When we heard Bend City Councilors’ concern last week that not many people ride the bus, our first thought was to wonder if any of the councilors ride the bus.

We asked. We emailed them all Thursday morning. Three responded by Sunday evening. One of the three rides the bus some of the time.

Their responses are interesting, because it gives some insight into how they think about Bend’s transportation future.

Councilor Megan Perkins wrote: “I have found it near impossible to be without a car with three kids, one who needs to be driven to school across town, kid activities, medical care, and meetings all over the place. I took the bus to school and then work for the first 30 years of my life and I would definitely take it again to get downtown or other places if it were available and convenient. My sister lives downtown and goes to school at COCC and she says she either gets to class 18 minutes late or 45 minutes early on the bus….

I don’t think any of us are asking or demanding people give up driving. Just offering up other ways to get around to help the climate and get more cars off the roads…. In my view, we need to focus on ensuring that we don’t create more congestion and therefore more damage to the climate by having cars idling in traffic.”

Councilor Ariel Mendez wrote: “My default mode of choice is to bike and I end up biking for at least half of my trips in Bend year round. Most days, even in the winter, the weather is fine. That includes all city council meetings, most city-related meetings (including at ODOT offices near the DMV), many shopping trips, and all trips to teach at OSU-Cascades… .Biking is a joy when you have a good route, and my hope is to give every household in Bend a safe route to get where they want to go without driving…. I ride transit a couple times a year, usually when another option like biking or driving is not available for whatever reason…. My wife would love to take the bus from the west side of Bend to St. Charles, but she would have to leave the hospital at 4:30 to catch the last bus back.”

Councilor Gina Franzosa wrote: “I have not taken the bus in Bend. I sure would take the bus if I had the opportunity. I was a frequent rider in Portland and other cities. Hopefully we will make a concerted effort to coordinate with our regional partners to come up with a transit plan that is appropriate for our community…. I am a fair-weather bike rider and in the fair weather, I make a few trips per day on bike or on foot (though I walk in all kinds of weather).  I fortunately live within walking distance of a grocery store and of downtown, where I’ve worked nearly the entire time I’ve lived in Bend.”

We also know Bend City Councilors were not impressed with the city’s climate target of increasing transit ridership by 2% by 2040. Two percent? It’s not much.

The bus is not something many people in Bend use regularly. In February, about 20,000 people boarded the bus on Bend’s fixed route system, or about 700 rides a day. And that’s with it being a free service. Increasing that ridership by 2% is not impressive. It’s below modest.

Councilor Mendez and others wondered if the city should have bigger targets. He said such a low target could make requesting money to do more with transit more difficult.

“Anyone who we ask to support something like increased transit, they could look at this document and say: You didn’t even expect to increase transit ridership, so why are you coming to us and asking?” he said at the most recent Bend City Council meeting.

It’s going to take something like a revolution to get more people to ride the bus in Bend. It needs to be much more convenient or driving must become more inconvenient and expensive. Cascade East Transit plans to implement fares for riding the bus in Bend. That’s not going to encourage more people to ride.