Direct bus route from Stanwood to Everett still in limbo

Stanwood is nearly twice the size of Granite Falls and three times as big as Gold Bar.

But while those smaller cities have direct bus routes to Everett, Stanwood does not.

“The entire Stanwood area does not have (direct) bus service to Everett, its county seat,” said Christina Kilbourn of Stanwood.

Island Transit is debating whether to charge fares to bring back state funding for a route that had connected the two cities. But Kilbourn said the hem-and-haw over the special state grant — that won’t last — belies the real issue.

Stanwood is in Snohomish County. So Community Transit should offer a route, Kilbourn said.

The issue has been out there since 2014, when state funding was lost for the Island Transit Everett Connector route that included a stop in Stanwood on its way from Camano Island to Everett.

It’s at the forefront again for would-be riders like Kilbourn now that Community Transit is asking voters on the Nov. 3 ballot to increase the sales tax to help expand service. A Stanwood route is not yet on the to-fund list.

“It’s not fair to the citizens of the Stanwood area to pay the extra tax for nothing,” Kilbourn said. “What incentive do they have to vote for a transit authority that ignores them?”

Community Transit buses do go through Stanwood and Everett, although there is no direct route except for Boeing workers. Getting from Stanwood to Everett Station on existing routes would take at least 1 hour 40 minutes. That’s three times what it takes to drive.

Even transit officials agree that’s not feasible.

A direct Stanwood-to-Everett route is on Community Transit’s radar. “It’s kind of a hole,” spokesman Martin Munguia said.

It’s even mentioned in Proposition 1 campaign materials.

The route is not off the table.

But Munguia stressed it’s just one unfunded need out there.

“We have a lot of requests. All over the county, people say, ‘We want you to do this, we want you to do that,’” Munguia said. Even with $25 million extra a year, “the truth is we can’t do everything.”

If the tax package is approved, Community Transit would start a public input process in 2016.

“Even if the first proposal doesn’t include service for one specific area, that is a good time to repeat the request,” Munguia said.

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