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Community Transit's Monthly Newsletter February 2021 |
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How to properly wear a mask or face covering.
Customer mask compliance enforced per new federal order
Community Transit is deeply committed to providing a safe experience for all riders and our employees.
Health officials continue to advise that the most effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19 is to wear a face covering to limit infected individuals from spreading the disease. Washington State has mandated mask wearing on public transit for several months and our customers have done a great job of keeping themselves and each other safe – nearly 99% of riders across our system are wearing masks on our buses. A new federal order has been issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that requires riders to properly wear face masks when using public transit vehicles and when on property where customers board, exit or wait for a transit vehicle.
To make the best effort to comply with the CDC order, Community Transit will enforce customer mask compliance, effective earlier this month. As noted above, 99% of our riders are wearing masks on our buses. We will continue to offer free masks on all of our buses if customers do not bring their own. According to the CDC order, refusing to wear a mask or face covering is a federal violation and passengers may be subject to penalties under federal law.
To learn more about how we are complying with this order, please visit https://www.communitytransit.org/coronavirus.
Thank you for following this new mandate to help protect yourself, your fellow riders and transit workers and to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.
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Kim Daughtry selected by his peers to lead Community Transit board
Lake Stevens City Council Member Kim Daughtry was selected by his peers to serve as chair of the Community Transit Board of Directors for 2021.
Mukilteo City Council Member Joe Marine was selected as the board’s vice chair, and Arlington City Council Member Jan Schuette was chosen as secretary.
The Community Transit board is comprised of nine elected officials from Snohomish County and the cities within the transit agency’s service district, as well as a labor representative selected by the agency’s bargaining units. Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/2YURxmt.
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Transit Equity Day, Feb. 4
Transit Equity Day is observed on Feb. 4 to honor American civil rights activist Rosa Parks on her birthday. Rosa Parks is best remembered for her transformative role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Her act of resistance by refusing to give up her seat on the bus was a pivotal moment for the civil rights movement and equity in transit. To learn more about Rosa Parks and our focus on Equity and Inclusion as an agency core value, please visit https://bit.ly/3oTKoxj.
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ORCA Card fee waived through Feb. 28
To encourage contact-free payment and improve access to transit service, all ORCA transit agencies including Community Transit are waiving the $5 fee for new adult and youth cards through February 28, 2021.
The ORCA card can be used on Community Transit bus service and on all other major public transportation serving King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. With ORCA, customers can just tap and go — no need to handle cash and change when paying to ride the bus. ORCA also makes it simpler if riders transfer to another bus — riders simply tap their ORCA card each time they get on a bus and get a two-hour transfer.
Community Transit offers different types of ORCA cards and several fares, some at reduced rates. We also offer a reduced fare for income-eligible residents through the ORCA LIFT program.
For more information on ORCA and the current promotion, please visit our blog.
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Community Transit service near food banks
It was July 13, 2020, when we first published this post about Snohomish County food resources. We were four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and food banks were facing an unprecedented demand as people lost steady paychecks to help feed their families.
Seven months later, the challenge to prevent hunger continues. We’ve updated our webpage, which reflects four new food banks added since July. We have also reached out to all food banks to verify hours of operation and phone numbers. Please note that hours and dates may change at any time, call ahead before your visit.
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New Mountlake Terrace Transit Center bus loop and parking lot opens March 7
Due to the recent winter storm, the opening of the new bus loop and parking lot on the east side of the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center has been delayed to Sunday, March 7.
At that time the current bus loop will close for the construction of Sound Transit’s Link light rail Mountlake Terrace Station. The new bus loop will be in use until Link light rail opens in 2024.
Please refer to the map in this story for new bus stop information.
- Routes 111, 112, 119 and King County Metro 347: use Bay 1 in the new bus loop
- Routes 810 and 871: use Bay 3 and Stops #3266 and #2644 on 236th St SW in front of the new bus loop and parking lot.
- Route 130: use Bay 3, Bay 4, and Stop #2644
The transit center parking garage and freeway station (Bays 6-7) remain open.
Customers can stay up to date with Sound Transit Link construction impacts here: https://www.communitytransit.org/linkconstruction.
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A bus ride in our customer’s shoes
Our agency Mission is to help people get from where they are to where they want to be. To deliver on this and provide an exceptional experience, those of us in leadership roles should have a direct understanding of what our customers experience aboard our services. Experiencing our service personally equips us to adjust, improve and innovate to meet our riders’ and employees’ needs.
For me, that ride can include more than one mode of transportation. I’m an avid cyclist and often ride to and from work. It is a great way to get some exercise and fresh air, while also reducing my personal impact on the environment. Now that I am commuting to Everett, there are new routes to learn, and so I set out a few days ago on my maiden bike/bus trip from my home to our agency offices in Everett.
My trip that day began with an early morning bike ride to the Aurora Village Transit Center, via the Interurban Trail. There I jumped on our Swift Blue Line, headed northbound toward Everett. The onboard bike rack was super easy. Using this type of bike rack inside the bus instead of on the front is unique to our Swift bus rapid transit lines, and it’s easy to see why it is very popular with our cycling customers.
I rode Swift until we arrived at the 4th Avenue SW Station, where I got off and rode my bike the remainder of the way to our base on Hardeson Road in Everett. Perhaps the biggest takeaway for me was seeing firsthand the commitment our employees have to putting service on the street for our customers during this pandemic. Their commitment to safely and reliably getting riders from where they are to where they want to be has never faltered and we are so grateful for all they do.
I look forward to exploring more of our routes and services across Snohomish County and to meeting more team members and customers while on the road.
If you have feedback to share about your experience with our services, we would love to hear about it. You can send your feedback to riders@commtrans.org.
Ric Ilgenfritz Community Transit CEO
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If you have any questions about what you've read in this newsletter, please email TheRouteAhead@commtrans.org.
Chair Kim Daughtry, Lake Stevens City Council Member; Vice Chair Joe Marine, Mukilteo City Council Member; Secretary Jan Schuette, Arlington City Council Member; Jared Mead, Snohomish County Council Member; Tom Merrill, Snohomish City Council Member; Jon Nehring, Mayor of Marysville; Lance Norton, Labor Representative; Sid Roberts, Stanwood City Council Member; Nicola Smith, Mayor of Lynnwood; and Stephanie Wright, Snohomish County Council Member.
Board Alternates Mike Gallagher, Brier City Council Member; Kristiana Johnson, Edmonds City Council Member; James McNeal, Bothell City Council Member; Nate Nehring,Snohomish County Council Member; and Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, Mayor of Mountlake Terrace.
© 2021 Community Transit | Agency Communications
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