Ian Davidson
@iandavidson.bsky.social
Board Vice President Cherriots🚏🚌 | Co-founder of @SalemBikeVision.bsky.social 🚲| Pragmatic optimist ☀️ | Immediate Past Chair of Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments ☀️ 🛤️ | Father of two
90,000 in Marion and Polk County depend on SNAP. In two days, because of failures at the highest level of our federal government, our neighbors will not receive SNAP food assistance.
In response, beginning November 1, 2025, Cherriots riders traveling to and from food banks may ride at no cost.
In response, beginning November 1, 2025, Cherriots riders traveling to and from food banks may ride at no cost.
October 31, 2025 at 2:52 AM
90,000 in Marion and Polk County depend on SNAP. In two days, because of failures at the highest level of our federal government, our neighbors will not receive SNAP food assistance.
In response, beginning November 1, 2025, Cherriots riders traveling to and from food banks may ride at no cost.
In response, beginning November 1, 2025, Cherriots riders traveling to and from food banks may ride at no cost.
Tomorrow, I will be answering your questions about the service enhancements Cherriots is proposing over at r/SALEM.
Our proposed service enhancements are decades overdue and would *finally* begin to provide the level of service we need.
You can post your questions now: bit.ly/IanDavidsonAMA
Our proposed service enhancements are decades overdue and would *finally* begin to provide the level of service we need.
You can post your questions now: bit.ly/IanDavidsonAMA
September 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Tomorrow, I will be answering your questions about the service enhancements Cherriots is proposing over at r/SALEM.
Our proposed service enhancements are decades overdue and would *finally* begin to provide the level of service we need.
You can post your questions now: bit.ly/IanDavidsonAMA
Our proposed service enhancements are decades overdue and would *finally* begin to provide the level of service we need.
You can post your questions now: bit.ly/IanDavidsonAMA
@milesintransit.com @64streetcar.bsky.social if you pass through Salem, OR (which is another way of saying do you count the POINT bus as local transit?), depending when you come through, I can hook you two up with a Cherriots transit card to both pay your fare and to then keep if you collect them!
July 31, 2025 at 3:42 AM
@milesintransit.com @64streetcar.bsky.social if you pass through Salem, OR (which is another way of saying do you count the POINT bus as local transit?), depending when you come through, I can hook you two up with a Cherriots transit card to both pay your fare and to then keep if you collect them!
Imagine you were at the blue dot and wanted to go to the red dot. You'd have to ride almost the whole loop. Combine that with a low frequency and you could reallocate transit resources system wide much more efficiently to better serve people.
July 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Imagine you were at the blue dot and wanted to go to the red dot. You'd have to ride almost the whole loop. Combine that with a low frequency and you could reallocate transit resources system wide much more efficiently to better serve people.
Tonight's Cherriots board meeting ran late so I caught the 10 pm bus home. That would not have been possible when I first joined the board since our buses stopped running at 9 pm. Now, thanks to state investment, our buses run until 11 pm.
Transit investments change lives and communities. #orleg
Transit investments change lives and communities. #orleg
July 25, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Tonight's Cherriots board meeting ran late so I caught the 10 pm bus home. That would not have been possible when I first joined the board since our buses stopped running at 9 pm. Now, thanks to state investment, our buses run until 11 pm.
Transit investments change lives and communities. #orleg
Transit investments change lives and communities. #orleg
1st Place 🥇
• Ridership Change from 2021 to 2024
• Cost per Customer Trip Change from 2021 to 2023 - 1st
• Job Access by Transit in Jan-Mar 2025
2nd Place 🥈
• Customer Net Promoter Score in 2024
2/3
• Ridership Change from 2021 to 2024
• Cost per Customer Trip Change from 2021 to 2023 - 1st
• Job Access by Transit in Jan-Mar 2025
2nd Place 🥈
• Customer Net Promoter Score in 2024
2/3
July 25, 2025 at 12:03 AM
1st Place 🥇
• Ridership Change from 2021 to 2024
• Cost per Customer Trip Change from 2021 to 2023 - 1st
• Job Access by Transit in Jan-Mar 2025
2nd Place 🥈
• Customer Net Promoter Score in 2024
2/3
• Ridership Change from 2021 to 2024
• Cost per Customer Trip Change from 2021 to 2023 - 1st
• Job Access by Transit in Jan-Mar 2025
2nd Place 🥈
• Customer Net Promoter Score in 2024
2/3
It's always very gratifying to see the incredible work of #TeamCherriots recognized, especially when benchmarked among some of the best transit agencies in the United States.
