Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
Yesterday’s The Dalles Chamber of Commerce Community Affairs event featured Sarah Crook of the Link public transportation system in The Dalles and Jesus Mendoza, the Transportation Coordinator for the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District. Over the last few years, public transit districts in Wasco, Hood River, Klickitat and Skamania counties have coordinated their schedules and pricing to create a unified system that lets a person travel from Goldendale to Vancouver, or The Dalles to Portland, with stops in between.
Even better, a person can get a yearly pass for unlimited travel on the system at a super low price. Sarah Crook explains:
“We do have our Gorge Pass, which is $40 for adults, $20 for 17 and under. This is a yearly pass, good for the day you buy it and 365 days. You can have it online, or you can have a physical pass that you can buy at any of the transit offices.”
Some prefer the physical pass because if you purchase on, say, the first of November in 2025, it will be good until the end of November in 2026. Other prefer to have it on their phones so there is no piece of paper to mislay or lose.
At $40 for adults for unlimited travel on the system for a year, it pencils out at a whopping 11 cents a day. And the $20 a year for 17 and under costs a whole 5 and a half cents a day. But you don’t even have to come up with that much if you just want an occasional ride.
“You do not need our Gorge Pass to ride our bus. You can ride our bus a la carte, per ride. The majority of our local routes are $1. For example, The Dalles to Hood River’s a dollar, The Dalles to Goldendale a dollar, Hood River to Cascade Locks a dollar, Hood River to Parkdale’s a dollar, and it’s a dollar per ride.”
And when ski season starts, the Gorge Pass can get you to Mt. Hood Meadows as well.
More information is available on Gorge Transit dot com.