SPECIAL SERIES: High Gas Prices Taking its Toll on Salem-Keizer Residents, Businesses

For Cherriots, the higher fuel prices in Salem and Keizer has been a mixed blessing.

Photo By: Tim King

(SALEM) - With the average price of regular unleaded gas at or over three dollars a gallon in Salem and Keizer, more and more people are leaving their vehicles at home and are riding the bus. John Whittington with Cherriots says ridership is up nearly seven percent over last year, and the number of first time riders has doubled. TriMet in Portland raised all bus fares and monthly passes in January to help offset higher diesel prices. The fare increase affected all ticket types and monthly passes. There is now a 15-cent fare increase for regular adult fares, totaling in a $6 increase for a monthly pass. For students, there is a 10-cent fare increase for Youth/Student and Honored Citizen fares causing a $2 increase for the monthly pass. Whittington says right now, Cherriots has NO plans on increasing fares, even temporarily. He did say however, the board at anytime could raise fares temporarily to offset diesel fuel costs. In January the board will be looking at another general fare increase Whittington added. The Salem Mass Transit Districts current budget estimated low sulfur diesel costs at $1.51. The current price is at $2.36. Whittington said that by the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30th, they will be substantially over budget on fuel. Cherriots also tested three buses recently with bio-diesel. The buses got 4 percent better fuel mileage than those running on low sulfur diesel. However, the current price for a gallon of bio-diesel is $2.55, and would cost Cherriots an estimated $95,000 year if all buses were to run on bio-diesel Whittington said. The district is trying to get measure 24-155 passed on the May 16th primary election ballot. The measure is a five-year special option tax, in the amount of 60 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, that would provide funds to the Salem-Keizer Transit District beginning November 2006 to maintain the current transit services in the urban area and add new services as specified in the district's strategic plan. The measure would generate approximately $6.5 million (before compression is accounted for) in the 2006-07 fiscal year, and could change to some degree in the subsequent four years depending upon the district-wide property valuation. The five-year special option revenues would be added to the district's existing permanent tax base of 76 cents per thousand dollars, through FY 2010-11 only. The majority of the levy, about 80%, would be used to maintain the current level of transit services in Salem and Keizer. The levy proposal would provide the following new services over the next five years: Sunday service - operating on a limited schedule from approximately 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM; 15-minute frequencies on two more routes that are experiencing overcrowding; Development of two neighborhood transit centers, served by smaller, more frequent buses and interconnected by high-capacity corridor routes; Continued new bus shelters and bus replacement; Sunday service for riders with disabilities, on CherryLift; Increased maintenance on bus stops and shelters, district-wide. Sunday service would begin by January 2007. The other service additions outlined above would be phased in later in 2007 and in 2008. How much will the measure cost homeowners? Using the property tax levy rate of 60 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, the owner of a $150,000 home would pay $90 in the 2006-07 tax year. The levy would be in place for five years, and would then expire. (Persons can estimate their '06-'07 tax by taking their assessed value divided by 1000, times $0.60 -- properties in compression would have a lower tax).