South Lane Wheels Reaffirms Role as Rural Transportation Lifeline After Operational Changes

Cottage Grove-based South Lane Wheels (SLW), a private nonprofit 501(c)(3 founded in 1982), publicly reaffirmed its commitment to continue door-to-door, pre-scheduled origin-to-destination transportation across South Lane County and parts of North Douglas County after Lane Transit District reshuffled rural service. SLW said it will keep scheduled trips that connect Cottage Grove and Creswell riders to Eugene and Springfield while continuing regular runs into Drain, Dorena, Culp Creek, Saginaw, London and Lorane.

The operational shift comes as LTD moves several pilots and alters service levels for rural Lane County. LTD plans to end its South Lane Wheels Origin-to-Destination pilot and the Metro Shuttle pilot on June 30, 2025, and to start a new Rural Lane County Shuttle pilot July 1, 2025 that will run through June 30, 2027. LTD expects to reduce rural service in South Lane from five days per week to two days per week and to stop transporting riders directly into the Eugene-Springfield metro; beginning July 1, 2025 riders will be delivered to Cottage Grove to transfer to LTD Route 98 or to LTD’s Park & Ride in Creswell or to transfer points such as the Walmart in Cottage Grove. Cosette Rees, LTD director of mobility services, said, “The new pilot is designed to maintain essential rural access while aligning with available funding and service demand. Although service levels are reduced, we’re expanding the Cottage Grove Connector and ensuring riders can still reach key destinations through coordinated transfers.”

SLW traces its roots to a volunteer-run Senior Wheels program and has served South Lane County communities for more than 40 years. The agency evolved into a professionally staffed service with trained drivers and, by local accounts, a sterling safety record and a reputation for fiscal responsibility and community support. Executive Director Ruth Linoz framed the organization’s mission in stark terms: “For many people living in rural communities, transportation is not simply convenience, it is independence. Our focus is making sure people can still reach the services and connections they rely on every day.”

SLW operates door-to-door, pre-scheduled trips that are open to everyone; the service has no eligibility requirements and accepts riders of all ages. Riders typically use SLW to reach medical appointments, grocery stores, workplaces, schools, shopping and community activities, and SLW continues to offer trips to Eugene and Springfield in its current schedule while coordinating local transfers with LTD’s Connector inside Cottage Grove.

Local reaction underscores how central SLW is to daily life. One Cottage Grove rider wrote, “This is a disaster for many of us. Cottage Grove has been referred to as a ‘city’ but what city has no public transportation except for one bus line (LTD Route #98) that goes nowhere near the hospitals and is difficult to get to for many non-drivers, like me. This ‘city’ also has no taxi service I can use to get around town.”

SLW leaders warn the agency’s future hinges on renewed community demand and funding; CGSentinel reporting noted that without those, the organization “may be unable to continue—threatening the survival of an institution that has symbolized rural transportation for nearly five decades.” With the June 30, 2025 pilot end dates and the July 1, 2025 start of LTD’s two-year Rural Lane County Shuttle pilot, Cottage Grove riders, medical travelers and working families face a transition that will test whether expanded Connector hours and coordinated transfers can replace the direct trips rural residents have relied on since 1982.