Swift Green Line Is 90 Days From Launch

The new Swift Green Line Station at Airport Road & Highway 99, with the Blue Line Station in the background

The Swift Green Line will launch on March 24, 2019, bringing bus rapid transit service to Mill Creek and the new Paine Field passenger terminal. Community Transit's second bus rapid transit line will have 34 stations and run from Seaway Transit Center on Airport Road, 128th/132nd Street, and the Bothell-Everett Highway (SR 527) to Canyon Park.

The Green Line will intersect several of the county's major routes at various points: the Blue Line at Airport Road and Highway 99 in south Everett; the Ash Way "trunk" routes at Mariner Park and Ride; and Silver Firs-bound routes in Mill Creek. While connections to a Seattle-bound bus are only possible through limited commuter routes, the Canyon Park terminus will be served by Sound Transit Routes 532/535 to Bellevue, which will eventually be upgraded into a bus rapid transit line.

Unlike the decade-old Blue Line, the Green Line will use fewer miles of business access and transit (BAT) lanes, instead opting for transit signal priority and a few queue jumps at key areas. The route crosses Interstate 5 in south Everett on 128th Street and has a bus lane and queue jump signal on both sides of the freeway interchange that are also used by several local routes.

According to Community Transit at their latest Facebook Live Q&A session, contractors have completed work on the bus pads and platforms at all but Canyon Park Station. About 90 percent of traffic signals are now configured for transit priority and most of the remaining work at stations is electrical and systems installation, including ticket vending machines, lighting, and overhead shelters.

Recent construction at Seaway Transit Center (courtesy of Community Transit)

The Seaway Transit Center, which is being built as the terminus for the Green Line and a variety of commuter routes to the Boeing plant, is paved and several of the bus bays now sport shelters and signage. Construction on the Canyon Park terminus started recently and is expected to be the last part of the Green Line to be fully complete.

The Green Line will use a mix of new and old buses that are part of a fleet that is shared with the Blue Line. The new buses, which have been rotated into service since September, are mostly identical to the existing Swift buses and have been adapted for use on both lines.

Once the Green Line is up and running, Community Transit will turn its attention to developing its next two bus rapid transit projects: the Orange Line, which will connect Edmonds Community College and Ash Way P&R to both Swift lines and Link at Lynnwood Transit Center; and the Red Line, which would extend Swift service from Everett to Marysville and Smokey Point. There are also plans to extend the Blue Line to the Shoreline North/185th Link Station and the Green Line to Downtown Bothell and the UW Bothell/Cascadia College campus.