"I'm Carlos. And I Ride It."

For 40 years we've been privileged to provide safe, reliable, and friendly service to Snohomish County. From our early years as a small bus company, we've grown to provide nearly 10 million passenger boardings each year across one of the fastest growing counties in the state. This milestone birthday is a perfect opportunity to give thanks to the people that make it possible to serve our community... our riders. People like Carlos, who rely on us each day to bring them home.

Having grown up in rural, central Washington, Carlos was new to transit when he moved to Lynnwood nearly a year ago. The daunting commute to downtown Seattle convinced him to give transit a try. "I hate to drive. Taking the bus is so much easier and convenient, and I don't have to worry about finding and paying for parking. I just walk a block to the corner to catch the 115 or 116 to the Ash Way Park & Ride where I transfer to the 415 express bus to downtown."

For Carlos, taking transit is about more than convenience. It's also a rare opportunity for a little 'me' time. "It's really pleasant to download a show and watch a little TV on the ride downtown. Even though it takes longer to get to work, I put on headphones and can just zone out for a little while. It's like meditation time and I really enjoy that."

Taking the bus also provides a change of scene, even when you take the same bus route each day, "You tend to see more around you on the bus, too. When you're driving you're paying attention just to the drivers around you. All of your focus is on being a defensive driver. But when you take the bus, you can look out the window and discover all sorts of shops and restaurants you just don't catch when you're driving."

Carlos doesn't just rely on Community Transit to get him to and from work. Being a one-car family means Carlos and his four young children regularly rely on transit to get groceries, go to the bank, run errands, and have fun. "It's not hard at all to navigate transit with kids. We go to the grocery store all the time and can manage three bags of groceries with the stroller. We also like to take the 115 or 116 to Alderwood Mall to run around. There are a couple of drivers that are really friendly and say hi to the kids and ask what we're up to that day."

Thank you, Carlos, for the responsibility you have entrusted in us to serve you, your family, and our community. We look forward to bringing you home for many more years to come.

"I'm Emmett. And I Guide It."

As the Chief Executive Officer of Community Transit, Emmett Heath is uniquely positioned to affect change. Having spent the majority of his career in public transportation, he is keenly aware that our agency has a great responsibility to serve the community, both now and in the future. We provide nearly 40,000 trips each weekday to people who rely on us to connect them with jobs, healthcare, schools, and their community. That's up to 10 million riders a year! Emmett keeps these 10 million riders, our customers, close to heart when guiding Community Transit into the dynamic future of public transportation.

Thanks to local support, Community Transit has recently expanded service. Emmett's short term vision includes ensuring we deliver on our promises. "The community values the service we provide. They have supported us and now we need to deliver on their desire for expanded transit service." Even while plans for proposed new routes in 2016 and 2017 begin to roll out, along with the subsequent buses and drivers needed to make them happen, Emmett stresses the importance of looking ahead even further. "This generation is building something that will benefit the next one. We are laying the foundation for those that will come in the future." Our route ahead will include a network of Swift Bus Rapid Transit lines and expanding our overall service to connect communities in new and exciting ways.

Making a difference in our community goes beyond strategic planning for the future. It also includes growing relationships, both internally and externally. "It starts with each person in this agency, and that includes me. Anything I can do to role model, to show the care we should be giving customers. This means interfacing directly with customers when issues come to my attention. It's a great opportunity to listen, learn how to improve, and turn someone into an advocate."

This hands-on approach is important for engaging employees, too. "It's important to have face-to-face time. I always have an open door policy and make a point to frequently visit different work groups. It goes a long way to fostering harmony. When you invest in harmony, this wonderful synergy happens and it empowers our employees to contribute to a positive workplace culture and deliver what our customers want and need."

In his role as CEO, Emmett Heath guides our agency as we prepare to meet the increased transit demands of significant projected growth for 2030, shaping an environment where individuals work collectively as a team to bring forth Community Transit's vision of the future: providing 40 more years of safe, reliable, and friendly service to Snohomish County.

"I'm Laurel. And I Tweet It."

Social media has become an important vehicle to reach our customers. From rider alerts to service change announcements, we strive to provide exceptional service and foster great relationships with our passengers. From first thing in the morning until late at night, Laurel, from our Agency Communications department, monitors our social media to ensure our customers stay informed.

Laurel spent fourteen years marketing online financial services where she thrived on responding to rapid technological changes. Part of these changes included incorporating social media as a method for outreach and customer service. Laurel brought her passion for social media to Community Transit three years ago, "It was nice to be able to usher in Twitter and nurture our audience there. Social media has an immediacy to it that is unique. It gives us the opportunity to respond right away to customers, to tell them we hear them and we're listening."

