After a five-year hiatus, Community Transit will resume service on Sundays and major holidays, beginning June 7.

The Snohomish County transit agency suspended Sunday service in June 2010 when its sales tax revenue decreased 18 percent in one year due to the recession. The agency ultimately reduced expenses, cut its bus service by 37 percent and laid off a third of its workforce to maintain fiscal sustainability.

Snohomish County’s economy is now growing, and Community Transit’s sales tax revenues finally returned to pre-recession levels last year. As a result, the agency is adding service.

“We are excited to bring Sunday service back to our customers and return to a 365-day operation,” said Community Transit CEO Emmett Heath. “The economic recovery is driving this expansion, and we hope this added service will help drive the local economy.”

Even with this service expansion, the agency has a lot of ground to make up to meet the local demand for transit. The 27,000 hours of service being added in June represent less than 20 percent of the service cut during the recession. Community Transit is exploring new funding options that would allow it to expand transit service even further.

For more information on Community Transit’s six-year plan and vision to further increase service, visit www.communitytransit.org/futureplans.

June Service Expansion

The June 7 Service Change:

• Provides a basic Sunday/holiday service schedule designed to help people get to work, worship or wherever they decide to go, including DART paratransit customers.
• Adds several off-peak trips within Snohomish County on weekdays and Saturdays.
• Adds two commuter trips to and from downtown Seattle and the UW on weekdays. In addition, Community Transit will continue to operate 30 grant-funded commuter trips after their grants run out later this year.
• Makes route changes along Highway 2 in East Snohomish County and on Route 280 between Granite Falls and Boeing.

New bus schedules will be available online and via Bus Plus schedule books on buses the week of May 25. Visit www.communitytransit.org/2015changes for information.

Sunday/Holiday Service

Community Transit is returning to a 7-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year bus schedule.

Schedules and routing will be different than when the agency last offered Sunday service five years ago. This is because transit funding remains low, and the agency hopes to build upon this basic service schedule in the future.

Community Transit will operate 16 routes on Sundays and holidays, the same as on Saturdays with the exception of Routes 115 and 201. Routes will run at these frequencies:

• Swift — every 20 minutes
• Routes 101, 105, 112, 113, 116, 119, 120, 130, 196, 202 and 220 — every hour
• Routes 222, 240, 271 and 280 — every two hours

 Sunday schedules will also apply to these six major holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

DART paratransit service will operate on Sundays/holidays at the same time as local buses.

Additional Weekday/Saturday Trips

Weekday Trip Additions

• Additional trips will be added to these local routes within Snohomish County to improve frequency and hours of service: Routes 105, 112, 113, 115, 116, 119, 120 and 196.
• Two trips will be added to King County commuter Routes 413 and 860 in the morning and afternoon peak. Also, 30 grant-funded commuter trips that were added in 2013 will continue to operate after grant funding runs out later this year.

Saturday Service Improvements

• Additional trips will be added to these local routes to improve hours of service: Routes 105, 113, 115, 116, 130, 201, 202, 222, 271 and 280.

 Adult Fares to Increase July 1

To help keep revenues in line with expenses, Community Transit will raise fares 25 cents for all adult local and commuter bus trips, as well as for all DART paratransit trips. Reduced fare, vanpool and youth fares will not change. This fare increase will take effect on July 1.

Fare change details are available at www.communitytransit.org/2015changes.

Community Transit is responsible for providing transportation options for Snohomish County residents, including bus and paratransit service, vanpool and ridesharing options. Call Community Transit at 425-353-RIDE or 800-562-1375 for bus information, or 888-814-1300 for carpool or vanpool information, or go to www.communitytransit.org. You can also read CT’s blog at www.communitytransit.blogspot.com, visit CT;s Facebook page, follow @MyCommTrans on Twitter or see CT on YouTube.