Happy 40th Vanniversary, Washington State!

Governor Jay Inslee declared July 2019 to be Vanpool Month, marking the 40th year of vanpool
programs in the state.

Washington’s vanpools were actually the USA’s first; 40 years later, Community Transit’s program includes the 11th largest vanpool fleet in the country. (See below for more interesting vanpool statistics.)

Our program began operations in 1986 with all groups going to Boeing.

A van from Community Transit's original vanpool fleet, 1986.

By 1992, we had 45 vanpool groups on the road.

Vans from various agencies gathered at the Key Arena for the statewide 20th Vanniversary, 1999.

Community Transit's 100th and 300th vanpool groups, dates unknown.

This February, we officially reached 400 vanpool groups, serving 2,835 people that average 48 round-trip miles per day.

A team of five Vanpool Fleet Coordinators work with the groups, processing payments, training drivers, and coordinating scheduled -- and unscheduled -- maintenance needs. The vans’ insurance, gasoline, and maintenance are all provided by Community Transit.

A Vanpool Fleet Coordinator checks in a van brought in for routine maintenance, July 2019.

Customer feedback is an important part of the vanpool program; customer input even helps to choose which new vans to purchase!

Insight being gathered from vanpool customers now will help decide how to best serve customers of the future. Commuting in and through Snohomish County will change significantly in the next 5-10 years and our Vanpool program will be there, continuing to help people get where they want to be.

Happy Vanniversary... here's to another 40 successful years!

Bringing You Home With Vanpool: Real People, Real Stories.

Shawn shares his story on the benefits of being a Vanpool rider

Bringing You Home with Vanpool from Community Transit on Vimeo.

You've seen them, the Community Transit vanpool vans, whizzing by you in the carpool lane. If you dread your commute each day, riding in a vanpool may be just the ticket for transforming your commute into one you actually enjoy. Meet Shawn, who joined his first vanpool ten years ago, relying on the service through graduate school and his professional life.

A vanpool is a group of 5-15 riders who commute to the same work place. Each vanpool van sets its own schedule and route. Fares are based on the size of the van and the daily mileage, and cover all gas, maintenance and insurance. Shawn's van seats 12 riders, though 15 riders take advantage of the service and rotate seats. By riding a van, not only are commuters saving money, they're saving space on the highway, which means saving the environment. Shawn says, "There are the obvious cost benefits, and avoiding the wear and tear on your own vehicle. And then there's the other benefit of doing something good for the environment, knowing that there's not 12 cars on the road and instead you're all combining into one."

Each day Shawn's round trip to and from work is about 50 miles and takes about 40 minutes. That's 40 minutes to carve out a little time in a busy life. How does Shawn spend his time? Reading, working, and, yes, napping. "Sometimes you get to take a nap. That's always a great thing, especially if you didn't get a good night's sleep. I have a little child and sometimes my sleep's not the best and you can catch up."

When you're not getting a little shut eye or catching up on work emails, you might be surprised at how commuting with coworkers helps you feel more connected to your community. "You get to meet a lot of people, people that you wouldn't normally have a conversation with. When I was going to school I found a lot of people that joined the van I then ran into in class. It helps make things feel a little bit smaller being in a big city like Seattle."

Shawn also enjoys the benefits of transit outside of work hours. "Occasionally I'll take the bus downtown. The price of parking has gotten pretty high. If there's a Mariners game it's anywhere from $30 - $40, and if you can take the bus you don't have to worry about that." Shawn and his wife also take their young child on bus outings, "When you don't have to worry about driving, you can all just be present with each other."

Let us make it easy for you to get to work and bring you home with Vanpool. Our Community Transit Vanpool Program coordinators provide support for group formation, driver orientation, vehicle maintenance and rider recruitment. In other words, when you're ready to take advantage of our vanpool program, they'll work hard to make it happen.

If you could get out from behind the wheel on your commute, what would you do with your free time?

Bringing You Home: Community Transit Riders Share Their Stories

"I'm Community Transit. And I ride it."

