Scott Swanson
When the bus rolled up in front of Safeway Tuesday morning, April 10, Wanda Neuschwander felt satisfaction.
After years of dreaming about it, she and other Cascadia residents had bus transportation to shopping in Sweet Home. The April 10 bus was the inaugural run for the shuttle bus, which is emblazoned with the word “Shopper.”
Ken Bronson, manager of Linn Shuttle, the bus service that serves the community of Sweet Home and routes to Albany and beyond, said things went well during the first week.
“I was pleased with the turnout and how well it worked,” he said.
The initial run carried seven passengers, he said. Two were Neuschwander and her daughter, Ashley Estacio.
“Mr. Bronson has always had an interest in facilitating this for Cascadia,” said Neuschwander, who added that she and another longtime area resident, Joyce Keeney, had long pushed for bus service.
“With his help and interest and a little bit of footwork, we have a bus.”
Bronson worked with Bob Hubler to set up a meeting on April 3 at the Cascadia Bible Church that drew about 25 people to talk about starting the service, which will run twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Bronson said runs will happen mid-morning and mid-afternoon. For details on when and where to catch the bus, call (541) 367-4775.
“From the time of pickup to the time of drop, they will have about four hours to come to town, hit all the stops, get on the bus and go home again,” he said.
Neuschwander said the need extends beyond rides to town.
“It’s not just about us being able come into town once a week,” she said. “When the weather gets better there are people who don’t have driver’s licenses who can load up the kids and come out to the swimming hole or have a picnic.”
She and Estacio said the service is “awesome.”
“Our community would really like to thank Ken Bronson,” Neuschwander said.