Community Transit Wins Funding To Add Orange Line To Swift Blue and Green

This in from Community Transit as they continue to build out bus rapid-transit from Everett to points south.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg today announced approval of a $37 million federal grant to fund Community Transit’s Swift Orange Line project.

The Swift Orange Line will run between McCollum Park Park & Ride and Edmonds College, traveling through Mill Creek and Lynnwood. The Orange Line will serve the Lynnwood Link light rail station when it opens in 2024.

“This is wonderful news for Snohomish County, as this project guarantees fast and frequent bus service to Link light rail when it arrives in our county,” said Community Transit Board Chair Kim Daughtry, a Lake Stevens City Council member.

Community Transit introduced Swift bus rapid transit service to Snohomish County in 2009 with the opening of the Swift Blue Line between downtown Everett and Shoreline. The Swift Green Line opened in March 2019 between Seaway Transit Center and Canyon Park. The two Swift lines are Community Transit’s highest ridership routes.

“This great news will boost our economic recovery and help people in Snohomish County get from where they are to where they want to be,” said Community Transit CEO Ric Ilgenfritz. “Thanks go to Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Representatives Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene, and all our local partners who have worked hard to bring this project forward.”

Ilgenfritz received a call from Acting Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Nuria Fernandez today with the news and assured her that Community Transit employees are excited to get to work delivering this transportation solution.

The Swift Orange Line project is funded by the $37 million FTA Capital Investment Grant announced today, FTA 5307 funding, Federal Highway Administration Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funding, Connecting Washington state funding, and local sales tax revenues.

Swift is quicker than regular local bus service, with stations spaced further apart, fare payment at the station, not on the bus, and simultaneous boarding and deboarding at the bus’s three doors. Swift buses arrive every 10 minutes weekdays, and every 20 minutes nights and weekends. The average time a Swift bus spends at a station is about 10 seconds, and the average trip on a Swift route end-to-end is about 25 percent quicker than a regular local bus route.

The Swift Orange Line will provide easy access to destinations such as Mill Creek Town Center, Alderwood Mall, Lynnwood City Center, and Edmonds College, while serving park and rides at McCollum Park, Ash Way, Swamp Creek, and Lynnwood. As a part of the project, the transit facilities at McCollum Park and at Edmonds College will be renovated to better accommodate future services at each site.

The Swift Orange Line is in final design, with construction expected to start in early 2022, and service starting in 2024.

Community Transit is responsible for providing bus and paratransit service, vanpool and alternative commute options in Snohomish County. The agency is building a network of Swift bus rapid transit lines with Swift Blue Line along Highway 99, the Swift Green Line between Canyon Park/Bothell and Boeing/Paine Field, and the new Swift Orange Line coming to Mill Creek and Lynnwood in 2024.