Starting next week, Foster residents can catch a bus to town.
Beginning Sept. 20, Linn Shuttle will begin serving Foster with four fixed routes and two new stops.
The shuttle bus service will begin stopping at Hoy’s Hardware and Foster Lake Mall as part of its new schedule.
The bus will arrive daily at Hoy’s beginning at 6:30 a.m. Seven minutes later, it stops at Foster Lake Mall. Later stops at Hoy’s are at 9:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The Foster connections will originate at the Jim Riggs Community Center, said Ken Bronson, Senior Center and Linn Shuttle manager. They will return to the Community Center before moving on to the old routes with a stop at the intersection of Kalmia and 13th before heading west.
“I chose these spots for safety reasons, crosswalks and flashers at crosswalks so they can get across Highway 20,” Bronson said.
The Linn Shuttle runs six trips per day to three stops in Lebanon and four stops in Albany, including Linn-Benton Community College.
After returning from Albany and Lebanon, the shuttle will run the Foster leg to drop off passengers, Bronson said.
“Sweet Home is a long, skinny town,” Bronson said. “By covering Main Street, you can get to most of the people. I hear there’s a need there.”
Rides cost $1, Bronson said, and the buses are all wheelchair accessible and have bicycle racks. The service may be used by anyone.
“This is a shuttle route, so we can’t add any more stops,” Bronson said.
Passengers will still have existing options for rides, he said. “Dial-A-Bus will still run its regular schedule.”
The Dial-A-Bus program provides connections to the shuttle.
The Senior Center receives most of its funding from federal pass-through grants through Linn County, Bronson said. It also receives some money from the city of Sweet Home.
“Of course, it’s going to cost more, but we’re able to leverage it,” Bronson said. Linn Shuttle will provide more coverage,
extending the 62-mile route by four miles. The new route adds no buses and few miles but adds riders.
When Bronson became manager in April, the service added two more routes to handle the student population, he said. As of mid-June, Linn-Benton Community College enrollment was expected to be up 34 percent. The new schedule will help transport these students.
Bronson said he has ridden the buses, spoken with students, met with LBCC administrators and held a public hearing process over about three months, he said.
“It might not be perfect, but we’ll adjust it as needed.”
The new schedule avoids any holes in the schedule where there is no service, he said.
The Senior Center and Linn Shuttle have eight buses running four trips to take developmentally disabled persons to and from work. It runs six regular trips, and the Dial-A-Bus program runs from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“So decide when you want to go, when you want to be there and go from there,” Bronson said. The schedule is available at the Senior Center and on the website linnshuttle.com.
For questions or to schedule a Dial-A-Bus ride, call the Senior Center and Linn Shuttle at 367-4775.