Laurel monitors @MyCommTrans regularly, especially early in the morning just before our commutes are at their peak, responding to any questions or concerns. By coordinating efforts with our Customer Service and Dispatch departments, Laurel utilizes social media to connect with our riders. "When people are frustrated, listening and responding goes a long way. It helps when you feel like someone hears you. We may not have the answer right at that moment, but we'll work hard to get the answer you need."

In addition to Twitter, Community Transit also has a Facebook page and can be found on YouTube and LinkedIn. "Every social media platform is different, but the interactions I have with customers, whether it's a 140 character tweet about service or a 'Like' on a photo I've posted to Facebook, make my job challenging and fun. To be able to answer a question and get feedback in such an immediate way makes social media a great fit for public transportation."

Thanks, Laurel, for your commitment to service, for being the friendly voice our customers see on their Twitter feed, and for being an active listener and problem solver. When you "Tweet It", you make a difference in how we help bring our customers home.

"I'm Shawna. And I Support It."

With a transit system network as vast as ours, it's no wonder that Information Technology is the key to connecting us with our customers. Every division in our agency depends on our hard-working IT department. We rely on talented people like Shawna to help us drive it, maintain it, coordinate it, resource it, plan it, and guide it, all so that we can bring you home.

Giving back to the community has always been important to Shawna. After years spent working on emergency issues supporting technology for Snohomish County 911, Shawna joined the fast-paced but far less stressful environment of Community Transit. "I enjoy being in public service and being part of my community and Community Transit seemed like a good fit. I was immediately impressed by the unique culture here. It felt like a family right away." This connection to community can be on a large scale, or it can be far more intimate, as Shawna discovered when a family tragedy hit just a few months into her employment. "Immediately I felt instant support. I was given a lot of flexibility so I could take care of what was important. It felt like family, and honestly that's how I got through it."

A self-professed "gadget freak" who enjoys taking things apart to see how they work, Shawna has always had an affinity for technology. In addition to providing support for our internal network and help desk, Shawna has been involved in researching special pilot projects and taking the lead in researching hardware and software acquisitions. "So much of what we do in IT is behind the scenes. We troubleshoot in the background in a virtual environment so you can't even see what's being done. It's cheaper, faster, and more streamlined. I'm proud to work for a company that has such cutting-edge technology. Working here is never stagnant. I am always learning something new."

While innovative technology and dynamic problem-solving definitely excites Shawna, what really makes a difference each day are the connections she makes, from her internal team to her colleagues and coworkers. "My team has a broad view and we always back each other up. People are generally grateful for the help we provide. It feels good to work where people are grateful every day. You feel super-special, like you have a superpower."

We think you are a superhero, Shawna! Thank you for being part of our incredibly talented team of technology experts who are always supporting our agency's efforts to see where we can do better to serve our customers. You bring every department at Community Transit to life, all so we can connect in meaningful ways to our customers and bring them home.

"I'm Tony. And I Maintain It."

Did you know our buses drive approximately 1,000 miles per week? That's like driving from Seattle to Los Angeles! To keep our buses in tip-top shape, we utilize a team of service workers to thoroughly inspect each bus. One of our rock star employees that helps "Maintain It"? Veteran Community Transit employee, Tony S.

Tony has been with Community Transit since the early years, when our first maintenance shop was just a small space at Kasch Park. Back then our fleet consisted of antique and refurbished buses. Buses have certainly changed in the 25 years since then. Now our fleet includes a wide range of cutting-edge technologies, such as CAD/AVL technology (computer aided dispatch and automatic vehicle location), safety technology (such as collision avoidance), and maintenance technology (including vehicle diagnostics). "It's been exciting to grow with the company," says Tony.

Our bus maintenance program ensures each bus is inspected every six weeks. A mile indicator notifies us when a bus hits 6,000 miles so that it can rotate through the shop. A team of seven service workers make sure that anything that can easily down a coach, such as brakes and power steering, are meticulously inspected. The maintenance team always has one goal in mind: making sure our coaches are safe. Tony says, "Everyone wants to do their job well. It's an expectation we put on ourselves, not that the company puts on us. Every day is better than the last. You are better because each day is a different challenge. It makes coming to work so easy."

A personal commitment to excellence, combined with a collaborative spirit, lets our service workers "Maintain It" with a smile. "This shop is like a Mecca. We all do different things to reach a common goal. These guys work well together which you don't often see in bigger shops. If anyone has a question, we all communicate to come up with the answer. It's a good group of people which makes working here a piece of cake."

Without the talent and dedication of our maintenance team, we wouldn't be able to provide the excellent service that our customers have come to expect of us. After 25 years, Tony has helped our buses drive millions of miles. Next time you ride a Community Transit bus, you can be sure that at some point Tony has maintained it. "It's hard to believe it's been 25 years. It's been a really good ride."