Why Dori supports Portland’s homeless bus ticket program

Portland has drawn quite a bit of attention with a new program that gives homeless people a one-way bus ticket off the streets and out of town. KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson loves the idea.

Related: Portland begins sending homeless people to other cities, including Seattle

“Maybe it’s time for us to start exporting some of our homeless,” Dori said. “That’s why I like this program. It’s not cruel if there’s somebody in another city who would take them in.”

“It may be time to consider how — instead of making this the magnet region in the country for homelessness — to export some of our homeless,” he said. “Especially if we can make a positive impact in their lives.”

Susan Salisbury works with the Oregon’s 211 program — in reference to the 211 number that residents can call to be connected to basic needs and services, including a bus ticket to another city.

“We get a lot of calls from homeless folks,” Salisbury said. “And we get a lot of calls from people who have either come here to look for a job or what they thought was a stable housing situation — the job didn’t pan out, the housing situation fell through.”

If a person has friends or family in another town who can take them in and provide them support, the program will provide them a bus ticket. Officials verify that people have support at the other end of the line before sending them along. The program follows up for up to three months after they send people away. And it’s not just for individuals. Salisbury said that the city often provides tickets for couples and family units.

“What we don’t want to see happen is people going here and back,” Salisbury said. “And we don’t want to be sending people into a situation that is no better than what they have now.”

While he sees how the structured plan can help people without a home, Dori still questions how effective it will be in the end.

“Are there enough family members and friends willing to take people in who have burned a lot of bridges?” he asked. “And will it be successful? Will they come up here and just be on the streets of Seattle when they used to be on the streets of Portland?”

Salisbury notes that Portland isn’t the first city to try such a program. Oregon 211 studies other cities doing the same thing, such as New York which has run its own bus ticket program since the early 1990s.

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