Community Transit and United Way: Strength In Community

Earlier this month, Community Transit kicked off our 2013 United Way campaign, Strength In Community, by participating in the United Way of Snohomish County Day of Caring on September 14 at H3 Horses Healing Heroes in Monroe. 

Some of the Community Transit volunteers 

stop a moment to pose for a picture.

H3 Horses Healing Heroes is a non-profit organization for wounded military personnel, past and present.  Through equine assisted psychotherapy, horses are used as a tool to facilitate healing from:

• Combat Trauma

• Post-Traumatic Stress Injury

• Traumatic Brain Injury

• Military Sexual Trauma

Over 25 Community Transit staff and family volunteers assisted with repairs and general maintenance including cleaning, repairing the barn roof, fencing maintenance and moving drain pipe.

Community Transit employees, Michael Shea, Tony Smith and Pete 

Juozapaitis, clean up a pasture at the H3 farm in Monroe

“We felt that the wounded warrior project was not only an opportunity for us to lend our skills and effort, but also a chance to honor our veterans for their selfless service,” said Sue Masel, Co-Chair of the Community Transit’s United Way Team. “Pairing horses in the healing process was especially appealing to us.” (Monroe Monitor)

The team met some new friends at the Day of Caring event!

Arlene Gibson, owner of H3, said “the day was exciting, awesome and humbling. I was a little scared but everything went beautifully.  If you ever need your faith in humanity restored, just witness the volunteers from Community Transit who signed up for United Way’s Day of Caring, helping H3 with our numerous projects. They came with their hands and hearts.” (Monroe Monitor)

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Community Transit volunteers, Pete Juozapaitis, Steve Winecoff 

and son Andrew Winecoff mending a broken fence.

Check out this article in the Monroe Monitor to learn more about the event and the work H3 does in the community.

All the hard work really paid off!

Gov. Inslee Makes Pitch for Snohomish County Transportation Investment

Gov. Jay Inslee was at Lynnwood Transit Center yesterday making the case for new investment in transportation projects. He said that Snohomish County is a key for transportation investment because of Boeing and other manufacturing jobs that rely on roads and transit to move goods and people.

With a backdrop of a Swift bus and speaking to an audience of about 100 people, including many elected officials, business owners and community leaders, Inslee said the state has a role in transportation and he called upon legislators to work with him to get a funding package approved as soon as possible.

Asked if there would be a special session of the Legislature later this year to approve a transportation funding package, Inslee said, "We need to have a package fully baked, and the votes fully identified before calling a special session." Inslee said he did not want
to bring lawmakers together to simply "sit around talking."

Following the speech, about 60 people took a tour of county projects identified in a funding proposal on a Community Transit bus. For its part, Community Transit is seeking funding to add service after several years of cuts. The agency also is studying routing for a new Swift line and is seeking state funding to help that become a reality.

Thanks to Economic Alliance Snohomish County, which sponsored this event, and is leading the effort in Snohomish County to get transportation projects funded.

Next Bus Signs Live on Swift!

Community Transit’s first real-time bus information feature was officially turned on this week when the next bus signs at Swift stations went live.

These signs count down to the arrival of the next Swift bus, e.g., 12 minutes, 6 minutes, etc. When the bus is 1 minute away from the station, there is an audible chime and the signs say “Due.” After the bus departs, the signs start counting down to the arrival of the next Swift bus.

Because this is new technology, there will be a period of adjustment. The signs may not display correctly all the time. We already know that the audio chime at 1 minute may have some volume issues. That is something we are working to correct. Also, the timing of the chime has not always been exact in testing. We will continue to monitor that as well.

If you notice an error such as the bus not arriving at the displayed time, or the chime not working, you can help us improve the system by calling (425) 353-RIDE (7433) or sending a note to riders@commtrans.org.

Within a few weeks, next bus signs will be operational at the three largest transit centers: Ash Way, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. This fall we will be launching a real-time bus departures feature that riders can access by phone, desktop computer and mobile devices.