, uh, Route 11. So-
I- is, is that a BRT line, or is this- It is not a- … a regular? No, it is, we don’t have a BRT line, but it is very high frequent, 15-minute service, uh, on that route. So, uh, it’s, it’s, it’s also the longest route in our system. So it’s high frequent service, but we don’t have
BRT here. But, but, uh, what, what steps did you take to be able to get it to that level of on-time performance? Because that, that’s quite impressive. Did, did you have to change running times? Like what- Yes … what did you find to be, like, before you guys make that, that, uh, improvement, where did you find the, the challenges, and how were you able to, you know, make the changes that are giving you the results you’re getting? Sure. And specifically to Route
11, and we addressed some of the schedule issues, so we adjusted our schedule to get back on track. And also deploying the TSB that, that is helping as we speak, helping us to get back to better on-time performance on Route 11.
But in general, uh, for the system-wide, what we have discovered is the l- the early departure was causing us a lot of those issues.
And, uh- Uh huh … this is something actually, Christian, we can control. We mean agency can control. So we identified the issue, and then we worked with our operations department, and it’s a c- it was a collaborative effort. And we addressed a memo and basically requested operators they should not leave the time points before even one second, right?
And so that helped us to reduce the early departure significantly. That helped to contribute the on-time performance, uh, going up, uh, a lot.
In addition to that, I think, uh, overall schedule adjustments. Every ser- we do three service change a year, so every service change we try to adjust and enhance certain areas and certain routes based on the feedback or based on our data that we, our staff analyze every quarter. So it’s a combination of schedule adjustment and deploying technology like traffic signal priority and, uh, and also like working, uh, on issues like early departures. So it’s a combination of all those factors that helped us to achieve that 90% on-time performance.
You know, one of the things that I, I think is, is critical from what you said is the collaboration with the operations department, right? Yeah. Because sometimes if you and a planning team work in a vacuum, and then you identify things because sometimes, being honest, I… you find both the planning and the operations department pointing fingers.
Um, planning says, “Hey, the plan is perfect. If operations was to operate according to the plan, we should be 100% all the routes. I mean, everything would be perfect.” And then sometimes the operations team will be like, “Oh, these people from the planning team, they don’t know what they’re doing. The running times are not, you know, uh-” Right. “… considering times of the day.” Yeah. “They, they’re not… you know, they need to give us more time.” You hear a lot from bus operators, “They don’t give us enough time. Just give us more time and more time.” Like you could just- Yeah … like give time away like that. Like, yeah, 10 more minutes over here, 10 more minutes over there. Right. Additional recovery time. You know, you, you, y- but, but i- in order to make, uh, an impact a- and, and drive success, to me, the key is that collaboration.
Yeah. And you said something, you know, there were some memos, there were some conversations with operations and saying, “Listen, earlies are under our control.” I mean, you’re… a- and then the thing is you do have to understand also the nature of the earlies because a lot of the drivers, uh, they, they kinda, they’re captains of their own boat, and then sometimes they have information that you don’t have, right? Mm-hmm. I, I remember being in this situation and hearing from a driver,
“Listen, I have to leave early because if not, I’m gonna hit late all the other time points, and like all these people are gonna get aggravated.” Mm-hmm. “So I always leave like a couple minutes early, see that nobody’s coming for the stop, and then I have to go.” Because then you know how one trip is impacted by the previous one, and just like that, like it, it snowballs. So they kinda like make their executive decision to sometimes leave early from certain time points, not just because they wanna have more time at the end of the line or, or, you know, i- in a selfish, uh, as a selfish decision, but because they know they’re gonna help their riders better by doing so. So having that collaboration and understanding of the drivers, the community, but like work in concert with the operations department is critical to make sure- Yeah … that those efforts that are coming from the planning team are actually resulting in success.
That’s right. So, um, um, Shafi, let’s talk about, uh, let’s go back and, and speak a little bit about the future. And, and, and I wanna ask you, as we go into the future a- and we start talking about success, uh, how you, you define success in, you know, these plans in our organization, uh, Cherriots. is successful.
Uh, but, but I wanna ask you, you mentioned earlier about the transit centers that you have in the, in, in the roadmap, kinda like they, they’re coming along.
Um, are those already 100% funded and like almost a reality? Or, uh, you’re shooting for those, making all the efforts, but you have contingency plans for if, if those don’t happen, right? Because I would imagine with new transit centers, you might move your routes around and, and- Mm-hmm … kinda like do your routing differently.
