C-Tran service changes start today

After months of discussion and planning, what is likely the biggest service change made by C-Tran in the last decade starts today.

Nearly 375 bus stops on 18 impacted routes are affected.

• Existing Routes 2, 4, 7, 19, 25, 30, 32, 37, 39, 72, 80 and 105 will see changes to their route structure, stops or frequencies.

• Routes 3, 38 and 44 are discontinued with their travel paths absorbed by other routes.

• The transit agency is also adding three routes: Route 6, from Fruit Valley to Grand Central shopping center, Route 60, serving downtown Vancouver, Jantzen Beach and Delta Park, and Route 74, which replaces the part of Route 44 east of Vancouver Mall. The new Route 73 won’t start until after the new Vancouver Mall transit center opens.

• Portland-bound commuters — unless they take an express bus or cross on Interstate 205 — should prepare to transfer in downtown Vancouver. Since Route 44 is discontinued and Route 4 no longer crosses the river, they’ll have to take Route 60.

The changes will help prepare riders for the implementation of The Vine, Vancouver’s bus rapid transit system that will run along Fourth Plain to downtown Vancouver. The new service is supposed to come online at the end of the year.

To help riders adjust to the changes, C-Tran staff will be at the Broadway and Evergreen Street stop in downtown Vancouver from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday to help riders navigate.

New schedules and route maps are available on C-Tran’s website: http://bit.ly/2bL6YG5. Rider’s Digests are also available at the agency’s customer service offices.

Riders who need help with planning trips or with questions can call: 360-695-0123.

The changes to the routes were first proposed in January, and in the subsequent months C-Tran’s staff held multiple public meetings, fielded hundreds of comments on the changes and further refined the routes.

At the first of the month, fares changed for riders crossing the Columbia, including to Parkrose, Delta Park, and Jantzen Beach started paying All Zone/Regional fares. Honored Citizen monthly passes decreased to $28. However, the regional all-zone day pass for seniors, disabled people and youths jumped from $2 to $2.50.