No such thing as a free ride on bus anymore

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, September 5, 2001

By Theresa Goffredo

Herald Writer

EVERETT — Free bus service in Everett ended Wednesday.

But the good news is that the city’s 21-day civic gesture that made Everett Transit buses free to all riders worked by taking cars off the road and boosting bus ridership beyond expectations.

Early estimates, delivered at the city council meeting Wednesday, showed that free bus service took about 7,000 cars off the road, helping to relieve the traffic snarls caused by the northbound closure of the Highway 529 bridge between Everett and Marysville.

Those not driving their vehicles were riding the free bus. Cost normally is 75 cents.

During the time ridership numbers were taken from Aug. 17 until Aug. 31, roughly 62,975 people took advantage of Everett Transit’s zero bus fares. That’s 14,192 more riders than during the same period last year when 48,783 people took the bus, or a 29 percent increase.

"The fare-free program was a resounding success and far outstripped what we expected," Ken Housden, the city’s transportation services director, told the council. "The numbers sprang up and continued to grow."

The long-term challenge for Everett Transit, though, is keeping those ridership numbers high.

"We’ll see what happens. Let’s hope there are newcomers to the system who have found the experience pleasant and will continue to ride regardless of fares going back to normal," said Donna Ambrose, governmental affairs and information manager for the city’s transportation services department.

The rubber will hit the road on whether ridership numbers continue to increase when Everett Station, the city’s 64,000-square-foot transportation hub at Pacific Avenue and 35th Street, opens Feb. 3.

Along with the new station, the city’s bus system officials plan to modify some existing bus routes and add at least one new route. Most of the changes are the result of a rider survey taken in December 2000.

You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097

or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.