Challenge

Ride Connections is a nonprofit dedicated to offering accessible first-stop/last-stop rides to anyone in Washington County, OR, with a special emphasis on aiding vulnerable riders. It’s free to use and highly adaptable to rider needs. There was just one problem: many local residents didn’t know Ride Connection was there for them to use. Beginning in 2023, Washington County sought to improve the visibility of this critical resource across its communities.

Solution

We partnered with Washington County and other organizations to implement shuttle bus stop improvements. The team engaged in partnerships with city governments to design and construct new signage at 51 Ride Connection stops across eight cities throughout the county. The team also made needed improvements to comfort and safety at several of these stops by providing schedule holders, shelters, concrete bus pads that facilitate efficient boarding and disembarking, and safety lighting. Throughout, the project focused on using simple, straightforward quick-build techniques to bring cost-efficient support to Ride Connection and faster relief to the public.

To deliver the visibility improvements that would make the biggest difference for riders, the project team made concerted efforts during the prework phase to experience Ride Connections from a rider’s perspective. The project team rode Ride Connection’s routes as passengers in a Ride Connection shuttle, using the time to assess the constructability of the selected sites and to understand what aspects of construction could be most potentially disruptive to drivers. These early insights then helped the team formulate a process that minimized those disruptions or eliminated them entirely.