Pierce Transit's First Electric Vanpool Vans Hit the Streets

Pierce Transit is committed to providing clean public transportation options for our community. In fact, our agency was one of the nation’s first to run the majority of our fleet on clean, compressed natural gas in the 1980s. Recently we rolled out the South Sound’s first all-electric buses, and now we’ve taken a new step by introducing the area’s first hybrid-electric vanpool vans.

On May 29, I stood with Washington State Transportation Secretary Roger Millar, Tacoma Mayor and Pierce Transit Commissioner Victoria Woodards and Tacoma Public Utilities Director Jackie Flowers to unveil the South Sound’s first hybrid-electric vanpool vans. We held the event at TPU, where that agency has installed eight new electric charging stations in their parking lot; one for each electric van. A Washington State Department of Transportation grant funded approximately 80 percent of the vans’ costs. Tacoma Public Utilities was the first organization to offer infrastructure to support the pilot program, and we thank them for their strong partnership. If the Electric Vanpool Pilot Program proves successful, we hope to acquire more hybrid electric vanpool vans and offer the program to more customers and employers.

Where You'll Find Us This Summer and Fall

Our Pierce Transit team will be out and about at various events this summer, sharing information about our services and talking with current and potential customers. Watch for us at events such as farmers markets, festivals and street fairs. We will also have “The Twin” out this summer, Pierce Transit’s fully-restored 1948 Twin Coach bus that served Tacoma for 35 years and logged more than 2 million miles. To find out where the Twin will be and learn more about this historic coach, visit PierceTransit.org/twin-coach-bus. Finally, this fall, Pierce Transit will again be providing express bus service from several locations to the Washington State Fair. We look forward to seeing you there

Pierce Transit Recognizes 45 Bus Operators for a Million+ Miles of Safe Driving

It was with great pride that we recently inducted 45 Pierce Transit employees into the agency’s new “Million Mile Club”, a rare honor attained by professional drivers nationwide who have driven one million consecutive miles or more – about 12-1/2 years – without a preventable accident. Five of the operators were recognized for two million miles or more, and one operator became the first in Pierce Transit’s history to be recognized for three million miles of accident-free driving. There are many compelling stories among the new Million Mile Club inductees, including one driver who was welcomed into the Club along with both his father and mother. You can read their story at SouthSoundTalk. You will recognize these outstanding employees by the unique jacket they are wearing, with a special Million Mile Club patch designed by one of our own employees.