EVERETT — Everett Transit presented its yearly update to its six-year plan at an Aug. 27 City Council meeting, laying out upcoming upgrades to bus service and capital improvements to its fleet of vehicles.
In its plan, the agency said it expects to increase service every year through 2030, including a significant extension of Route 19 to serve the city’s new riverfront neighborhood, planned for 2027. Between 2025 and 2030, the agency will increase the number of service hours by about 9 percent.
Ridership is expected to grow by 15 percent in 2025 and by 5 percent per year through 2030, according to the plan.
Other upgrades will include the ongoing replacement of aging buses, rebuilding Mall Station in south Everett and making maintenance upgrades to Everett Station. The new $2 million Mall Station — a hub for Everett Transit’s most popular route — is set to open in November, Everett Transit Director Mike Schmeider said at the council meeting.
The agency is also expected to install electric signage with real-time arrival information at College Station and Mall Station in 2026.
Everett Transit is already undertaking a push to electrify half of its fleet and replace other diesel buses with hybrid-electric vehicles. The agency will also start a pilot program for two electric paratransit vehicles — used for a door-to-door service available for seniors and individuals with disabilities — in 2026.
“This does not mean we’re pivoting in that direction, but we will do a pilot with those to assess their performance,” Schmeider said of the paratransit vehicles.
The six-year plan, which the state requires transit agencies to update annually, did not require council approval as its elements were already included in the city’s comprehensive plan periodic update. The council approved that update in June.
At the meeting, council member Ben Zarlingo asked about the potential of implementing microtransit services, where on-demand vehicles would carry individuals to destinations within small, defined areas. Community Transit currently offers microtransit service in Lake Stevens, Arlington and Darrington as part of a pilot program. After a successful pilot in the Alderwood area of Lynnwood, Community Transit made microtransit service there permanent.
Schmeider said microtransit is an option the agency intends to study further.
‘The per-ride cost of that is quite high, so there’s differences of philosophies on that, whether that takes away from valuable service on the fixed-route side or other areas, but we are baking it in to our long-range plan and we’re going to evaluate it and look at it,” Schmeider said. “We have some potential areas where that service might be most appropriate to explore.”
Work on Everett Transit’s long-range plan, the agency’s road map through 2045, is still ongoing. The agency conducted a survey gathering feedback through July and will develop a draft of the plan in early 2026. The council is set to adopt the plan in March or April next year.
Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that Community Transit currently operates permanent microtransit service in Lynnwood.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
