Community Transit Restructure – 2024 and Beyond

No More SODO Layover - Community Transit will (almost) completely stop service to Seattle as of September 14, and pump up service within Snohomish County. Photo by Oran Viriyincy.

With the opening of Lynnwood Link Extension, Community Transit will restructure many of its bus routes to focus more on all-day semi-frequent service across western Snohomish County. Other peak-only express buses will be truncated to allow for some all-day express buses as well. In additional to reallocation of bus hours, Community Transit will run more bus service in general with 480,000 annual bus service hours, totaling 32% more service by 2026. The major restructure will go into effect tomorrow morning, September 14, with others to follow in coming years.

Main highlights:

• Improves and expands access to fast and frequent Swift bus rapid transit lines, including the new Swift Orange Line
• Adds more frequent bus service throughout Snohomish County and more late-night and weekend bus service, resulting in:
  • three times the number of routes with 20 minutes or better frequency and two times the number of routes with 30 minutes or better frequency
  • increasing the number of people and jobs within walking distance of all-day, frequent transit service by 68% and 40%, respectively
• Replaces Northgate and downtown Seattle bus service with new express 900-series routes to Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace light rail stations

Main Links:

• New Community Transit System Map, pdf of new system map
• Previous Community Transit System Map, pdf of current system map (link will likely be replaced / not work after September 14)
• Community Transit Transit Changes, lists only new bus routes and highlights large route changes
• Community Transit Service Changes, lists all Community Transit bus route, lists other relevant bus routes and shows all Community Transit bus schedules
• Sound Transit Express Changes
• Sound Transit 2024 Service plan (pdf)

Note: due to the large number of route changes, the descriptions below may be slightly simplified for conciseness and will also prioritize listing moderate to major changes with some minor route schedule changes skipped.

New Frequent Routes and Consolidation

Here's the peak service map before the restructure:

Current Peak Service Map from Community Transit

With the restructure, Community Transit will remove some existing routes (Routes 105, 107, 113, 227, and 247) and reallocate service hours to increase service in the denser areas of Snohomish County:

Proposed Mid-day Service Map from Community Transit. Note: the simplified proposed map above is slightly different from final approved plans.

Service will be provided to these areas as well as new areas by new routes, Route 103, Route 117, and Route 121 or increasing frequency to existing routes.

Lynnwood to Mukilteo and Seaway TC

Previous routes from Lynnwood heading north Route 107 (to Seaway TC) and Route 113 (to Mukilteo Freeway Terminal) have swapped parts of their routing. With new Route 117 (to Mukilteo Freeway Terminal) taking the more fast and direct path up the Mukilteo Speedway, while Route 103 takes a more circuitous route to Seaway TC.

Route 103 will have 30 minutes frequency weekdays from 5 a.m. - 6:30 p.m and then 60 minute frequency after 6:30 pm to 11pm as well as 60 minute frequency all weekend from 6 am to 9pm.

Route 103	Day	Evening
Weekday	5 am to 6:30 pm 30 min	6:30 pm to 11 pm 60 min
Saturday	6 am to 9 pm 60 min
Sunday	6 am to 9 pm 60 min

Route 103 Frequency

Route 117 will have 30 minutes frequency weekdays from 5 a.m. - 8 p.m and then 60 minute frequency after 8 pm to 11pm as well as 60 minute frequency all weekend from 7 am to 9pm.

Route 117	Day	Evening
Weekday	5:30 to 8 pm 30 min	8 pm to 11 pm 60 min
Saturday	6 am to 9 pm 60 min
Sunday	7 am to 9 pm 60 min

Route 117 FrequencyMill Creek and Bothell Reorganization

Around Bothell, Community Transit will be deleting existing Route 105 with service supplanted by Swift Green Line and extending existing 30 minute peak / hourly weekend Route 120 to UW Bothell/ Cascadia.

Route 106, 120, 121 changesCT System map of Mill Creek and Bothell

There is also the new Route 121 and adjusting Route 106s hours though continuing with hourly frequency. Part of the reorganization is to take advantage of the new Swift Orange Line.

Route 106	Day
Weekday	5 am to 10 pm 60 min
Saturday	6 am to 9 pm 60 min
Sunday	6 am to 7 pm 60 min

Route 103 Frequency

New route 121 will only run on weekdays with 30 minute frequency during peak periods and hourly frequency outside.

