Community Transit to end third party contract for commuter, express buses
Published 1:55 pm Wednesday, July 1, 2026
EVERETT — Community Transit will end its contract with a third-party provider that operates the transit agency’s commuter and express bus services on Aug. 29, the third-party company wrote in a state filing earlier this week.
The transit agency, which serves most of Snohomish County, will now operate those services on its own instead of contracting them out to the company, Transdev.
Transdev notified the state’s employment security department on Monday that it would stop operating at an Everett facility due to the contract ending, affecting 108 employees, including bus drivers, dispatchers, supervisors and technicians. The company wrote, however, that “most if not all the workers” will be rehired by the transit agency in similar roles.
Community Transit spokesperson Monica Spain confirmed Wednesday that 106 of the 108 employees have already been hired or will be hired by Community Transit to provide its commuter services and Sound Transit express services.
The transit agency first began contracting for commuter bus service in the 1980s as a cost-saving measure, as the buses needed to make long treks between Snohomish County and downtown Seattle. But since 2024, Community Transit has been looking to bring the services in-house because many of its commuter routes and express bus services now terminate at the Lynnwood light rail station.
Those changes, many of which were made as part of a 2024 remapping of the transit agency’s network, allowed for an increase in local service because fewer buses were going south of the county line.
Bringing the services in-house will come with a somewhat higher operating cost for Community Transit, but in exchange it will have a “fully integrated operation” that “will allow for greater flexibility and efficiency,” Spain wrote.
“The cost advantages of contracting bus service have diminished with the transition of many I-5 commuter bus routes to local service as Link light rail opened in Lynnwood,” she wrote.
Community Transit also has a separate agreement with Transdev for the company to provide Dial-A-Ride Transit, or DART, paratransit service. That contract is not ending at this time, Spain wrote.
Transdev did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The transition from contracting the services to bringing them in-house was a step Community Transit planned to take before advancing work on new overnight bus service that Sound Transit approved between Everett and Seattle. (Sound Transit is funding the project; Community Transit operates the regional transit agency’s express bus services in Snohomish County).
Now that the Transdev contract is set to end, Community Transit will “be taking a close look at the timeline for that service this summer,” Spain wrote, though the agency does not have a start date set at this time.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
