Are you looking for transportation resources to get to work, play, or school? In addition to the public transit bus system, transportation options are available in the Gorge through programs that are supported by MCEDD’s Mobility Manager. Contact Kathy for assistance or more information on the programs outlined below.
Get There Connect
Get There Connect is Oregon’s free online trip planning, ride matching, and metrics tracking tool available for residents, employees, and employers in Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Klickitat, and Skamania counties. Users can create an account to plan trips, find/create carpools and vanpools, log trips and track related metrics, and participate in local rewards programs/challenges, as available.
Get There Connect for Employers
Commuting has long been a dreaded necessity among workers. With longer travel distances and skyrocketing costs, the commute has become a greater pain point for employees—and a sizable one for employers, especially those requiring staff to spend more time in the office. Get There Connect has many resources for employers looking for ways to turn commute pain into work perks.
Commute Options
The eastern Oregon-based nonprofit Commute Options offers Wasco, Hood River, and Sherman County employers an effective employee benefit tool that helps large and small employers address employee commute issues and enhance job satisfaction. The Get There Rewards program changes personal travel behavior, improving health, saving money, and reducing parking needs. Joining the Get There Rewards program gets you a wide variety of benefits.
Find out more at: https://www.commuteoptions.org/get-there-rewards/
Vanpooling Solutions
Recruiting and retaining employees can be a challenge, and work satisfaction today plays a big role. That includes the commute, which for many onsite employees has become longer and more costly. Bring your workforce a smarter way to commute with vanpooling. Vanpools let employees (typically 4-15) who live near each other and have longer commutes (about 20+ miles) share the ride to work and the costs. It’s a win-win that makes employee commutes better, serves as a retention and recruitment tool, and helps achieve other business goals. There are comprehensive employee vanpooling support services and tools offered from Get There Oregon, local partners, and Commute with Enterprise.
- Match employees into vanpools using Oregon’s free online tool Get There Connect
- Onsite matching support services provided by Commute with Enterprise.
- Connect employees with vehicle rental and maintenance, insurance, and roadside assistance from Commute with Enterprise. Track and report real-time metrics, including vanpool participation, money saved, and reduced CO2 emissions using Get There Connect. Learn more about vanpooling programs and options by emailing kathy@mcedd.org.
Safe Routes to Schools
Hood River Walk and Roll
Walk and Roll to School is Hood River County School District’s Safe Routes to School program. This program is designed to inspire a culture of walking, rolling and biking to school and afterschool activities for students and caregivers at all 8 schools in the Hood River County School District.
The program addresses a diversity of barriers to families including physical abilities, economic, and cultural backgrounds to increase walking, rolling and biking to school. Concerns about safe streets, intersections and routes to school will be addressed with better bikeways and walkways for all ages, abilities, incomes and cultural backgrounds. The program manager is actively involved with building partnerships, educating stakeholders and policymakers and helping to secure funding for infrastructure that makes walking and rolling to school safe and convenient in Hood River, Odell, Parkdale, Cascade Locks and the County. For more information, visit the program’s website school district page or their Facebook page.
North Wasco County School District’s Safe Routes to School Program
The North Wasco County School District’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program
combines education and activities to encourage students to take active modes of transportation to school, such as walking, biking, skating, or scootering.
Implementing a SRTS Plan has a long list of benefits, including improved safety,
increased access, encouraged physical activity, and reduced traffic congestion and
motor vehicle emissions near schools. Adjacent neighborhoods also benefit by
reducing traffic conflicts and enabling walking and rolling trips for all purposes.