Route 121	Early Morning	Day	Evening	Late Night
Weekday	5 am to 8 am 30 min	8 am to 2 pm 60 min	2 pm to 6 pm 30 min	6 pm to 10 pm 60 min

Route 103 FrequencyEdmonds to Mountlake Terrace ChangesCommunity Transit Route 130 map

Route 130 running between Edmonds and Lynnwood has been slightly modified to run along 100th Ave N as well as adding some weekend service.

Route 130	Early Morning	Day	Evening	Late Night
Weekday	5am to 8:30am 30 min	8:30am to 3 pm 60 min	3pm to 7pm 30 min	7pm to 10pm 60 min
Saturday	-	6 am to 3 pm 60 min	3 pm to 9 pm 60 min	-
Sunday	-	7:30am to 3 pm 60 min	3pm to 8:30pm 60 min	-

Route 103 FrequencyEdmonds and Mountlake Terrace Map

Route 166 and Route 102 will continue as 30 minute frequency bus routes between Edmonds Station/Ferry Terminal to Lynnwood Transit Center.

Route 909Route 909 map

Route 909 is a new express route between downtown Edmonds, Westgate, Lake Ballinger, and Mountlake Terrace Transit Center Light Rail Station as well as connecting to the Swift Blue Line. The bus will run 50 minute frequency aligned for the Edmonds-Kingston ferry schedule.

Swift Network

The recently added Swift Orange Line as well as existing Swift Green Line and Swift Blue Line will continue to serve as the backbone for transit in Snohomish County.

Swift Orange

The Swift Orange Line serves a semi east-west route from Mill Creek to Lynnwood. Notably now connects to the Lynnwood Center City Station providing a quick 5 minute ride to Alderwood Mall, 9 minute ride to Edmonds College, 16 minute ride to McCollum Park, and 27 minute ride to Mill Creek.

The World is Orange

Swift Blue ExtensionSwift Blue Line Extension map

Community Transit will extend the Swift Blue Line from Aurora Village Transit Center to Shoreline North/ 185th Link Station. This extension will allow riders to easily transfer to Link as well as allowing Link travelers to reach Aurora Avenue.

Express Routes Truncated for LinkCT Current Commuter Service Map

Community Transit will discontinue express bus service to Northgate and Downtown Seattle, specifically Routes 402, 405, 410, 412, 413, 415, 416, 417, 421, 422, 425, 435, 810, 821, 860, 871, and 880.

CT Proposed Express Service Map

Instead, they will implement their new express 900-series routes that connect at Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace light rail stations.

StanwoodRoute 905 map

Route 905 will notably be a new all day express route replacing the existing Route 422.

Route 905	Early Morning	Day to Night	Evening
Weekday	5 am to 7:30 am 30 min southbound	5 am to 9 pm 60 min both direction	3:30 pm to 6pm 30 min northbound

Route 905 frequencyRoute 907 map

Community Transit will add a AM/PM peak only Route 907 from Stanwood P&R to Seaway Transit Center, most likely for Boeing workers

Route 907	Early Morning	Day	Evening
Weekday	4 am to 5:30 am 30 min southbound	5:30 am to 2:20 pm None	2:20 pm to 4:30pm 30 min northbound

Route 907 frequencyMarysville and EverettRoute 903 map

Route 903	Early Morning	Late Night
Weekday	5 am to 8 am 30 min southbound	3 pm to 7 pm 30 min northbound

Route 903 FrequencyRoute 904 map

Route 904	Early Morning	Late Night
Weekday	4 am to 9 am 30 min southbound	2:45 pm to 7:45 pm 30 min northbound

Route 904 FrequencyST Express Everett to Lynnwood & SeattleSound Transit ST Express restructure for Lynnwood Link map

The following ST Express buses of Route 512 and Route 513 will truncate to Lynnwood City Center Station instead of Northgate. Route 511 from Ash Way to Northgate, already suspended, has been formally eliminated.

The Route 510 will continue to run from Everett to downtown Seattle to offer a one bus ride and more capacity to Seattle (Note: was previously removed in draft 2023 plans) Keeping Route 510 also means Route 512 and 513 will maintain existing frequency instead of the previously proposed increased frequency.

