A Newport-based bus company, the only one to provide regular, direct service between Bend and Salem, shut down Monday after falling short in a safety review, according to state and federal transportation officials.

Marilyn Murphy-Dick, the owner of Valley Retriever Buslines, said she fell behind in the paperwork required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in the months after her husband, Dennis Dick, died last year. Murphy-Dick, who said she’s not sure when she can get the bus company up and running again, was apologetic Tuesday.

“It’s going to inconvenience a lot of people, but I tried,” she said Tuesday. “My husband ran the bus service for 30 years. He did a good job; he served the community, and he served the state. Those 30 years are a testimony to him, and I’m very proud of that.”

Valley Retriever Buslines had 45 days to address deficiencies in eight categories discovered in an April review, including driver qualifications, financial responsibility, vehicle maintenance and repairs and drug and alcohol testing. The company made no progress on those deficiencies and shut down Monday, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The safety audit, or compliance review, looked at the company’s federally required safety management practices, “the safety culture of the company,” and its records, said Duane DeBruyne, spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

“It’s like an IRS audit,” he said Tuesday. “We want to see the vehicle maintenance records, driver records, licenses and insurance. We want to see all drivers’ log books, drug and alcohol testing, anything that speaks to federally required safety management practices.”

If Murphy-Dick wants to reinstate service, she must start with a blank slate, DeBruyne said.

Without the Valley Retriever service to Salem, bus travelers are left with no direct link to the state capital and the coast. The four company buses ran two daily routes between Newport and Bend and Newport and Portland.

Murphy-Dick said the buses were nearly full on holidays and spring breaks. Passenger numbers were unavailable, but the Bend-Salem-Newport route was apparently popular.

“It was well-utilized,” said Karen Friend, executive director of the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, which operates the Hawthorne Station, the Cascades East Transit terminal, on NE Hawthorne Avenue, Bend. Valley Retriever, a private company, dropped off and picked up passengers at the public terminal.

Monday, Lincoln County Transit stepped in to pick up Valley Retriever passengers in Newport and carry them to Corvallis, where they could transfer to Salem, said Shelley Snow, spokeswoman for ODOT. In Bend, signs were posted at Hawthorne Station that Valley Retriever service ended Monday.

“Our first and foremost concern was that we hope no one gets stranded,” Snow said Tuesday.

If Murphy-Dick opts out of the transit business altogether, the next best option is that another private company steps in, Snow said. Other carriers have already inquired whether the state would advertise for bids, but the route is not publicly funded, said Marsha Hoskins, ODOT public transport manager for rail and public transit.

Neither was Valley Retriever subsidized by the state, although several years ago it purchased buses with a matching federal grant. The state is the lien holder for those buses and would take possession of them if the company folds.

If Valley Retriever goes out of business and no other private company takes over the route, the state could subsidize a carrier to take it up or provide service itself, as it does through the Point Intercity Bus Service. Point provides service from Bend to Klamath Falls and to Ontario from Hawthorne Station.

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com