This time, Cherriots took home gold, silver, and bronze medals from the latest TransDash Performance Summit Awards
🧵 1/3
This time, Cherriots took home gold, silver, and bronze medals from the latest TransDash Performance Summit Awards
🧵 1/3
July 25, 2025 at 12:03 AM
It's always very gratifying to see the incredible work of #TeamCherriots recognized, especially when benchmarked among some of the best transit agencies in the United States.
This time, Cherriots took home gold, silver, and bronze medals from the latest TransDash Performance Summit Awards
🧵 1/3
This time, Cherriots took home gold, silver, and bronze medals from the latest TransDash Performance Summit Awards
🧵 1/3
I'm in Bend for work and just spotted one of the many bus stop improvement that @ericlint.com helped make a reality in Central Oregon.
I'm very excited to see a similar work kick off in the mid-valley.
I'm very excited to see a similar work kick off in the mid-valley.
July 22, 2025 at 3:10 AM
I'm in Bend for work and just spotted one of the many bus stop improvement that @ericlint.com helped make a reality in Central Oregon.
I'm very excited to see a similar work kick off in the mid-valley.
I'm very excited to see a similar work kick off in the mid-valley.
Which improvements are most important for public transit in Salem and Keizer? Cherriots wants to know if you’d favor expanded services and routes. How about bikeshare? Or maybe more frequent bus service downtown? Take the survey at bit.ly/3Za1jkw
#TransitForTomorrow #SalemOregon #KeizerOregon
#TransitForTomorrow #SalemOregon #KeizerOregon
July 16, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Which improvements are most important for public transit in Salem and Keizer? Cherriots wants to know if you’d favor expanded services and routes. How about bikeshare? Or maybe more frequent bus service downtown? Take the survey at bit.ly/3Za1jkw
#TransitForTomorrow #SalemOregon #KeizerOregon
#TransitForTomorrow #SalemOregon #KeizerOregon
Apparently he holds an honorary doctorate of Amphibious Letters.
I love this.
I love this.
![Kermit was awarded an honorary doctorate of Amphibious Letters (a pun on the more common honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters) on May 19, 1996, at Southampton College, New York, where he also gave a commencement speech.[57] He is also the only "amphibian" to have had the honor of addressing the Oxford Union.[58][59] A statue of Henson and Kermit was erected on the campus of Henson's alma mater, the University of Maryland, College Park in 2003. Kermit gave the commencement speech at the university for its graduating class of 2025.[60]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6nvf3lnjcdrtj2wdu3i5um5m/bafkreihohhses3alqyzmqpm3uujax56wgr2euhtjadark3p3uowm7w6xh4@jpeg)
May 23, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Apparently he holds an honorary doctorate of Amphibious Letters.
I love this.
I love this.
My walk home from the bus was interrupted by this car. Lucky for me, I could easily navigate around it. The sidewalks are bad enough in my neighborhood, we don't need cars parking on the sidewalk!
May 23, 2025 at 3:52 AM
My walk home from the bus was interrupted by this car. Lucky for me, I could easily navigate around it. The sidewalks are bad enough in my neighborhood, we don't need cars parking on the sidewalk!
Fare-free transit for youth 18 and younger in Salem-Keizer is in jeopardy! Tell the SKPS Budget Committee to continue to support the program!
All public comment must be submitted by 12 pm on 5/13/2025. You can submit written or verbal comment here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#SalemOR #KeizerOR
All public comment must be submitted by 12 pm on 5/13/2025. You can submit written or verbal comment here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#SalemOR #KeizerOR
May 13, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Fare-free transit for youth 18 and younger in Salem-Keizer is in jeopardy! Tell the SKPS Budget Committee to continue to support the program!
