July 2019 CTR Newsletter

Happy Vanpool Month!

Are you tired of theme months yet? Neither are we!

Governor Inslee declared July 2019 as Vanpool Month, citing all the numerous benefits of vanpool riding, including:

• Vanpools remove over 19,000 vehicle trips from the road every weekday
• Flexible and affordable
• Reduces traffic congestion
• Aids CTR work (that's you guys!)

Though fares vary based on distance, van size, and occupancy, in Snohomish County the average per-rider cost is between $70-120 per month. That's in the range of a local bus pass, and since all costs are covered- gas, insurance, tolls, maintenance, etc- is much cheaper than driving.

How do I get started?

Community Transit's vanpool team is happy to help you in promoting and organizing vanpools at your worksite. However, there are some steps you can take to prime your worksite for vanpool:

• Make sure you have plenty of HOV parking spaces, and that they're front and center near your entrances
• Have us create a zip code map of your worksite to show where employee clusters are 
• Consider implementing or increasing a subsidy for vanpoolers- $60/month is pretty typical among CTR sites
• Bonus points: Consider whether ORCA Business Passport works for your company- that's 100% bus and vanpool fare, covered for all employees

Find more information about vanpool here.

Quarterly Reports Due 7/19

It's that time again! Quarterly Reports must be completed by EOD Friday, 7/19. 

Complete your quarterly report online here.

Some helpful tips:

• You cannot save progress- make sure you have the time to complete the report in one sitting (10-15 minutes).
• Please take the time to thoughtfully complete the narrative sections. "N/A" is almost never the right answer!
• We will review your reports and provide recommendations by August 9th.

Also, don't forget to finish your Program Elements survey by August 2nd. No quarterly report is complete without it!

Upcoming Trainings and Events

*Note, if you attend a linked webinar, let me know so you can have credit*

7/9/2019- Marketing or Starting a Vanpool, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., Online

7/12/2019- New RideshareOnline.com Updates, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., Online

7/16/2019- Hosting a Successful Event or Fair, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., Online

7/16/2019- Community Transit Live, 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m., Online

8/21/2019- RideShareOnline.com Basic, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., Online

8/22/2019- RideShareOnline.com Incentive Management, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m., Online

You or your employees might be interested in...

Light Rail at Ash Way and Mariner

Snohomish County is planning for the arrival of light rail near 164th St (Ash Way) and 128th St (Mariner) near I-5. After receiving comments in fall 2018, the County narrowed it down from three potential locations to two. The County requests that you review these potential station location options for each area and give your input.

• Online open house: available until July 31 at https://snocolrc.participate.online/
• Open house, July 18 from 5-7 p.m. at Mariner High School
• Open house, July 25 from 5-7 p.m. at Oak Heights Elementary

Whether you live, work, or just travel through these locations, this is a great opportunity to provide feedback on a transportation development that will completely reform south county.

I-405 BRT Enters Phase 2

The I-405 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project has entered Phase 2: Conceptual Engineering and Environmental Review. During this phase, Sound Transit will continue to collect community input and technical analysis to further refine BRT station concepts and proposed roadway improvements.

Phase 2 involves a high amount of field work, which includes "right of entry" requests of applicable property owners. 

More information about what occurred over Phase 1 is available on the project website.

ORCA Lift Now Live in Snohomish County

Beginning July 1, Community Transit and Everett Transit offer a low-income fare for eligible riders who use an ORCA LIFT fare card. In Snohomish County, individuals can apply for the ORCA LIFT card at four Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) customer service offices.

Community Transit and Everett Transit are joining other regional agencies in the ORCA LIFT program, including King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit.

For Community Transit service, the ORCA LIFT fare is $1.25 for local bus riders (routes within Snohomish County) and $2 for commuter bus riders (routes that travel to and from King County). Adults and youth will pay the same low-income fare with an ORCA LIFT card. This reduced fare is half the regular adult fare for Community Transit service.

Visit https://www.communitytransit.org/ORCALIFT for more information.

Sound Transit Shows Off New Light Rail Vehicles

Sound Transit debuted the first of its new Light Rail Vehicles to the public, welcoming members of the press to see and tour the vehicle.

The new vehicle features several improvements on the passenger experience over the current fleet. Each of the new vehicles will provide 74 seats, with larger windows, a wider center-car aisle, more seats with space to stow luggage, and four bicycle hooks—twice as many as provided currently.

The new vehicles will be arriving at the rate of one to three per month and are a reminder that Sound Transit is entering a period of major system expansion.

Service to Northgate will open in 2021, followed by service to Bellevue in 2023 and service to Lynnwood, downtown Redmond and Federal Way, all in 2024.

All told, by 2024 Link will have grown from 22 miles of light rail to more than 50 miles.

For more information, including more pictures and a few videos, check out Sound Transit's blog post highlighting the new vehicles

Community Transit Contacts

Alex Mehn, TDM & Outreach Specialist 

Ross Peizer, TDM & Outreach Specialist

Jennifer Hass, Community Programs Manager