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Cherriots Home | News | Capital Projects | Bus Purchases
Bus Purchases
Project Description
Salem-Keizer Transit purchases buses for the Cherriots fixed-route service, CherryLift ADA paratransit service and CARTS rural programs. Cherriots fixed-route buses operate within the Salem-Keizer Urban Growth Boundary. CherryLift ADA paratransit service is an origin-to-destination service for those whose disability prevents them from using the Cherriots buses. CARTS buses operate in rural Marion and Polk counties connecting Salem to communities such as Silverton, Woodburn, Dallas, and Stayton.
Current Status
Salem-Keizer Transit's fleet consists of 64 Cherriots buses, 34 CherryLift buses and 15 CARTS buses. All bus purchases are made possible through grant funding.
Twelve new clean-diesel Cherriots buses were recently purchased in early 2011 to replace aging buses. Four additional buses are on order - anticipated delivery is January 2012. Once these buses are integrated into our service, all of the Cherriots buses will be within their "useful life" for the first time in more than a decade.
Seventeen new CherryLift buses were delivered and ready for service in June of 2011. Three new CARTS buses were recently delivered with two more expected soon.
Salem-Keizer Transit was able to purchase its first hybrid bus from another Oregon transit district that was reducing its fleet. The hybrid bus will be put to service on CARTS routes in late 2011. This gives Salem-Keizer Transit the opportunity to test the possibility of incorporating more hybrid buses throughout the entire fleet.
Benefit to the Community
Salem-Keizer Transit regularly replaces older buses to ensure the reliability of every bus and the comfort and safety of our riders and drivers. Aging vehicles become increasingly expensive to maintain and repair.
The majority of Cherriots buses are clean diesel or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) reducing green house gas emissions and keeping the air 
cleaner. The diesel buses run on a mixture that is about 5% bio-diesel. Much of the bio-diesel purchased for Cherriots vehicles comes from SeQuential Biofuels on Turner Road in Salem.
All Cherriots and CARTS buses are ADA accessible and have bike racks on the front that can accommodate up to two bicycles on Cherriots buses and three bicycles on CARTS buses.
Project Cost & Funding
Grants from the Federal Transit Administration pay for approximately 90% of new Cherriots bus purchases. The twelve Cherriots buses recently purchased were paid for with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. The new CherryLift buses were paid for using Jobs & Transportation Act (JTA) funds. The CARTS buses were paid for with ARRA funds and a State of Good Repair grant.