WA: State study supports more city-to-city bus service in Yakima Valley

A state transportation study recommends expanded city-to-city bus service with multiple stops across the Yakima Valley.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is recommending a bus route between Ellensburg and the Tri-Cities with three daily round trips, with stops in Selah, Yakima, Parker, Wapato, Toppenish, Zillah, Granger, Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser.

The route would take 4.5 hours to travel between Ellensburg and the Tri-Cities along the Interstate 82 corridor, with other stops in Kennewick, Pasco and the Tri-Cities Airport, said Nina Stocker, manager of WSDOT's Travel Washington intercity bus program.

Data analyzed in the study, recently presented to the Washington State Transportation Commission, strongly supports increased service in the Yakima Valley corridor, Stocker said.

"It fills a gap that has high travel demand between the Tri-Cities and Yakima ... and augments other providers that are at-capacity for service between Yakima and Ellensburg," she added.

The latter includes commuter bus service operated by the Bellair Charters company, which also operates the shuttle from Yakima to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The Yakima- Ellensburg commuter service is funded by the city of Yakima, city of Selah, Central Washington University and a $500,000 WSDOT grant.

Yakima City Council members approved a $1.05 million, two-year contract with the Bellair company in July 2023. The bus travels between Ellensburg and Yakima, with stops in Selah, six or seven times daily, depending on the season.

Any additional bus routes, including the Ellensburg-to-Tri-Cities proposal, would be a similar combination of privately owned carriers receiving federal funding via WSDOT, Stocker said.

"All of the (existing) Travel Washington routes are operated by private entities. None of them are operated by public transit," she said. "They're operated by these private providers with subsidies in a market that we decide on."

Private industry changes

In a March presentation to the state Transportation Commission, Stocker and WSDOT Deputy Director Don Chartock explained that commercial bus service covering long distances between cities is dwindling, especially outside of major urban areas.

"The private industry for intercity bus is failing. It's been failing for a number of years and (the decline) has only sped up since the pandemic," Chartock said. "Seeing a Greyhound bus in Washington state is a rare occurrence now."

Although the buses still might have "Greyhound" on their side, the company itself was sold in October 2021 to Munich, Germany-based FlixBus. Since then, nearly all U.S. Greyhound bus stations have been sold, meaning the company no longer has any privately owned bus stops in Washington, Chartock said.

FlixBus stops in Cle Elum, Ellensburg, Yakima, Sunnyside and Pasco.

He noted that bus service traditionally has been the least-subsidized form of transpiration in the U.S., with highways, air travel and trains all receiving hefty amounts of assistance from the federal government.

"If the private (bus) industry continues to fail, what's the role of state government, working with our partners in the federal government and with local partners, to address things?" Chartock asked Transportation Commission members.

WSDOT contracts with private bus operators to provide four intercity bus routes, helping to connect rural communities to major transportation hubs and urban centers. Funding is provided by the Federal Transit Administration.

These Travel Washington routes include the Grape Line, offering service between Walla Walla and Pasco since 2007; the Dungeness Line serving the Olympic Peninsula; the Apple Line through Omak, Wenatchee and Ellensburg; and the Gold Line, which runs twice daily along U.S. 395 north of Spokane to transit hubs, including Spokane International Airport.

Studying improvements

A study examining updates to the Travel Washington program was completed in December 2024, with a requirement listed in the Legislature's 2023 transportation budget to study needs of the Yakima Valley.

"We were instructed to consider the feasibility of increasing intercity bus service specifically in the Yakima region," said Stocker, manager of the WSDOT intercity bus program.

"The goal of this program is to ensure that residents of rural communities have access to critical services, job opportunities and transportation options in larger urban areas," she added.

The 2024 study found intercity bus service primarily serves riders with limited-English proficiency, the non-white population, zero-car households, those age 65 and older, post-secondary students and people with disabilities.

These groups seek to travel to destinations including airports, Amtrak stations, big-box retailers, colleges and universities, and health care facilities, Stocker said.

The study modeled travel patterns for each demographic group with Republica, a data set that uses cellphone information. It also held open houses and listening sessions, interviews with targeted demographic groups and an online survey to determine demand for intercity bus routes.

Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport, Spokane, Portland and Yakima emerged as the most popular destinations for travelers, Stocker said. Recreation was the primary trip purpose, followed by visits to family, accessing medical services and running errands.

Suggestions for improvements included more frequent service, better marketing and information sharing, improved bus comfort and cleanliness, safer pick-up and drop-off locations, and cost concerns, as sometimes bus fares can rival flight costs, Stocker said.

Besides the Ellensburg-to-Tri-Cities route through the Yakima Valley, other proposed intercity bus system expansion included a Tri-Cities-to- Spokane route with more stops in rural communities between the two urban areas. Extension of the Gold Line from its current end point in Colville to Republic also was recommended.

Other possible Travel Washington expansion options, rated at a lower priority, included Spokane to Omak, Tri-Cities to Pullman, Tacoma to Ocean Shores and Long Beach to Vancouver.

Chartock said review of the intercity bus study would continue in 2025, with a draft plan for expansion and public review and comment on that plan possible in 2026.

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