Community Transit continues to seek remedies for riders affected by its decision to temporarily cut service on Sundays and major holidays starting June 13. The closure means no Swift or DART service on those days.
“While Sundays and holidays have lower ridership than other days, there will still be many people impacted by this move,” said Martin Munguia, CT spokesperson. “In particular, people who use the bus or DART to get to church or work on Sundays are going to be impacted more than those who might use the bus for discretionary travel.”
To help lessen the impact, CT is working with the Snohomish County Transportation Coalition (SNOTRAC) and Volunteers of America, which runs the county’s 211 social services hotline, to provide resources for those who need transportation on Sundays.
CT and SNOTRAC are contacting churches in the service area to explore if any are willing to provide transportation assistance to their members, and possibly to people who attend nearby churches.
CT also is contacting local employers to remind them about the loss of Sunday service and asking if they will help coordinate transportation for their employees.
“The unfortunate thing about the loss of Sunday bus service is that there will be people who either cannot get around or will have to scramble to find a ride themselves,” Munguia said. “A great resource for these people is RideshareOnline.com, which allows people to find carpools or vanpools in their area.”
Twelve surplus CT vehicles are being donated to local nonprofit agencies through the Van GO program. Those vehicles will be awarded in June.
CT is seeking new state and federal funding to restore Sunday service. While the current level of service costs about $5 million a year, the agency would need to be sure there is enough funding to restore service indefinitely before bringing it back.
“We do not want to restore service based on a one-time grant, and then have to cancel service again when the grant runs out,” Munguia said.
Agency officials project that the closing of Sunday and holiday service will eliminate 28,000 hours of service annually. Remaining open on those days would require slashing 48,000 hours to get the same dollar savings.
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