For over 40 years, Community Transit has been honored to provide safe, reliable and friendly service to Snohomish County. We've come a long way in four decades! Our fleet has grown to include the Swift Blue Line, Washington State's first bus rapid transit line, Double Tall buses with big views and a small footprint, DART (Dial-a-Ride Transit), and Vanpool vehicles. Thank you to the people who make it possible for us to serve our community ... our riders. We are honored with the responsibility you have entrusted in us to take you out in the world each day, and to bring you home again.

We talked with some of our riders recently, and they had great stories about the surprising benefits of using our services. From commuters to students to seniors, they shared their stories of connection, empowerment and freedom. We're excited to share them with you. Look for these stories here on our blog, on our website, and on our social channels over the next few months. And feel free to share your stories with us, too! We'd love to hear them.

Bringing You Home from Community Transit on Vimeo.

Doing What We Can to Help the Darrington Community

When the deadly landslide struck on March 22, it wiped out a section of Highway 530 between Oso and Darrington. That was the corridor our Route 230 used to provide "lifeline" bus service to residents of Darrington, taking them into Arlington and back home each weekday.

Flag flies at half-staff outside the Darrington Post Office.

With Route 230 truncated at the town of Oso, we considered how we might be able to serve residents east of the slide. Our CEO challenged us to "find a way" to get bus service to those who previously used Route 230 and those who might now need affordable transportation into and out of the area.

Thus, Route 231 was born. It was the quickest route created in Community Transit history -- three days from idea to implementation. On Friday, March 28, the first "Route 231 - Special" bus rolled into Darrington just before 7 a.m.

This bus takes an 80-mile "re-route" north on I-5, east on Highway 20 at Burlington, and south on Highway 530 at Rockport. Early morning and early evening trips travel directly between Everett and Darrington to help people get to work, or elsewhere in Snohomish County. Two morning and mid-day trips loop between Whitehorse (west of Darrington) and Burlington, providing a link to shopping, medical and other amenities in Skagit County.

Community Transit has also been called upon by Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management to provide large vans to help transport rescue workers to the landslide scene, and families of victims to the shelter areas to visit loved ones. Each day for the past week, 2-to-4 of our vans and drivers have provided this emergency transportation assistance.

We have also let local residents know that vanpools are an attractive option for people needing to get to work in Snohomish County without making a long and costly trip by themselves. At least three vanpools have been created to get people from Darrington to worksites in the Arlington area each day.

At a time of unprecedented tragedy in our community, we are doing what we can to help.

Fares for All Services Will Increase February 2013

Beginning February 1, 2013,fares will increase for all Community Transit services. The new fares are posted on our website. If you are an ORCA monthly passholder, please remember these new fares as you reload your ORCA pass or E-purse in January.

As we mentioned in a past post, the fare increases on buses, vanpools, and DART are necessary to pay for current service levels and not new service. This move also puts Community Transit’s adult local fare on par with other transit agencies. The new adult fare will be $2; Pierce Transit also charges $2 and Metro charges $2.25 for non-peak and $2.50 for peak-hour local service.

Raising fares helps Community Transit:

• Keep pace with cost increases, including fuel prices, wages, benefits, and inflation.
• Pay for approximately 21 percent of the cost of riding the bus. This means 79 percent of each trip is subsidized by sales taxes, grants and other revenue.

The agency will launch some new trips in February, thanks to grant funding. But to pay for significant new service, we need new funding.

The State Legislature convenes Jan. 14 and may consider ways to fund transit this session. Community Transit will be asking for direct funding, or the ability to take a measure to local voters to authorize additional funding for the agency. After cutting 37 percent of our bus service since 2010, we want to do the best job we can of providing the transit service our customers want. Fare increases help keep pace with inflation, but don’t give us the financial room to bring back Sunday service nor add trips where many people want them.

We recently updated our six-year plan forecasting our financial revenues and service levels in the near-term future. The report asserts the same point as last year— we are still waiting for a strong economic recovery and sales tax revenues. We encourage you to review our Transit Development Plan, 2013-18 and participate in the public comment period which is now underway.

Fare Increase Proposed for February 2013

The Community Transit Board of Directors has proposed a fare increase that would take effect on Feb. 1, 2013. The proposal would raise fares by 25 cents on local bus service, 50 cents on south county commuter bus service and 75 cents on north/east county commuter bus service (Routes 421, 422, 424, 425 and 821).

DART paratransit fares would go up 25 cents and vanpool fares would increase 10-15 percent based on the vehicle.

The fare increase is intended to keep revenues in line with inflation; in other words to pay for existing service not new service. Local and DART fares were last increased in June 2010; commuter and vanpool fares were last increased in October 2008.

As a service agency, Community Transit must bring in as much revenue as it spends to operate service. In recent years the agency was spending more than it brought in as sales tax revenues took a nosedive. The result was two major service reductions totaling 37 percent of bus service and 206 employee layoffs.

To help prevent the agency from landing in the same predicament, a Six-Year Transit Development Plan approved in early 2011 called for regular fare increases every two years. This first fare increase was to have been implemented this fall, but CEO Joyce Eleanor chose to push back the proposal to Feb. 2013 to provide some relief to riders who have endured so many cuts.

Still, the fare increases are an important revenue tool to keep the agency afloat. In 2011, fares paid for 18.5 percent of the cost of operating the agency's service. If the proposal is approved, that rate would rise to 21 percent in 2013. In other words, even with the fare increase about 79 percent of the cost of each bus trip (on average - some trips cost more than others) are paid for by sales taxes and other revenue.

Finally, while the agency has no near-term plans to add bus service, there will be 30 commuter trips added in Feb. 2013 thanks to a federal CMAQ (Congestion Management and Air Quality) grant. Even the 20 percent local match for that grant is paid for - by a small new pot of transit money authorized by the state legislature this year.

Here's how you can comment on the fare proposal.

Van GO: Spreading the wealth

Community Transit just launched its latest round of the Van GO van grant program. This year, up to 10 eight-passenger Chevy Astro vans that are being surplussed from the agency's vanpool fleet will be awarded to nonprofit agencies in Snohomish County.

The Van GO program started in 2000 after passage of Initiative 695 led to the State Legislature eliminating motor vehicle excise tax (car tab) funding for transit. Community Transit lost a third of its funding and had to cut service and lay off hundreds of employees.

The notion of Van GO was to grant surplus vehicles to groups that could use them to help offset the transportation trips in the community that had been lost by the service cuts. Since then, 96 vehicles have been granted under this program. Sometimes there are surplus mini-buses awarded (former DART vehicles like the one pictured), but not this year.

If you wonder why I keep using the term "granted" it's because a public agency cannot simply give away equipment. These surplus vehicles are awarded through a competitive process and the winners must in turn use them to provide a specified number of trips the following year. When these surplus vans go to auction, as is the standard practice for surplus items, they net about $1,500-2,500. Not all surplus vehicles go to Van GO; most Community Transit vehicles are put up for auction to help recover our public investment, per state law.

From now through Oct. 31, nonprofits in Snohomish County can apply for one of these vans. Eligibility requirements and the application are available online. One thing that has worked well in recent years for applicants is partnering with another agency. For instance, some social service agencies have partnered with churches to ensure the van is used seven days a week. The number of trips an applicant says they will provide counts for 20 percent of the grant request.

If you know someone at an agency that can use these vans, or you can think of a good use at an organization you belong to, check it out. A pre-application workshop for interested groups will take place at 11 a.m. Sept. 29 at Community Transit. Send a note to vango @ commtrans.org for more information.

Commute Alternatives Help Business Move

Note: Korry Electronics was named Employer of the Year at the Community Transit Smart Commuter Awards earlier this month. Below is a portion of the remarks presented at the event by Korry Director of Human Resources Victoria Lindsey.

By Victoria Lindsey
Esterline Control Systems, Korry Electronics

A bit of background - Korry had been Seattle-based employer since it was first established in 1937. We were at our South Lake Union address for 25 years. That was our home, our neighborhood. So moving was – like it would be for many companies – an emotional, traumatic occasion for many employees.

About three years ago, it became inevitable that we had to move locations. The decision to move to the Paine Field area near Mukilteo really raised an outcry. We had employees from all over Puget Sound , and moving 20 miles away was going to really disrupt lifestyles. So we were faced with a real challenge to persuade and motivate employees to come with us!

A committee was formed to survey employees, meet in small groups, and really dive into people’s fears and concerns. The top concern was, “How am I going to get there (new location) and how long will it take?”

Boeing Riders Love the Bus

Who rides Community Transit buses and why do they do so? The results of our 2010 On Board Survey begin to answer those questions. We have received a preliminary report on the 8,000 surveys returned last October.  This will be the first of several blogs to discuss some of the results. I’ll break the posts into rider types based on routes.

• Boeing Riders
• Commuter Riders
• University Riders
• Local Riders
•  Swift Riders

First, some background. Community Transit operates four bus routes that serve Boeing: Route 227 from Arlington/Marysville, Route 247 from Stanwood, Route 277 from Monroe and Route 280 from Lake Stevens.  Our Boeing-route passengers are a dedicated lot, based on the survey.

• 55% of Boeing riders have ridden Community Transit for six years or more.
• 31% have ridden for two to five years

Unfortunately, the corollary is also true: Boeing service is not attracting new riders. Only 6% started riding in the past year, compared to 20% new riders in our system overall.

Despite their long-term commitment to public transportation, Boeing bus riders are not a captive audience. Ninety-four percent say they own a car but choose to use transit.  At the same time, Boeing riders are the least likely to drive to the bus of all our commuter riders (Boeing, Seattle or U-District service): 48% walk to their stops, while 38% drive.

Most Boeing riders pay for the bus with an ORCA card. As a company, Boeing subsidizes bus passes and vanpools and has other programs in place to encourage alternative transportation. If you’ve ever tried to get onto Highway 526 at 5:30 a.m. (or if you work at Boeing and try to park there), you’ll know that encouraging transit use is in Boeing’s self-interest.  There’s also the state Commute Trip Reduction Law which requires large employers (and who is larger than Boeing?) to do their part in reducing congestion. 

Because of the varying start times and shift work at Boeing, the increased flexibility of vanpools makes them more popular than buses. There are 88Community Transit  vanpools to Everett Boeing, and many more from other counties around the region. 

But something about Community Transit’s Boeing bus service obviously works for our long-term bus riders – or maybe it’s something about driving to Boeing that doesn’t work . Either way, we have something to learn from them about how to encourage more people to choose public transportation even when they have other options.

Personal Assistance Helps Curb Congestion

By Wendy Scholtz, Curb the Congestion Specialist


“How long would it take me to get to work by bus?”
“What’s a vanpool?”
“I’m thinking about biking when the weather’s good. How can I cross I-5?”

These are typical questions I receive as the Curb the Congestion Specialist at Community Transit.

The Curb the Congestion program is a partnership between Community Transit and Snohomish County to reduce traffic on certain congested roads: 164th Street (Lynnwood-Mill Creek), 128th Street (S. Everett-Silver Firs) and 20th Street (near Lake Stevens). The program offers personalized information and other tools to help participants make more trips by bus, carpool, vanpool, bicycling or walking instead of driving alone. Incentive prizes help motivate people to change their daily travel habits. The program is funded by Snohomish County through grants and development fees.

Over the years, I’ve been a daily bus rider, vanpooler, carpooler, bicycle commuter and walker. I’ve even been known to drive alone now and then. I love having transportation options and helping others learn about theirs. People often have opportunities they don’t know about, like a neighbor who wants to carpool or a convenient bus route. Or they may assume these options are difficult or time-consuming.

Providing personalized assistance is one of the best parts of my job. I don’t ask people to abandon driving alone altogether, but I can help them think about using a smarter mode on certain trips. With small changes, their trip to work or shopping just might become more enjoyable and affordable. And we all benefit from more efficient use of our county’s transportation system, cleaner air and less traffic congestion.

James McGavin’s story is a great example of how the program works. A physical therapist, James rides Community Transit Route 412 to a First Hill clinic in Seattle. In April, he learned that he would begin working two days a week at a Northgate clinic. James registered for Curb the Congestion and asked for help planning his commute to Northgate.

First, we examined his bus options. Since there wasn’t a direct bus, I put him in touch with vanpool groups traveling to Northgate. I also helped him use http://www.rideshareonline.com/ to find a carpool partner. The carpool works great. “We save at least half an hour each way using the HOV lanes,” he says.

James logs all his smarter trips on his online Curb the Congestion calendar. In July, he won the $1,000 quarterly incentive prize.

If you travel 164th Street, 128th Street or 20th Street, learn more and sign up at www.communitytransit.org/CurbIt.

What’s So Cool About Vanpool?

Community Transit Vanpool #465 folded last week, after five years (at least – we don’t remember exactly) of carrying commuters from Marysville to the south Everett industrial area. The van was started by a Community Transit employee who wanted to save miles on her new car. Her schedule eventually changed and she left the van, but the group continued with a hodge-podge of Boeing workers, SNBL staff, Northshore Christian Academy teachers (and even the principal for awhile!), an Agilent engineer who vanpooled when he wasn’t teleworking, a Snohomish PUD guy we picked up in Everett and dropped off 3 miles later and me, a part-time rider who used the van on rainy, snowy or just plain slow days instead of biking and busing.

We hope to bring the van back next fall, when summer vacations are over. Meanwhile, the Community Transit’s Vanpool Department is constantly at work keeping existing vans on the road and helping new vans form. In 2009, Community Transit ended the year with 334 vans on the road and record ridership .

According to a Washington State Department of Transportation survey , 85% of vanpoolers say the main reason they share the ride is because it saves them money. A secondary reason is that vanpooling is less stressful than driving .

I can personally attest to the many benefits, which also include book and restaurant reviews, occasional reroutes for coffee and getting to know your neighbors and co-workers. Vanpool groups set their own hours and stops, and depending on the participants can be flexible enough to wait 5 minutes when you’re running late or give your kid a ride as well (if they sign a vanpool user agreement and wear their seatbelt!).

Earth Day, every day

This Thursday, April 22, marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day originated on the same date in 1970, when 20 million Americans took to their community streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment.

Did you know that taking public transit instead of your own vehicle is one of the simplest ways to reduce your carbon footprint? Each year, public transportation use in the United States saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline. And the average public transit rider consumes only half as much oil as an automobile rider uses. If you're curious how large of a footprint your lifestyle leaves, try out the Earth Day Network's Footprint Calculator.

Although Earth Day comes every year, Community Transit works hard to operate like it's Earth Day, every day. Aside from helping you live green, the agency has been active in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for many years. In 2002, we were the first transit agency in the state of Washington to introduce a Clean Diesel program, switching our fleet of buses to ultra-low-sulfur diesel. We installed special particulate traps that lessen tailpipe emissions - buses without these traps produce about one pound of pollution every 52 miles, while our buses must travel more than 500 miles to produce that same amount. We even recycle our bus wash water, which saves almost 13 million gallons of fresh water each year.

From installing solar panels at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center to generate 5,500 kWh per year - pumping energy back into the local power grid and offsetting 7,700 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, to choosing hybrid vehicles for Swift, our highest-mileage and highest-ridership bus route, we take our core value of environmental stewardship to heart.

But buses aren't the only way to travel greener - Community Transit actively promotes other SOV alternatives. We operate one of the largest vanpool fleets in the nation, as well as connect people to ride sharing services, and we work with about 75 Snohomish county-based employers to help them meet our state's Commute Trip Reduction law. And right now we're gearing up for the annual Snohomish county Bike to Work events, including the Bike to Work Challenge and National Bike to Work Day (learn more at the kickoff event on April 29).

In 2009, Americans took more than 10 billion trips on public transportation. This Earth Day, we thank our riders for helping Community Transit provide 11.3 million of those trips.