ST Express Route 515 map

New temporary Route 515 will run during peak periods every 10 minutes between Lynnwood and Seattle.

Lake Stevens and Silver FirsCT Route 901 map

The AM/PM peak only Route 901 will take over the existing Route 412 heading from Silver Firs via Mill Creek and truncating at Lynnwood City Center Station instead of non-stop to downtown Seattle.

Decreases and IncreasesMap of increased and decreased service from 2024 Title VI Analysis

As part of this restructure, Community Transit completed a Title VI analysis including a summary of where service would be decreased, increased, or kept the same. In the figure above, it's clear that CT is leveraging the incredible time savings from not sending buses to downtown Seattle to boost service in the dense corridor between Edmonds, Lynnwood, and Everett. For the data nerds out there, Daniel Heppner created a neat tool showing change in number of trips and service hours for each route.

Future Changes

Although this restructure represents a major overhaul for Community Transit's network, more changes are to come in coming years as CT is able to increase service across its network.

Service Changes in 2025-2026

Many other local routes will have increased frequency or minor adjusted routing in 2025 and 2026. Most items are minor increased frequency usually from 60 min to 30 min during peak periods.

• Route 101, local route between Mariner P&R and Aurora Village: increased frequency
• Route 109, local route between Lake Stevens and Ash Way: increased frequency
• Route 112, local route between Ash Way and Mountlake Terrace: increased frequency
• Route 119, local route between Ash Way and Mountlake Terrace: increased frequency
• Route 202, local route between Smokey Point and Lynnwood: revised routing extended to serve 51st Ave NE and overlap with Route 201
• Route 209, local route between Smokey Point and Lake Stevens: increased frequency
• Route 222, local route between Marysville and Tulalip: revised route more direct east-west
• Route 223, new hourly circulator route between Marysville and Quil Ceda
• Route 240, local route between Smokey Point and Stanwood: expanded hours
• Route 270 and 271, local route between Everett and Gold Bar: increased frequency
• Route 280, local route between Everett and Granite Falls: increased frequency
• Route 908, new express route between Snohomish P&R and Bellevue: weekday peak-only

CT Route 112 map

Most notably in 2025/2026, Route 112 on the 44th Ave W corridor will receive increased frequency to 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes.

Route 112	Day	Late Night
Weekday	6 am to 6 pm 20 min	6 pm to 9 pm 30 min
Saturday	7 am to 7 pm 30 min	7 pm to 9 pm 60 min
Sunday	7 :15 am to 6:15 pm 30 min	6:15 pm to 9:15 pm 60 min

Route 112 FrequencyFurther BRT Changes

Other future BRT changes are briefly described below.

Swift Green Line extension map

In 2028 (or as late as 2031), Swift Green Line will be extended to UW Bothell / Cascadia College with 6 new stations as shown above. Notably this will connect with the future Sound Transit Stride 2 (freeway BRT from Lynnwood to Bellevue) and Stride 3 (avenue BRT from Bothell to Shoreline) projects.

Swift Gold Line proposed routing map

The proposed 15 mile Swift Gold Line will connect Everett via Marysville to Arlington. is currently under scoping review (2022 to 2025) and may complete construction by 2029.

One proposed routing of RapidRide E extension to Mountlake Terrace Link Station from Metro Connects Interim Network

RapidRide E extension to Mountlake Terrace TC (3.2 miles) has been described in the Metro Connects plan, more recently in the Rapidride Prioritization plan and in the Aurora Avenue project survey as well. However, it is unclear how likely or soon such an extension of RapidRide E will occur given the lack of transit riders asking for it and lack of momentum from King County Metro to implement it.

Conclusion

Community Transit's exciting September 14 bus restructure will slowly usher in a new era of public transportation in Snohomish County. This overhaul focuses on increased frequency, expanded service areas, and better connections to light rail stations. The new system prioritizes service within Snohomish County, leveraging the time saved by not traveling to downtown Seattle to offer more local options. Passengers can expect moderately more frequent buses throughout the day, evenings, and new hourly service on weekends. While some peak-hour express routes to Seattle are discontinued, they are replaced by new express routes connecting to light rail stations for a seamless journey into UW, downtown Seattle, and more.