JANTZEN BEACH, Ore, (KOIN) — Christine Selk, a spokeswoman for C-Tran in Clark County, thinks it’s a common sense issue when it comes to their new policy disallowing bags of empty cans or bottles on their buses.
“They’re smelly (and) they’re leaking in many instances,” Selk said. They can leak not only on seats, but on the floor of the bus and cause a slipping or tripping hazard on the bus.
“They don’t smell good. Overall, it causes an uncomfortable environment on the bus for other customers.”
The policy, put into place on Sunday, will create less issues, according to Selk.
“We feel like we do a lot to be good community stewards,” Selk said. “That’s really important to us and part of our mission as a transportation agency.”
Selk also said that the policy isn’t targeting any community.
“It is strictly about safety and hygiene,” Selk said.
Some of the problems have been Jantzen Beach and Delta Park in North Portland, two stops from Vancouver that are serviced on C-Tran’s Line 60. That leads to believe that people who are collecting bottles in Vancouver may have been taking them down to Oregon to claim deposits.
Cherilyn Bertges with the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative said this is not allowed.
“We are stepping up our reinforcement at our bottle drop centers,” she said.
“It really ends up taking money out of the system that should be used to make the system function, making sure the containers function, making sure those e-containers get contained, making sure our landscape in Oregon stays clean.”
TriMet does not have a policy permitting recycling bags on board, as long as they don’t block doors.
For full rules and policies for C-Tran riders, click here.