Transit agencies and others have declared today Stand Up 4 Transportation Day, a time to recognize the importance of transportation funding. In Everett and throughout Snohomish County, transportation is key to job growth and our stronger-than-national economic recovery.

Federal funding for transportation has declined in recent years, and we are urging Congress to approve a long-term transportation funding bill to keep our local economy moving!

Everett Transit

Everett Transit connects the many Everett neighborhoods to each other and to the regional transit systems at Everett Station. A strong local transit system is an essential link to an effective regional system, yet federal dollars tend to support only larger regional projects moving many thousands of riders.

Limited funding to competitive grants has resulted in no new money to Everett Transit for vehicle replacement in the last four years. Local sales tax provides adequate funds to operate the system and for a local match to federal grants, but it will not fully fund the many millions of dollars required to maintain a modern bus fleet. Without new federal money, Everett faces the inability to replace its fleet, a third of which exceed 10 years of age today. In the next five years Everett will need to replace approximately $16 million in rolling stock.

Everett Transit operates out of a single city block east of downtown Everett. The facility cannot accommodate growth and is on property zoned for better uses other than a bus operating base. Inevitably, Everett Transit will need to relocate to appropriately zoned property with room to grow. This project is expected to cost in excess of $30 million.

Community Transit

Transit does not happen without buses, bases and customer facilities. Community Transit is reliant on roads and bridges to drive on, but there are other needs as well.

Buses: Our 284 buses travel more than 12 million miles a year. These buses need to be replaced as they reach the end of their useful life, our largest capital expense. Federal funding pays up to 80 percent of a vehicle’s cost.

Operating bases: Our two bases in Everett provide full operation and maintenance capacity. These facilities need to be kept up and expanded as demand grows.

Park-and-rides: We operate and maintain 22 park-and-ride lots in Snohomish County, serving 7,000 vehicles each weekday. Because of the large cost of bases and park-and-rides, we rely on federal and state funds to help cover the costs.

Community Transit will spend more than $150 million on capital asset needs over the next six years, about $90 million of which are new and replacement buses. This is separate from the cost of fuel and labor to drive our buses. We need outside funding more than ever so we can focus our local budget on putting service on the road.

Today, Community Transit and Everett Transit ask you to Stand Up 4 Transportation (#SU4T) alongside us and support transportation funding at the state and federal levels.

Emmett Heath is the CEO of Community Transit. Tom Hingson is director for Everett Transit.