ARLINGTON — The Zip Shuttle is coming to Arlington, Lake Stevens and Darrington.
The ride-hailing service offered by Community Transit, similar to Uber and Lyft, has been operating since 2022 near Alderwood mall. For the same price as a bus fare — $2.50 — riders can get a ride from their current location to anywhere within Zip’s service area.
Rides often have multiple passengers as well.
Those in Arlington, Darrington and Lake Stevens can sign up for updates on the upcoming Zip by Oct. 18 and get a free ORCA card out of it.
Community Transit is looking to announce more specifics about the service soon.
“Community Transit is currently developing operational plans for the service zone, and anticipates having them completed in November,” agency spokesperson Monica Spain wrote in an email.
Additionally, the Darrington zone of service will extend out of city limits. The number of vehicles to be used is still being worked out and, will depend on “community transportation needs, budget, land use patterns, density, and local destinations,” Spain wrote.
The Alderwood Zip uses nine vehicles. That service carries about 5,500 customers per month and has seen an uptick in usage following the start of light rail service at the end of last month. In fact, 1,500 people used the service last week alone, Spain wrote.
For those who qualify for reduced fares, such as low-income riders who qualify for ORCA LIFT, those aged 65 and over, disabled riders and those on Medicare, the cost is $1.25. Those 18 and younger also ride for free.
“It’s only going to cost them a buck and a quarter to ride. And to me, that’s going to provide transportation to a whole lot of people,” said Jan Schuette, who is a Community Transit board member and sits on Arlington City Council. “I mean, we’ve got, oh my gosh, at least five or six senior homes around and they’ll be able to go anywhere they want.”
For Schuette, much of it comes down to giving people options. Getting around outlying Snohomish County can be difficult without a car. The introduction of light rail led Community Transit to reorganize many of its routes, cutting off much of its direct Seattle service as a result.
This has allowed the agency to redeploy its buses to other routes.
“It’s really going to make a difference,” Schuette said. “Our buses will run more frequently, and that is kind of a barrier sometimes with people when they have to go to work, or when they have to be at an appointment.”
The Zip could also provide a future connection to Community Transit’s Swift bus rapid transit system. The Gold Line, slated to be in service by 2029, will connect Everett Station to the Smokey Point Transit Center. Environmental review and design of the project is expected to begin next year.
The Gold Line will also connect into the Cascade Industrial Center, where businesses like Amazon have recently built sprawling complexes. Traffic has increased and more people need to get into the area each year.
“The businesses are coming,” Schuette said. “And we don’t have the people to supply all those jobs, so there will definitely have to be transit.”
Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; X: @jordyhansen.
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