Making Good on Our Promise

A message from Mike Harbour, Intercity Transit General Manager

Intercity Transit is making good on its promise to implement a modest service improvement next month based on dialogue we’ve had with our many riders and community members over the past six months. The conversation started before the August 2010 Primary which resulted in the overwhelming passage of a small local sales tax increase supporting Intercity Transit services. The conversation continued this past fall with a public process before the transit Authority’s adoption of a service plan consistent with the priorities of the community.

Thanks to public engagement and voter support, Intercity Transit now has adequate financial resources not only to sustain current transit service levels but improve some evening and weekend service and increase frequency on one of the region’s most used routes. The February 6 service improvement, though modest, fills a number of gaps in our area’s transit service and includes:

•  Olympia Transit Center (OTC) to The Evergreen State College (TESC) - Route 41:  Service increased to every 15 minutes during peak periods. (Service currently runs every 30 minutes.)
• OTC to Tumwater Square via South Puget Sound Community College - Route 43:  New Saturday service provided on this route results in new Saturday service to Tumwater Hill area.
• OTC to TESC via Westfield Mall - Route 48:  Route will now operate between the Westfield Mall and TESC on evenings and Saturdays. This service replaces the current Route 49 and results in new evening and Saturday service between TESC and the Westfield Mall.
• OTC to Hawks Prairie and East Lacey via Martin Way and the Lacey Transit Center (LTC) - Route 62A and 62B:  Saturday schedule adjusted to improve reliability and on-time performance.
• OTC to LTC via Tumwater Square, Yelm Highway, Ruddell Road, and Carpenter Road – Route 68:  Later evening and Sunday service added.
• OTC to Yelm - Route 94:  Later weekday service added and service is rerouted to serve 103rd Avenue and the Yelm Adult Community Center.
• Olympia/Lacey to Tacoma Mall - Route 620:  Increased Sunday service with four new trips added.

The agency’s recent financial stability also enabled Intercity Transit to continue moving forward with several capital projects that undoubtedly will benefit not only our customers but the larger community for years to come. These capital projects, which we’ll be reporting here in the future blog postings, are also bringing federal and State funds to our community which provide much-needed construction jobs and general local tax revenue.

The bad news is that we do not have the funds available to implement all desired service improvements at this time. