Swift Bus Rapid Transit Turns 6

Riders love Swift, especially on the weekend!

This week marks the sixth anniversary of Swift bus rapid transit in Snohomish County.

The state’s first BRT line has become the cornerstone of Community Transit's bus system, carrying about 5,500 riders each weekday and more than 1.5 million a year. One in six of all Community Transit riders, or about 16 percent of the agency’s ridership is on Swift.

But on weekends, ah, on weekends these numbers are much more impressive!

Nearly 3,800 riders take Swift every Saturday, which is 30 percent of all riders. With Sunday service restored, there are about 2,800 riders boarding Swift every Sunday, or 33 percent of all riders.

The fact is that Swift has proven to be a very convenient way to get around. Pretty good for a six year old! And soon, Swift will have a baby brother (or sister – we won’t know until 2018).

When the next Swift line is up and running, we will have an established BRT network in Snohomish County. With a convenient transfer point at Highway 99 and Airport Road, there will be fast, frequent service across a major part of the county.

Before long, a whole Swift family will be serving the entire county. A third line is already in the conceptual stage to connect with Link light rail at the Lynnwood Transit Center. Our long-range plan calls for eventual Swift service north to Smokey Point and east to Highway 9.

In coming weeks, all Swift buses will get a new decal reminding us of what’s to come. The decal will say, “We’re building a network of Swift lines with fast, easy connections.”

For now, there is one more improvement to the original Swift line coming soon. The new College Station at 204th Street will provide more convenient southbound access to Edmonds Community College. Construction of this final station on the first Swift line is underway and it will be open when students return from the holiday break.

Happy anniversary, Swift!

Six Year Plan Forecasts 20 Percent Service Increase

The latest draft six-year Transit Development Plan (TDP) forecasts enough of a sales tax bump to fund up to 20 percent more service for Community Transit. That is great news for riders who endured a 37 percent cut in service during the recession.

A sobering statistic is that the new service, combined with grant-funded increases in 2013, still total only about 45 percent of the service hours cut from 2010-2012. In other words, modest sales tax gains will only get modest service gains, and it's possible that service won't return to pre-recession levels without a new source of funding.

But let's focus on the good news.

According to the draft TDP, if sales tax revenue trends hold, Community Transit should have capacity to add about 7,500 hours of new service this year, 25,000 hours of service in 2015 and 7,000 hours of service in each year from 2016-19. For perspective, the agency cut 160,000 hours of service a few years ago. But this level of new service is enough to fund some level of Sunday/holiday service and some improvements elsewhere in the system. Over the next six years, that is.

Since last summer, Community Transit has been asking riders for their input on where they would like to see new service. Currently, we are conducting a Transit Values Exercise to get more input on service additions in a game-like environment. Together, these data sets will be combined with regular customer comments and rider statistics (which routes and stops have the most or least activity) to come up with a proposal for new service.

Expect the first proposal to come out in April for this fall's service change. The more substantial increase will be in 2015; a proposal for that service change is expected to come out before the end of this year.

Again, for perspective, before Sunday/holiday service was cut in 2010, there were about 28,000 hours dedicated to that service.

Community Transit Listens: 2013 Rider Survey

Starting Tuesday, Oct. 15, Community Transit will be administering a system-wide onboard rider survey on local and commuter buses. We conduct these surveys every three years to collect anonymous demographic information about our riders to meet federal requirements, and to learn how riders use our bus service.

Aside from demographic information, the survey asks about the trip you are currently taking. We want to know, in general terms, where you are coming and where you are going to, as well as how you got to your bus (walk, car, bike, etc) and how you will get to your destination after leaving the bus.

There are also a few questions asking your opinion about the service.

This is the first onboard survey we’ve done since our bus network restructuring in February 2012, so these answers will help us to figure out how rider habits may have changed, and how riders are using the system.

The survey takes about 3-4 minutes to complete. Surveyors will be on local buses (100s and 200s and Swift) Tuesday through Saturday handing out and collecting the surveys. These surveyors are temporary workers and will be wearing appropriate ID.

The survey will also be available on commuter routes to UW and downtown Seattle on Wednesday. On those buses, riders will fill out the surveys and place them in return folders near exit doors when completed. Riders can also take the survey home and send it via mail postage-paid. Riders are encouraged to take the survey each time they ride the bus.

Help us reach our goal of 10,000 completed surveys by the end of the week. Thanks for your participation!

"Can You Bag My ORCA Card?"

This spring local retail stores began selling ORCA cards. Since ORCA started in 2009, retailers have been able to load fare value on existing cards, but this is the first time they started selling cards.

That was a huge step for the ORCA program as it quadrupled the number of locations where you could buy an ORCA card if you didn’t already have one.

People who qualify for reduced fare, such as seniors, disabled or youth, still must buy their ORCA card in person at a transit agency customer service center because proof of eligibility is required. But the vast majority of transit riders use the standard “adult” ORCA card and that can now be bought at Safeways, QFCs, Roger’s MarketPlace and other convenient locations.

When you visit one of these retailers, there is often an ORCA sign, usually at the Customer Service desk. A new ORCA card costs $5, plus the cost of a monthly pass or whatever E-purse fare you want to put on the card. The hope is that expanding the locations where you can buy an ORCA card will encourage more people to use transit.

At community fairs this summer, we've been asked a lot of questions about ORCA, and many people don't know how convenient it is for paying fares. Now we can point down the street and say, "You can get one there!"

Where did you get your first ORCA card?

State Senate Considers Transit Bill

The Washington Senate Transportation Committee yesterday heard testimony on SB 5773 which would authorize a local motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) to support Community Transit service, if approved by voters. The bill was introduced by Sen. Nick Harper of Everett.

Those testifying in favor of the bill included Joe Marine, Mayor of Mukilteo and chair of the Community Transit Board of Directors, Community Transit CEO Joyce Eleanor, and representatives from United Way, Economic Alliance Snohomish County, Workforce Development Council, Boeing Machinists Union (IAM), UW and Transportation Choices Coalition.

The bill allows Community Transit to seek up to one percent MVET on car registrations within the service district, which is most of Snohomish County excluding Everett. CEO Joyce Eleanor says such funding could be used to bring back Sunday and late-night bus service, and that any specific service plan would go through a public process with input from riders.

In opposition to the bill, Michael Ennis of the Association of Washington Businesses said the AWB wanted the MVET funding source to remain part of a statewide transportation package, and not “peeled off” to benefit one agency.

SB 5773 is the first of several proposals that could fund Community Transit service. A companion “local option” bill has been introduced in the House, while a separate statewide “roads and transit” transportation funding package was announced yesterday by House Transportation Committee Chair Judy Clibborn.

Seattle Ride Free Area Going Away

King County Metro Transit has decided to eliminate the downtown ride free area on Sept. 29. The decision was really made by the King County Council as a concession to approve the two-year $20 car tab fee.

Either way, there are a few impacts for Community Transit riders.

Commuters who board Community Transit buses in downtown Seattle will pay on entry, which is how they pay everywhere else. This also means that riders must board at the front doors.

Having an ORCA card will make boarding faster; so far the vast majority of Community Transit's commuter riders have ORCA cards.

Lynnwood-bound riders who board north county Routes 421, 422 or 425 will need to let the driver know they are only going to Lynnwood before paying fare. This allows the driver to change the farebox from the default north county fare. Currently, this is done at the Lynnwood Transit Center as people deboard.

The upside to this change is that when commuters get to their destination they can just hop off the bus from any door! Also, there shouldn't be a lot of "free riders" taking their seats in downtown Seattle. Community Transit does not have a local fare in King County, so anyone boarding a bus downtown will have to pay a commuter fare.

The downside could be confusion the first few days after the change. There may also be longer waits for buses downtown as people take longer to board.

For information on how people can get around downtown, visit Metro's website.

Interest in the Double Talls

British reporter Tim Deakin visited Community Transit this week to learn more about our Double Tall double decker buses.

Deakin is writing an article about bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited's efforts to crack the U.S. market with its double deckers. Currently, The RTC of Southern Nevada has 150 double deckers that serve the Las Vegas area, and Community Transit has its fleet of 23 Double Talls. Several other U.S. transit agencies have either single buses, smaller fleets or demonstration double deckers in operation.

Deakin wanted to know how our drivers, mechanics and customers liked the buses, and was particularly interested in the build process for our buses. Community Transit's bus purchase, which was funded largely through the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (stimulus bill), was the first Buy America-compliant double decker order for ADL. That meant the buses, which have historically been built in Great Britain, had to be substantially built in the U.S. with American-made parts.

"We found there were some language barriers, even though we spoke the same language," said Strategic Planning and Grants Manager June DeVoll, who oversaw the bus purchase. "We could be using the same words, but they meant completely different things to us and them."

Despite the complexities and slight time delays involved in adapting a very British product and process to the American way, and the use of a new set of subcontractors from a different continent, the buses went into operation last year and have been a hit with our drivers, mechanics and, especially, our customers.

I explained to Deakin that when we had the one leased double decker from 2007-09, we created a web page to list the routes and times that bus was in operation because we got so many inqueries from people who wanted to ride that bus. We were resolved not to do that with the new fleet but, again, we were inundated with requests. Now, communications and dispatch staff collaborate to maintain a list of routes and times you can catch any of the 23 Double Tall buses.

Deakin is a freelance journalist based in London and says the article will appear in the trade magazine Buses sometime later this year.

Bike Lockers to be Rented

The Community Transit Board of Directors this week approved a plan to begin charging rent for the use of bike lockers at park & ride lots and transit centers. The new policy is designed to make more efficient use of the 116 bike lockers that the agency owns and maintains at 15 facilities throughout the county.

The new policy establishes a $60 annual rental fee, or $5 a month to rent a bike locker. The agreement allows a customer exclusive use of that covered locker. A $50 refundable deposit is also required. Currently, all that is required to get a key for a locker is the $50 refundable fee.

At some of the more popular transit centers, there is a waiting list for the lockers. Some of the lockers, while reserved, go unused. It is hoped that the monthly rental fee will cause those people who have a reserved locker but don’t use it to give up the locker, allowing those who want to use the locker and are willing to pay the fee to get access. The rental fees will start on July 1.

Bicycle riders can also lock their bikes for free at bike racks located at most park & rides and transit centers. Revenues generated by the rental program will be used to maintain the lockers and possibly expand the bike locker program.

Bike to Work Day, May 18

Community Transit has a long history of supporting and promoting Bike to Work Day. Part of our mission is to encourage commute alternatives to driving alone, even if it doesn’t involve taking the bus. Of course, we use Bike to Work Day and Month to encourage people to combine bike and bus trips as well.

This year, our agency is helping out with these events, but not taking the lead. Changes in staffing, fewer resources and, frankly, fewer buses on the road caused us to re-evaluate our role in Bike to Work. Still, we encourage people to get on their bikes, get healthy, and bike and bus when they can.

Community Transit is partnering with the Cascade Bicycle Club for all of your Bike Month needs. Regular bike commuters have been participating in the Group Health Commute Challenge, with teams and individuals tracking their participation and vying for some exciting prizes.

Friday, May 18, is National Bike to Work Day. Stop by one of the many Commuter Stations set up around Snohomish County and the City of Bothell for a snack, have your bike checked out by a mechanic and pick up your copy of the updated Snohomish County Area Bike Map!

This week, King County Metro is allowing cyclists to ride their buses (and Metro-operated ST buses) for free. Community Transit is not participating in this promotion, partly because we have two-bike racks on our buses (not three) and many of our bike racks are already well used. We don’t want to discourage those who show up with their bikes by potentially having them wait for two or more buses before they can board.

New Cabela's Store Could Boost Transit Revenues

The central element of Community Transit's financial woes the past five years has been the reduced level of sales tax revenue in our service district. It's not rocket science -- when the economy sours and people lose their jobs or fear for losing their jobs, they hold onto to their money and put off purchases, especially big-ticket items like homes, cars, boats, etc. The items that people do keep buying, groceries and food, are exempt from sales tax or generate little tax revenue.

So it's good news when a new major retailer opens in the district, as Cabela's will be doing with its Tulalip store on April 19. Quil Ceda Village, with its Seattle Premium Outlet mall, Tulalip Resort Casino and big boxes like Home Depot and Walmart, has been a strong economic force during the recession. The opening of a large store like Cabela's can help stimulate the economic recovery in Snohomish County.

Customers can also get to Cabela's, and other Quil Ceda destinations, on Community Transit. Route 222 goes through Quil Ceda Village and has its northernmost stop between the casino and outlet mall. Riders can connect with Route 222 in Marysville at State & 88th from Routes 201/202, which serve Smokey Point, Everett and Lynnwood, or plan their trips online.

Our Buy Local for Transit campaign encourages residents to keep their shopping dollars in the county. That, in turn, helps the bottom line for Community Transit as well as local cities and businesses.

Route 196 Schedule Adjustments

By Tom Pearce, Public Information Specialist

Since the February service change, we’ve been listening to customers and tracking service to see where things haven’t quite worked out. With that in mind, starting Monday, April 9, there will be changes to the Route 196 schedule.

On that date, all Route 196 trips in both directions that start after 2:40 p.m. will begin five minutes later. This adjustment, combined with a change to the way drivers’ work is configured, will help keep these buses on schedule the rest of the day.

The new Route 196 schedules will be posted at each stop by Monday, April 9. Meanwhile, the new schedules have already been posted online and are loaded into our Trip Planner so trips can be planned for after April 9.

Route 196 is a new route offering all-day half-hour service between the Alderwood mall area and Edmonds waterfront. The route is averaging more than 500 riders a day, which is very good for a new route. So far, this route has suffered from late trips in the afternoon and a lack of stops around the Lynnwood Civic Center/Lynnwood Transit Center area. We continue to work with Lynnwood officials on the bus stop issue.

Service Change - Bus Stop Locations

The service change that took place yesterday was in the works for nearly a year. That's the time it took to get guidance from our Board (once we knew how much money we needed to save), develop three alternative scenarios, present them to the public and gather feedback, go through the Board decision process, then fully schedule the final service plan, train drivers, produce signage and information materials and start the new service.

It is near the tail end of that process, after we have fully scheduled the service plan, that we reach out to cities and the county to talk about where we want to locate new bus stops. Each jurisdiction has a separate bureaucracy for dealing with such requests, with their own criteria and timelines.

What we submit are requests based on what we feel is the best place for riders to catch a particular bus. This year, our route shuffling was designed to eliminate loops and deviations - in other words, make the routes as direct as possible to save time and money. Most requests are granted, but not always; sometimes we are given alternatives to consider, and sometimes flatly denied.

Sometimes the process goes beyond the time frame in which we need to produce Bus Plus, maps and other public information.

Just last week, we were granted permission to put two new temporary stops on Marine Drive outside the Warm Beach Senior Community near Stanwood. The timing on that decision was close! We are still awaiting decisions from the City of Lynnwood on stop requests for Routes 112 and 196 near the Lynnwood Transit Center. Obviously, the new service has already started, so the omission of those stops is glaring. We are forwarding comments from our customers to the city, but it is their decision to make. The service still works without those stops, but it may not be as convenient for some customers.

We can add stops at any time during the year, not just at a service change. With the vast number of changes that took place this week, there are bound to be some tweaks here or there. Most tweaking will happen when we publish new schedules on Oct. 1, but if stop requests are granted before then, we could make some changes sooner.

Trip Planner Has Feb. 20 Info

Community Transit's online Trip Planner has been updated with the 2012 service change information, making it possible to plan a bus trip for Feb. 20 or later.

This is the latest in our series of information milestones surrounding the Feb. 20 service change.

Bus Plus books have arrived and will be placed on buses beginning this afternoon. They will likely be a hot commodity. If you find your bus has run out, let the driver know.

We are asking riders to take only one book to help save on printing costs. Reduced print runs, promoted through the "Reduce, Re-use, Re-read" tag on the books, has saved more than $100,000 over the past two years.

Reality Check - Changes Coming!

Community Transit staff have been out at park & rides and on board buses reminding riders that a major service change will take place on Feb. 20. Many people are aware of this, and many have gone online or read the Guide to Service Change to see how their travel will be impacted. But there are still quite a few people out there who think these changes are negotiable and may not realize they are going to happen, soon!

To date, we have spoken to more than 1,700 riders about the upcoming service change. We get that number by adding the number of conversations we've had to the number of people on buses that we hop on and make an announcement. In some cases, we may have a five- or 10-minute conversation with someone waiting for their bus; in others there is a 25-second announcement that the changes are coming Feb. 20 and all the details are in the Guide to Service Change and on our website.

Given that we have about 40,000 boardings a day on our buses, that comes down to just south of 20,000 actual daily riders. We hope to speak to maybe 3-4,000 in person before the service change, and those people may talk to others. Through this blog, our electronic alerts (13,000+ subscribers), our website and our Facebook page, we hope the word is getting out to more. And, of course, everyone who rides the bus has a chance to see the materials on board.

But again, not everyone pays attention or realizes the urgency. Even on these pages we see commentors suggesting alternatives to the changes. It's always great to get feedback, but the public comment period for these changes took place last summer; these changes are final.

Maybe that fact will sink in when the printed Bus Plus schedule books arrive on buses later this week.

The changes are not perfect. Service cuts never make people happy. But nearly everyone should be able to still use our service with some adjustments. And we'll be making adjustments later this year. If a connection just is not working out, or trip times need to change, we can do that. For now, we are trying to make people aware that changes are coming, soon.

We'll be out by the Albertson's in Mukilteo, at the Ash Way Park & Ride and the Lynnwood Transit Center this week, and at Mariner Park & Ride, Boeing and Everett Station next week. What question will you be asking?

Where's My Bus?

Icy, Snowy Conditions Make It Difficult to Keep to Schedule

Day Three of the 2012 snow storm is nearly complete, and buses are still on the road. Demand has been down this week, but many, many people are relying on Community Transit buses to get to work or wherever they need to go.

Today, our local buses deviated from our regular schedule because many roads were in bad condition due to accumulated snow and ice, and because predictions for today were worse than what actually materialized.

A combination of factors led to this schedule: we can't use articulated buses on icy roads (unless we chain them but those chains then break or severely slow down the buses on clear roads); like any business, we don't get everyone to show up on bad weather days; and our buses are interlined so that one bus may serve, say Route 120 for a trip, then it turns into Route 118. With fewer buses running and trips taking longer, the trips we can actually provide is like a patchwork among our routes.

This is hard to message to riders. What we said this morning is that we'd serve the first and last trips on each route, and there would likely be some buses in between. Not too helpful. We encouraged people to call customer information to learn if a bus was running on their route.

The good news is that buses were running all day on all routes, just not on regular schedule. That also may not be very helpful if you're trying to figure out when to travel, but we were able to provide a lot of service today. We also got more than 1,800 phone calls as riders asked where their bus was. Again, we couldn't tell them where it was but at least could say there was one out there, on the way.

On Seattle commuter routes, the Double Talls have proven their value. Not only can they fit more people than a regular bus, but they operate just fine in these conditions. By replacing old articulated buses with these double deckers, we have greatly increased the capacity we have for commuter service on snow days.

We have, and will continue to send alerts on any reroutes or major changes to service. Those are also posted on our website as soon as we get the information. Like our drivers and maintenance crews, our customer service and communications staff are working long days to provide you service.

New Schedules Online

The new bus schedules effective Feb. 20 are now online at the Community Transit website.

This is the piece of information many riders have been waiting for since the Board of Directions made a service change decision last September. With the schedules, riders will be able to see what times their bus will run, and how their transit connections might work once service has changed on Feb. 20.

Meanwhile, integrating the new schedule information with our online Trip Planner is a more complicated project, so you cannot yet plan a trip for Feb. 20 using that tool. That update will be complete in early February. That trip planning tool is the same one our customer information staff use, so until early February they will not be able to plan complex trips for after the service change.

In early February, Bus Plus schedule books will also be available on buses. Those books contain the print version of the schedules that you can now get online.

Last week, more detailed service change route information was made available online and on buses, and now schedules are available. Later this week, staff will begin an outreach effort to make sure riders are aware of the upcoming changes and answer questions. Community Transit staff will be at the Canyon Park Park & Ride this Thursday during the afternoon commute hours, then they will be at Edmonds Community College on Jan. 18 and Everett Station the morning of Jan. 19, weather permitting.

Riders with web access can get information easily through the Community Transit website. Discussions about the service change are going on here on the blog and on our Facebook page. Specific questions can always be sent to riders @ commtrans.org or asked via phone at (425) 353-7433 (RIDE).

February 2012 Route Information is Online

We are now several days into the new year and more details are available about the upcoming Feb. 20 service change. This is one of the largest service changes in our agency’s history—every route will be affected, although the commuter service to the University District will see only minor schedule changes.

In all, nine routes are being eliminated, 20 routes have changes to their routing and 29 routes will have fewer trips scheduled. There also will be two new routes, one in south county along 196th between Edmonds and Alderwood, and one in north county taking over the eastern portion of Route 240 between Smokey Point and Arlington.

The information now online is the same information that is in the Guide to Service Change that is going on buses this week. That booklet provides comprehensive information about the routing changes, trip reductions or frequency reductions, and tips for connections for each route. There are also maps for each route that has routing changes, and area maps to show how the service will connect in various geographic areas.

What the Guide to Service Change does not have are the specific schedules or bus stop lists for each route. Those will be available online soon, and the Bus Plus schedule books will be on buses at the beginning of February.

Here is an example of what information is in the Guide and online now:

Route 113: Mukilteo–Ash Way Park & Ride
Routing Changes - Map (shown above):
• Revised route ends at Ash Way Park & Ride instead of Lynnwood Transit Center.
• No service south of 164th Street.
Weekday Schedule: Daytime frequency reduced from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes.
Saturday Service: Frequency reduced from every 30 minutes to every hour.
Connecting Routes: Swift, Routes 101, 112, 115, 116, 119, 201, 202, 413, 415, 417, 810, 860, 880, 885, 511, 532, Everett Transit, Sounder, Washington State Ferries.
Route 113 Rider Tips:
• Routes 112 and 113 will connect at Ash Way Park & Ride instead of Lynnwood.
• For service to Alderwood mall or Lynnwood Transit Center, passengers can transfer at 164th Street & 35th Ave. or Ash Way Park & Ride to Routes 115, 116, 201 or 202, all of which have frequent service.

The map shows the new routing, along with what section has been deleted. The rider tips explain that riders wanting to get to Alderwood, Lynnwood Transit Center or the Lynnwood Civic Center can transfer to specific buses to get there.

What riders will discover as they begin to use the newly designed service is that Route 113 now connects to the Ash Way Park & Ride, which has connections all over the county and to Seattle so there are new opportunities. It will take some getting used to, but our planners, faced with the financial reality of cutting 20 percent of our service, redesigned many routes to shorten trips, connect to other service and open up new opportunities.

Because some riders will need to transfer when they didn’t need to before, it is even more important for people to get an ORCA card if they don’t have one. With ORCA, your fare is transferred to any other trip you take in the next two hours.

In the coming days, and for the next two months, we’ll have more information here and on the website about the Feb. 20 service change.

When Your CEO is your Talent: Delivering the Service Change Message

By Karen Johnson, Video & Design Supervisor

“Joyce, please do that line over again and pause after the word ‘customers.’”

The talent, Joyce Eleanor, is our CEO. The video team - two of her employees from Customer Relation’s Marketing Division - create the concept, draft the script, produce, direct and edit the production, and then post it to the website. The topic is the upcoming February 2012 Service Change.

Joyce is a passionate and effective communicator. As the face of our agency, she speaks from her heart. Her message is authentic because she’s talking about the agency she leads, and the employees - her employees - who have lost their jobs. She has listened to the riders who are deeply impacted by the service cuts. Any other spokesperson would be unacceptable.

Producing a video to deliver information about service changes is just one way we use video on our website as a tool for our customers. We have also developed How to Ride videos in several languages for our customers, as well as another to become familiar with Swift bus rapid transit. Community Transit riders and civic leaders also contributed their own video storytelling testimonials in their own words.

Community Transit’s training division uses our videos during employee orientation to acquaint new staff with policies and agency culture. Plans for 2012 include instructional video shorts – brief, simple videos that demonstrate how to use our Trip Planner, how to use Swift, and a variety of other useful services. We recently created an online Video Gallery that contains all the videos we’ve produced.

Videos provide the opportunity for broad messaging in a timely manner to our many audiences.
And because we produce the videos entirely in-house, we are able to be responsive and accurate, at no cost to the agency other than staff resources.

“Cut! Great job, Joyce. But I need you to do that line one more time.”

ORCA Reaches Operational Milestone

The multi-party agreement that created the ORCA smart card project was signed in 2003. Community Transit was the first agency to sign on and has been a regional leader in transitioning riders to the ORCA card. Currently, more than 70 percent of all Community Transit bus riders use the ORCA card; the percentage is even higher on commuter service to UW and downtown Seattle.

Although the ORCA system went live more than two years ago, the project just received Full System Acceptance (FSA) last week. That milestone means that ORCA is no longer a “project” for the partner agencies, but is simply the basic fare system.

Nothing changes for the public or our employees with FSA, but it begins a new phase for ORCA. Vix, the company formerly known as ERG which manages the system, begins a contract to operate the system for the next 10 years. All new changes to the system will be charged (up until now changes that made the system work correctly were considered part of the project contract). Most importantly, additions to the system can be made, whether it be new agencies coming on board, new products offered or new functionality for the ORCA cards.

The Joint Board, which is made up of CEOs and general managers from the seven partner agencies, will take time in considering what changes to make to ORCA. The system still has some operational kinks, but the program is a big success. Of the nearly 500,000 people who ride transit daily in the Puget Sound Region, about 300,000 of them use ORCA cards to pay their fare. A big percentage of those are workers and students whose employer or school provides an ORCA card. The number of business institutions has gone up since ORCA replaced the PugetPass system.

Tell us what your experience with ORCA has been, good, bad or in between.

Buying Local Can Help Spark the Economy

About this time last year, Community Transit launched the Buy Local for Transit campaign. The point is to encourage our bus riders and the general public to shop within our Snohomish County service area to generate revenues for our agency through sales tax (9 cents of every $10 taxable purchase goes to Community Transit). In addition to preventing future service cuts, that business activity also helps local businesses, local cities and the local economy.

If you have read our draft six-year Transit Development Plan, you know that our forecasts project very modest economic growth over the next six years. With that, there are no plans to increase transit service. Unless the economy rebounds.

It would be hard to measure the success of this campaign since any increase in sales tax revenue can be attributed to many factors, but we know the premise is sound. Increased spending in our service district helps our bottom line.

Community Transit has put Buy Local for Transit decals on our all our buses, created a webpage for the program and we describe our efforts in boilerplate language at the end of all our press releases that we send to local media.

A few of our buses have a larger Buy Local for Transit wrap that prominently touts the program everywhere they travel.

We know this is a good message because it is positive, economically upbeat and is a call to action. The idea came from rider suggestions when we held our community meetings for the 2010 service cuts. Concerned riders asked what could they do to help our agency. As we considered what riders could do we came up with this solution: buy local, generate sales tax.

As the holiday season approaches and many of our riders and their families and friends are out shopping, the message is more important than ever. Buy local, support your community and support Community Transit.