Due to a stronger local economy and the first full year of funding from 2015’s Proposition 1, Community Transit expects sales tax revenue to grow by $19 million in 2017. The money will go to new bus service, more buses, more employees to drive and maintain those buses, and new capital projects, most notably the Swift Green Line between Bothell/Canyon Park and Boeing/Paine Field.
“Community Transit is delivering on its promise to provide more service, more often, to more places,” said CEO Emmett Heath. “The next few years will be a pivotal time for transportation in Snohomish County.”
Last month, the agency added two new routes on Highway 9, opening new east-west transit connections in the county. In 2017, the agency will expand service by another 6 percent, starting with more midday and evening bus trips and additional weekend service in March. A proposal for the fall 2017 service expansion will be released for public comment early in the year.
Community Transit’s Proposed 2017 Budget assumes operating revenue of $172 million and operating expenses of $134 million. The operating revenues will also fund an ambitious capital program that includes purchase and delivery of 57 new buses, including 17 Double Talls, and the start of construction on the Swift Green Line.
Swift Green Line
The Swift Green Line builds on the success of the Swift Blue Line, which began operation on Highway 99 in 2009. The first bus rapid transit line in the state, the Swift Blue Line carries more than 1.6 million riders a year between downtown Everett and the Snohomish-King County line.
The Swift Green Line will operate between the Canyon Park Park & Ride in Bothell and a new Seaway Transit Center, which will be constructed at 75th & Seaway Blvd. in Everett, across the street from Boeing’s main gate. Construction on the Seaway Transit Center, as well as 31 Swiftstations and road improvements on the I-5 overpass at 128th Street, will begin in mid-2017.
At $73 million, the Swift Green Line is Community Transit’s largest capital project ever. The agency is expecting about $50 million in federal grants, which have been included in the President’s 2017 Budget.
Other capital projects in Community Transit’s Proposed 2017 Budget include work to upgrade the agency’s wireless communication system, a new camera system at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center, 20 expansion vanpool vans, and a corridor study for the Swift Orange Line, designed to connect to Link light rail in Lynnwood.
