Sunset Empire Transportation District to Suspend Operations

Bus service will shut down on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

The Sunset Empire Transportation District will suspend bus service and other operations starting Saturday after the agency’s troubling financial condition came to light. The transit district’s board voted unanimously on Thursday afternoon to discontinue operations indefinitely and furlough employees. The message is we will not be offering any public transportation services effective Saturday due to the financial situation that we’re in. We will get it restarted as soon as we have a financial package in place. And we’ll get the process to restart up and running as soon as possible,” Jeff Hazen, the transit district’s executive director, told The Astorian. The transit district’s bus routes and para transit services connect riders across Clatsop County. The Lower Columbia Connector also takes riders between Astoria and Portland. The agency has an annual budget of $6.6 million and 46 employees.