99 Vine began its six-month pilot program on the week of Thanksgiving 2025, but it will be coming to an end on Tuesday.
The service has been grant-funded, allowing it to make four trips per day, five days a week, at no charge to the riders. The current route goes from McMinnville to Eugene.
With this initial period ending, though, the service will decrease to one roundtrip per day, five days a week. The new route will run from Coburg to Portland, making the same stops as it has been for the duration of the pilot program, with additional stops in Springfield and Tannasbourne as well as Newberg and Forest Grove on the return trip.
For the new service there will be a cost, which will vary depending on how long the trip is. For example, Oregon State University to McMinnville will be $12, and OSU to Portland will be $20. The trip costs range from $5 to $30 depending on the distance.
For more information on the cost, visit the Pacific Crest Bus Lines website.
Anthony Ferro, the president of Pacific Crest Bus Lines, said that there will be a 20% discount for students, seniors and veterans.
“If the route ends up having enough ridership, we will be able to increase to a second roundtrip per day,” Ferro said.
Gary Stockhoff, the Benton County Director of Public Works, said that the service has been most popular for riders going between Oregon State University and the University of Oregon in Eugene.
“(I think it’s) more than 75% of the ridership has been between Corvallis and Eugene,” Stockhoff said.
This pilot program has provided a reliable and accessible method of transportation for riders.
OSU graduate student Kim Syring has been using the service to make the trip from Corvallis to McMinnville about three days per week since the program began. While she will still be able to get where she needs to go without the service, she says that it is nice to have a convenient, reliable option that she can utilize instead of driving.
“I wish there were more public transportation options,” Syring said. “I think in general, more public transportation is good for everybody.”
While the service plans to operate on an abbreviated schedule for the next year, Benton County has put in for an additional grant that would begin July 1, 2027. If given, this grant would allow the service to return to what it has been during the past six months.