All public comment must be submitted by 12 pm on 5/13/2025. You can submit written or verbal comment here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#SalemOR #KeizerOR
All public comment must be submitted by 12 pm on 5/13/2025. You can submit written or verbal comment here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#SalemOR #KeizerOR
Is Pope Leo XIV the first and only American-born monarch in history?
May 9, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Is Pope Leo XIV the first and only American-born monarch in history?
At Cherriots, our mission is creating community connections. For years, that has involved buses, paratransit, and vanpool. Now, as we look at ways to better serve Salem and Keizer, we are exploring micromobility options like a bikeshare programs.
Learn more here:
www.cherriots.org/micromobilit...
Learn more here:
www.cherriots.org/micromobilit...
May 8, 2025 at 5:03 AM
At Cherriots, our mission is creating community connections. For years, that has involved buses, paratransit, and vanpool. Now, as we look at ways to better serve Salem and Keizer, we are exploring micromobility options like a bikeshare programs.
Learn more here:
www.cherriots.org/micromobilit...
Learn more here:
www.cherriots.org/micromobilit...
Now, you might say, "well that's just bus riders, the community doesn't like transit."
You would be confidently wrong.
Here in Salem-Keizer, 85% of the community (the majority of which do not ride transit) believe that Cherriots is "valuable to the community."
You would be confidently wrong.
Here in Salem-Keizer, 85% of the community (the majority of which do not ride transit) believe that Cherriots is "valuable to the community."
May 1, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Now, you might say, "well that's just bus riders, the community doesn't like transit."
You would be confidently wrong.
Here in Salem-Keizer, 85% of the community (the majority of which do not ride transit) believe that Cherriots is "valuable to the community."
You would be confidently wrong.
Here in Salem-Keizer, 85% of the community (the majority of which do not ride transit) believe that Cherriots is "valuable to the community."
Now, maybe you can waive away over a thousand pieces of testimony by saying it is anecdotal and you need hard quantitative data. Well, you are in luck!
Here in Salem-Keizer, we regularly survey our community and riders. Our "net promoter score" from our riders is HIGHER than Disneyland's NPS.
Here in Salem-Keizer, we regularly survey our community and riders. Our "net promoter score" from our riders is HIGHER than Disneyland's NPS.
May 1, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Now, maybe you can waive away over a thousand pieces of testimony by saying it is anecdotal and you need hard quantitative data. Well, you are in luck!
Here in Salem-Keizer, we regularly survey our community and riders. Our "net promoter score" from our riders is HIGHER than Disneyland's NPS.
Here in Salem-Keizer, we regularly survey our community and riders. Our "net promoter score" from our riders is HIGHER than Disneyland's NPS.
Note: it was a call to invest, not cut. Both words end in "T," but they are quite different.
May 1, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Note: it was a call to invest, not cut. Both words end in "T," but they are quite different.
What is so baffling about this proposal is this is deeply unpopular.
Of the approximately 1,160 pieces of testimony submitted as part of the statewide listening tour on the transportation package, the number one issue heard most frequently was a call to INVEST in public transportation.
Of the approximately 1,160 pieces of testimony submitted as part of the statewide listening tour on the transportation package, the number one issue heard most frequently was a call to INVEST in public transportation.
May 1, 2025 at 4:43 AM
What is so baffling about this proposal is this is deeply unpopular.
Of the approximately 1,160 pieces of testimony submitted as part of the statewide listening tour on the transportation package, the number one issue heard most frequently was a call to INVEST in public transportation.
Of the approximately 1,160 pieces of testimony submitted as part of the statewide listening tour on the transportation package, the number one issue heard most frequently was a call to INVEST in public transportation.
A while back, I snapped this photo of a Cherriots LIFT vehicle dropping off a paratransit rider at my church on a Sunday. A few years ago, this photo COULD NOT have been possible. We did not have any transit or paratransit service on Sundays.
Thanks to STIF, we now do.
Thanks to STIF, we now do.
May 1, 2025 at 4:27 AM
A while back, I snapped this photo of a Cherriots LIFT vehicle dropping off a paratransit rider at my church on a Sunday. A few years ago, this photo COULD NOT have been possible. We did not have any transit or paratransit service on Sundays.
Thanks to STIF, we now do.
Thanks to STIF, we now do.
