Buses should make Highway 99 swifter

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 27, 2006

“Swift” is what Community Transit’s new bus service will be called, and everything the transit agency will tell you about it suggests that it will be fast.

The transit agency on Thursday found out it will get the last $5 million it needs to launch a new, faster kind of bus service on Highway 99.

It’s called bus rapid transit, a trainlike bus service that comes so frequently – every 10 minutes – that riders don’t have to check a schedule. It also has far fewer stops than normal bus routes.

On Thursday, the Puget Sound Regional Council approved a recommendation to award Community Transit $5 million in federal grant money. A final decision, considered a formality, will be made this fall.

Community Transit now has $20 million to buy buses, build new stations and install technology to speed buses through intersections starting at the end of 2008. The rest of the money comes from the agency’s own budget and other federal grants.

The new logo, revealed Thursday, depicts a fast moving bird, hence the name Swift.

“We wanted something that looks fast even when it’s standing still,” said Joyce Olson, Community Transit CEO.

When service starts, there will be about 15 stops along Highway 99, with the route starting at Everett Station and ending at the Aurora Transit Center on the King County line.

Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson likes that the new service is extending into Everett, which is mainly served by the city’s own transit agency.

“Our residents have said they want to maintain local control,” he said. “They also said they want better coordination between Everett Transit and Community Transit.”

Bus rapid transit, called BRT for short, is rising in popularity all over the country because it acts like light-rail train service, but is far cheaper, said June Devoll, Community Transit’s manager of strategic planning.

“What BRT has proven around the country is it’s able to attract new ridership,” Devoll said.

Boston saw its number of riders jump 81 percent when it rolled out its new service, Devoll said. Calling the numbers “typical,” she added that Oakland, Calif., saw a 35 percent bump and Los Angeles a 45 percent to 50 percent increase.

Community Transit is working with Snohomish County and the cities along Highway 99 to locate as many as 15 new stations that will just serve its Swift line. Construction will start next year. The new stations will be close to existing stations, but separate.

Community Transit will buy 16 buses for the service, Devoll said. The exact model hasn’t been selected, but buses will look quite different than existing buses so riders can easily pick them out.

The buses will stop every 10 minutes from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., Devoll said. Each bus will have a Global Positioning System unit on it, which will be linked to reader boards at each station that will tell riders exactly when the next bus will arrive.

The buses will also be linked to traffic lights, lengthening green lights to let a bus through, or shortening a red light to get it moving.

Devoll estimates a bus rider who travels from Everett Station to the King County line will save 17 minutes with the new service. Today that bus trip takes about an hour, which means riders will cut their trip time by 25 percent to 30 percent.

A second phase of Sound Transit projects expected to go before voters in November 2007 still has in it a proposal to add bus-only lanes on Highway 99 in Everett, said spokesman Lee Somerstein.

General traffic can only use those lanes to turn in and out of businesses. Bus-only lanes are currently used on Highway 99 in much of south Snohomish County.

Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.