Community Transit Adds New Trips to Existing Routes Next Week

A standing room-only run of route 415 seen in January.

As previously reported, Community Transit is moving ahead with a minor increase in service brought on by the successful passage of Proposition 1 last November. Beginning Sunday, March 27, 15 new trips and six extended trips will be put in place on seven local routes (including Swift) and nine commuter routes; other routes will receive schedule adjustments to reflect actual trip times or to facilitate transfers. The service change is made possible by reserve funds that Community Transit is able to use ahead of April 1, when the collection of an additional 0.3% of sales tax approved in Proposition 1 begins.

The full list of changes from Community Transit's website includes reasoning behind some of the changes, such as ridership demand on some commuter routes.

• Swift: Two new early morning trips are added at 4:40 a.m., one northbound and one southbound.
• Route 112: Seven new trips are added in the middle of the day, providing 30-minute service until evening. This creates a more frequent all-day connection between Ash Way P&R and Swamp Creek P&R, and also more frequent service for Mountlake Terrace.
• Route 113: Minor schedule adjustments.
• Route 120: First two morning eastbound trips on Route 120 will leave 3 minutes earlier to improve connections with Route 435 at Canyon Park.
• Route 240: One new eastbound trip is added at 8:25 p.m., providing later evening service from Stanwood.
• Route 271: One new westbound trip is added at 8:55 p.m., providing later evening service from Gold Bar.
• Route 280: Weekday trip adjustments of 5 or more minutes, including two afternoon trips leaving the Boeing Plant shifted 5 minutes earlier.
• Route 410: All southbound trips will serve Ash Way, similar to how northbound trips operate. A bay change at Mariner P&R is also included in the changes.
• Route 413: One new morning southbound trip is added at 6:25 a.m. to accommodate ridership demand.
• Route 415: One new afternoon northbound trip is added at 3:15 p.m. to accommodate ridership demand. The first northbound trip to Lynnwood will leave 4th & Jackson 5 minutes earlier.
• Route 421: One new morning southbound trip is added at 5:51 a.m. to accommodate ridership demand.
• Route 424: The two morning southbound trips starting at the same time as currently scheduled, but the travel times are adjusted to better match actual travel time, providing more schedule reliability.
• Route 435: One new afternoon northbound trip is added at 3:55 p.m. to accommodate ridership demand. The northbound trip leaving Stewart & 9th Ave at 4:05 p.m. will leave 10 minutes later at 4:15 p.m.
• Route 810: The first two northbound trips leaving Stevens & Memorial Way will leave 15 minutes later at 6:15 and 6:45 p.m.
• Route 860: All southbound trips will serve Ash Way, similar to how northbound trips operate.
• Route 880: All trips will be extended to the Mukilteo Ferry Terminal.

A much larger service expansion, funded directly by new sales tax revenue approved by Proposition 1, is planned for this September. Community Transit presented its first proposal for the service change during a board meeting this month and is taking public comment until April 8.

Community Transit is also adjusting its University District service to serve the new University of Washington Link station, by adding a stop on Stevens Way NE at Rainier Vista. 84 trips every weekday run between the U District and Snohomish County and will stop within walking distance of the station, but will otherwise remain unchanged.