The urban-rural divide is real in Oregon. STIF helps close that divide. Thanks to STIF, I was able to lead the effort to standardize fares between Cherriots Local and Cherriots Regional. This is actively saving rural Oregonians money daily and they want to eliminate this program.
May 1, 2025 at 4:05 AM
The urban-rural divide is real in Oregon. STIF helps close that divide. Thanks to STIF, I was able to lead the effort to standardize fares between Cherriots Local and Cherriots Regional. This is actively saving rural Oregonians money daily and they want to eliminate this program.
Lest you think STIF only helps Salem and other urban areas in Oregon, STIF has an outsized impact on rural communities. As Oregon's Rep. Peter DeFazio once said, “Public transit is the life-blood of cities, and it is a lifeline to rural areas.” Thanks to STIF, Cherriots Regional runs more frequently
May 1, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Lest you think STIF only helps Salem and other urban areas in Oregon, STIF has an outsized impact on rural communities. As Oregon's Rep. Peter DeFazio once said, “Public transit is the life-blood of cities, and it is a lifeline to rural areas.” Thanks to STIF, Cherriots Regional runs more frequently
In Salem-Keizer, thanks to STIF funding, we made it free for anyone 18 years or younger to ride Cherriots. Now, we see more than one million youth rides a year.
It's not just kids who benefit. A grandmother once thanked me for this. She was thrilled to no longer be the chauffeur for her grandkid.
It's not just kids who benefit. A grandmother once thanked me for this. She was thrilled to no longer be the chauffeur for her grandkid.
May 1, 2025 at 3:49 AM
In Salem-Keizer, thanks to STIF funding, we made it free for anyone 18 years or younger to ride Cherriots. Now, we see more than one million youth rides a year.
It's not just kids who benefit. A grandmother once thanked me for this. She was thrilled to no longer be the chauffeur for her grandkid.
It's not just kids who benefit. A grandmother once thanked me for this. She was thrilled to no longer be the chauffeur for her grandkid.
When Saturday service launched, the Statesman Journal interviewed Duane Means, a daily bus rider, about what it would mean to have Saturday service. He concisely said, "The bus is like my freedom."
He's not alone.
This short-sighted proposal would takeaway freedom from Duane and countless others.
He's not alone.
This short-sighted proposal would takeaway freedom from Duane and countless others.
May 1, 2025 at 3:41 AM
When Saturday service launched, the Statesman Journal interviewed Duane Means, a daily bus rider, about what it would mean to have Saturday service. He concisely said, "The bus is like my freedom."
He's not alone.
This short-sighted proposal would takeaway freedom from Duane and countless others.
He's not alone.
This short-sighted proposal would takeaway freedom from Duane and countless others.
First, some definitions:
The Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) program was created by the last *bipartisan* transportation bill and serves as dedicated funding for improving, maintaining, and expanding public transit. It's comes mostly from a state payroll tax of 0.1%.
The Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) program was created by the last *bipartisan* transportation bill and serves as dedicated funding for improving, maintaining, and expanding public transit. It's comes mostly from a state payroll tax of 0.1%.
May 1, 2025 at 3:41 AM
First, some definitions:
The Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) program was created by the last *bipartisan* transportation bill and serves as dedicated funding for improving, maintaining, and expanding public transit. It's comes mostly from a state payroll tax of 0.1%.
The Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) program was created by the last *bipartisan* transportation bill and serves as dedicated funding for improving, maintaining, and expanding public transit. It's comes mostly from a state payroll tax of 0.1%.
Today, the caucus with a super minority in the lower chamber of the Oregon Legislature released their transportation proposal. I am going to hone in on their plans to drastically cut public transit funding.
Their plan is unpopular, bad for Oregon, and acutely bad for rural Oregon.
A thread...
Their plan is unpopular, bad for Oregon, and acutely bad for rural Oregon.
A thread...
May 1, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Today, the caucus with a super minority in the lower chamber of the Oregon Legislature released their transportation proposal. I am going to hone in on their plans to drastically cut public transit funding.
Their plan is unpopular, bad for Oregon, and acutely bad for rural Oregon.
A thread...
Their plan is unpopular, bad for Oregon, and acutely bad for rural Oregon.
A thread...