As Ridgefield continues to grow in population and as a destination, C-Tran’s vision for Ridgefield could soon expand.
A town hall hosted by C-Tran at the Ridgefield Community Library on Thursday, March 21, provided community feedback regarding the needs and wants in the city of ridges and fields being plastered in new developments.
Currently, C-Tran offers Route 48, an infrequent route that goes southbound from the Junction Park and Ride every two hours in the morning and returns northbound every two hours from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. along with a couple of other stops. Route 48 connects Ridgefield to the 99th Street Transit Center in Hazel Dell as well as the ilani Casino and Resort.
Ridgefield is also serviced by a rideshare option, The Current.
“The Current operates very much like a rideshare like Uber and Lyft, basically. So you can book a ride on an app when you need it, or you can schedule a ride in advance up to two days,” said Eric Florip, manager of communications and marketing at C-Tran. “So, if you’re traveling within the city of Ridgefield, for example, you’re good to have a Current bus pick you up at your front door, take you to where you’re going within town and then [take] a return trip in reverse the same way. If you’re traveling somewhere outside of Ridgefield, The Current would pick you up still at your house in Ridgefield and then take you to the park and ride and connect you to the system.”
According to a map of Ridgefield at the C-Tran town hall, the Junction Park and Ride has a ridership closer to 10 passengers compared with stops in Battle Ground, which reach closer to 50 to 100 passengers daily.
This series of town halls is mainly to just get an idea of what residents’ desire. Florip said a second series of town halls will be scheduled later this spring where C-Tran will gain feedback on proposed projects as part of its new 2045 long range plans.
“We haven’t made any specific decisions as far as what exactly service is going to look like in five years or 10 years … and it is absolutely true that we do make service decisions in part based on growth and development that happens,” Florip said. “And again, Ridgefield is one of the fastest growing communities, not only in Clark County but in the state of Washington, and that’s a big reason why we’ve made some of those recent investments to expand (Route 48 and The Current).”
As of now, Route 48 extends westward and loops around the Royle Road and Pioneer Street roundabout for a stop near the intersection. Florip said C-Tran receives plenty of questions about the future of service in downtown Ridgefield.
“So we’re gathering feedback from every community that we serve, and then once we take that feedback and sort of develop some concepts based on what we heard — then we’ll come back out again with a more defined framework for what the long-range plans are.”
