Stephanie Wright to chair Community Transit Board

The Community Transit Board of Directors yesterday selected Snohomish County Councilmember Stephanie Wright as chair for 2017. Wright served as vice-chair the past year. She replaces Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, who will remain on the board and serve on the Executive Committee as past chair.

In addition, Stanwood Mayor Leonard Kelley was named vice chair and Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson was selected as board secretary. Lynnwood City Councilmember Chris Boyer was introduced as a board alternate for large cities. 

Read more about the board here.

Board approves 5 new expansion, 54 replacement vans

The Community Transit Board of Directors yesterday approved the purchase of five expansion vans to increase the availability of vanpool services to customers. The board also approved the purchase of 54 vans to replace aging vehicles in the 428-vehicle fleet.

Community Transit operates one of the largest vanpool programs in the nation. Vans are available to people living and/or working in Snohomish County to drive on a regular basis. The agency provides 7-, 12- and 15-passenger vans for groups that work at the same location or travel to nearby destinations.

Vanpools provide an alternative to fixed-route bus service and work well for people who live or work far from an established bus route, or whose schedule does not work with established bus service.

For information about the vanpool program, visit www.communitytransit.org/vanpool or call (425) 348-2311.

More bus service means more drivers

Community Transit continues to expand bus service in Snohomish County, with more than 40 new trips being added next month. This service growth is great news for the local economy as the agency is hiring more drivers and mechanics.

Over the last two years, the agency has hired and graduated 110 new bus drivers to meet the demand for new service, including five new drivers who graduated last month. Welcome Rico, Ryan, Roger, Nicholas and Daniel to the ranks of Community Transit drivers.

Look for more job opportunities as transit expansion continues throughout the year.

Cleaning 1,600 bus stops is one dirty job!

Community Transit has more than 1,600 bus stops along our routes, and all of them need to be kept clean. In addition to looking nice, clean bus stops are safer and help to deter crime.

To our team, cleaning our stops is more than simply emptying garbage cans. Community Transit maintains the stops at a high level. Our crews wipe and clean shelter screens, sweep bus stop platforms and report any damage. They also power wash when necessary. 

Read more on our blog.

Swift Green Line project receives engineering award

The Swift Green Line received a Best in State – Bronze Award from the Washington State Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) last month. The award went to WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, the consultant that prepared the Small Starts Grant submittal, a collection of 170 documents whose high ranking secured the project in the President’s 2017 budget.

The ACEC award honored projects representing a wide range of engineering achievements demonstrating the highest degree of skill and ingenuity. The Swift Green Line is Community Transit’s second bus rapid transit line and will operate between Bothell/Canyon Park and Boeing/Paine Field starting in early 2019.

Details about our Swift Green Line is available here.