EVERETT — Community Transit is rolling out two new bus routes and more commuter service next month.
The expansion comes thanks to a 0.3 percent sales-tax increase that voters approved for the agency last year.
“This is the first big push,” agency spokesman Martin Munguia said. “Next year, we’ll be adding more trips within the county.”
Voters in November passed Proposition 1, which raised the sales tax by 3 cents on a $10 purchase throughout Community Transit’s service district. The new routes will boost service levels by 14 percent over 2015. The agency is preparing for a 40 percent increase in service over the next five years.
The new routes will serve part of the Highway 9 corridor starting Sept. 11. CT also has plans to run more bus trips to Seattle and within the county. Some routes are due to change through Marysville and Mukilteo.
One of the new bus lines, Route 109, will carry passengers between the Ash Way Park &Ride in Lynnwood and Lake Stevens via 128th Street, 132nd Street, Cathcart Way and Highway 9. Another, Route 209, will take passengers between Lake Stevens Transit Center and Quil Ceda Village. It will travel over Highway 9, 64th Street NE and 27th Avenue NE.
Both new routes will provide service every 30 minutes during weekday mornings and afternoons, with hourly service the rest of the day and on weekends.
Some changes are planned for existing bus line on Route 222 between Marysville and the Tulalip Indian Reservation to limit overlap with the new Route 209. Route 222 will serve new stops at the Marysville Public Library and Marysville Getchell High School, with a loop through 64th Street NE, 67th Avenue NE and Grove Street.
Route 417 from Mukilteo to Seattle will no longer stop at the Lynnwood Transit Center.
Extra trips are planned on commuter Routes 402, 412, 415, 860 and 871 to downtown Seattle and Seattle’s University District.
The expansion also increases the reach of DART para-transit service for eligible disabled passengers within three-quarters of a mile of local routes during normal operating hours.
CT has ordered 57 new buses to accommodate added service. A second bus rapid-transit line, the Swift Green Line, is set to open in early 2019. It will connect Paine Field and the Boeing plant in south Everett with the Canyon Park area of Bothell.
For more info on Community Transit routes, go to www.communitytransit. org/NewSchedules.
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