Co- could you tell me about how that is gonna impact your network once those transit centers come in place, and if you have contingency plans if for some reason they’re not funding or, or don’t, uh, become a reality?
Absolutely. Great question about. And yes, uh, for the South Salem, Transit Center, so we’re further along. We just finished the land acquisition. Uh, we are actually in the final step of finishing up the land acquisition. So that project is happening, and we are in the final design phase. Wh- which one is that one?
The, is that the north- South … or the east? I mean, the- No. South Salem Transit Center. Oh, that’s the, that’s the, that’s the south, uh, transit center. Okay. Yeah, South Salem Transit Center.
So, um, and that project is, um, is further down the line. So we have the land, and we’re in the final design process, and, uh, maybe sometime late next year we’ll begin the construction. So that is further along.
For the East Salem Transit Center, we’re just, uh, we have just started the site selection phase, so we’re pretty preliminary phase on.
that one, and we’re hoping to complete that site selection phase by the end of this year, and then we’re gonna begin the preliminary engineering and all the other thing, uh, next year. So that is still a long way to go. And, uh, for, uh, for the South Salem Transit Center, we have funding up to final design, and we have some funding for construction, and we’re continuously applying for new funding, uh, for the South Salem, uh, construction phase. And at the same time, we have money, uh, f- up to, uh, preliminary engineering, NEPA, and all of those for the East Salem Transit Center. So once we make some progress on, the East Salem
Transit Center, we’re gonna continue applying for new funding source. But, uh, that, project, East Salem, is still early in the, uh, early phase of because we’re doing site selection at this point. Um, yes, you are right.
Uh, those will have a significant impact once we’ have those transit centers are in place that will help us to realign some of the routes to make them more efficient, so they don’t have to come all the way to the downtown transit centers. They can stay south, right? And this will, uh, implement… This will also help us to improve the regional connectivity. So yes, I’m really hopeful that we’ will, uh, continue those design and construction efforts for both, uh, transit center projects.
But in, in terms of, like, success, what I feel success for our system is, in my opinion, more people can rely on every day a system that is more frequent and that is more accessible, and also most importantly, integrated into community.
So that’s, that’s really important for us, and our board has a priority as well to make sure that, uh, we’ contribute to reducing the greenhouse gas impact through our, uh, better electric bus program, zero emission program, and also, uh, board has a priority for us to become a true mobility integrator, so that is also aligned with our, uh, agency, agency goal to become a mobility integrator. That’s why we’re exploring all those different options, um, like micro transit, bike share, and others.
Um, so yeah, I, I, I feel like a successful system means something that people can rely on, and, and it has to focus on both the frequency and accessibility. It’s the same old conversation, like whether you should allocate a resource to frequent service or some coverage. So we are, uh, working on that to make our system, uh, more effective and finding the right balance.
But my focus at this point in the future is to develop a system that is reliable and accessible and con-connected to the community.
Uh, you know, uh, I’m reading from this conversation, um, reliability is the, um, kinda like the, the, the secret of your success.
Uh, you talk about diminishing earlies, having, uh, you know, very timely service and caring about the ta- the, the service being on time, meaning that, you know, that’s connected to reliability. So, to me, it’s no surprise that you’re beyond pre-pandemic numbers. I mean, i- it– that’s essential to start gaining trust from people into the transit system, and, you know, what you guys have planned for the future is really exciting. I mean, your ridership is gonna be through the roof once you put these things in place.
Um, so I, I wanna ask you this, this question. If another transit leader called you, “Hey, Shafi, you know, what lessons should we take from you guys a- and your approach when it comes to planning and, and growing.
your system?” What would you tell them first? Well, I would say stay grounded in your community. Use the data and all the survey inputs and community inputs, uh, and make decision and go out to them. Like, “Hey, we heard, and this is what we have developed, and this is our plan to implement.” So that, way, you get the trust from your community and the riders, and they will feel like their voices are heard. So, Shafi, we are coming to the end of the podcast, and as a part of our, our podcast, we include a key takeaways section that we have as recurring.
