EUGENE – The pilot project for public transit service along the 99W corridor, 99 Vine, began on Nov. 24. This new service is fareless, connecting McMinnville to Eugene with stops in communities including Rickreall, Amity, Monmouth, Corvallis (OSU), Monroe, Junction City, and Eugene (Amtrak and UO). The service offers four trips in each direction every day. This is a grant-funded, six-month pilot project. There is no long-term funding for this service.
In October 2020, the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, with money from the STIF Discretionary program, completed a transit corridor study. Participants agreed that there was sufficient demand for transit along the corridor to launch a pilot service. Two participants, Yamhill County and Benton County, decided to partner to operate the pilot transit service. Then the pandemic hit and prevented its implementation until now.