Um, I have a few key takeaways here that I’ve written down a- throughout the conversation. I think a lot of them are really just gold. Uh, you tell me if you would change any of these or if I got any of these wrong. Um, Christian already took one of them, which was the reliability part, so I’ll skip that one. But you said transit is more than a ride. Uh, you, you need to make sure that your community is connected, that they’re supported, and that they’re proud, which man, that’s, that’s amazing. You said live by your vision, mission, and values, and y- it seems like it’s answering the why. Why do you show up to work every day? Right. And it, it… that’s directly embedded not only in the way that you’re designing your service, but also in the culture it sounds like that you have at Cherriots.
Uh, it’s just pretty remarkable. Uh, you also said there should be a menu of transit options that fit people’s lives, and that sounds very similar to what Dottie
Watkins, who Christian mentioned earlier, the CEO of Cap Metro, that she said. She doesn’t want people to have to fit their lives around what the transit system offers but actually the other way around. So- That’s great … uh, I think that one’s worth repeating and, you know, putting a pin in. That’s, that’s great.
Right. You also said listen to your riders. Keep your ears to the ground. And finally, that ninety percent on time performance doesn’t just happen overnight. That’s not by accident. It happens with collaboration between operations and planning. Did I miss any or did I get anything wrong? No, I think those are wonderful takeaways.
Yeah. Awesome. Uh, so now we’re gonna move into another very exciting, uh, section that we have in our show, which is a quick-fire, um, section. So we’re gonna be asking you, you know, quick questions and kinda like first thing that comes to mind, if you can give us short answers. Uh, are you ready for it, Shofi?
Yeah. Let’s go. Excellent. Let’s get started. So favorite place to ride transit in the Salem, uh, Keizer area?
Well, it’s a toss-up actually between the downtown Salem and where we have a lot of great food and a lot of events because the state capital, and some local businesses as well.
And the other option could be Woodburn Premium Outlet, so which is, uh, a top shopping destination in the entire state of Oregon. And we have recently adjusted one of our routes to, and added a stop actually right at the Woodburn Premium Outlet. So those are the top two things, uh, that I could think of, and
I go Woodburn quite frequently. For sure. Wow. Okay. Yeah. So I, I hope I can come to, uh, your community and ride your transit system, hopefully visit some of those locations, and maybe ride, ride with you.
Absolutely. Anytime. So the next one, one word you’ve used to describe Cherriots future? Connected.
Connected. Love it. A transit system anywhere in the world that inspire you when you think about where Cherriots is headed? I would say a system that integrate reliability and sustainability well, and, um, places that make transit the easy choice.
All righty. Uh, what’s one thing people might not realize about the planning work behind the transit system? Oh, this is my favorite. I get this question all the time. So it’s actually how much coordination it takes behind the scene to align the service infrastructure and the funding into one system that works seamlessly. So we put a lot of hours and efforts and time, sometimes those are unrecognized, um, that we spend behind the scene. Oh, yeah. Now, a- and, and there’s a lot of data and things to consider. Yep.
And, you know, the, the environment in which, you know, transit operates, uh, it’s ever-changing. It’s ever-changing. I mean, the, the roads, the development, you know, the, and there, a lot of, a lot of times, unfortunately sometimes the different municipalities or, you know, uh, uh, the community itself, like we don’t get to hear from them when they’re, you know, building a new development or, you know, they’re, they’re, they’re coming up with the next thing.
And then now, you know, the planning team, you know, has to figure it out. How do you serve that area? Mm-hmm. How can you better, you know, help people get to work? So it’s- Right … it’s, um… Yeah. It’s, it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work. You know, on the, on the surface people see, oh, you, you know, just do the service change and, you know- Yeah … change the time here or there, that’s it. But it, it’s a lot that, um, goes into, you know, um, building transit plans and, and rebuilding them and, and rethinking them and, and adjusting them to, you know, an ever-changing environment. So, um, you know, Shofi, it’s been a phenomenal conversation. Uh, you know, this, this, uh, it’s been an episode that I’ve been waiting for, for a while, and I’m glad you finally, um, you know, were able to jump on the show and give us, uh, some of your time and, and expertise, uh, to share with o- with our listeners. Now, for listeners who want to follow, uh, Cherriots plans and updates, uh, and, and, you know, your work, where should they go and learn more and stay informed? Yeah. I would say the best place is to start with is cherriots.org or, uh, you can also follow us on social media for updates. Excellent. Thank you. Well, Shofi, again, uh, on behalf of Levi and myself, I, I wanna thank you, uh, for joining us on Stop Requested.
And, uh, to all of our listeners, uh, we hope to have you again next Monday when we release our new episode. Thank you.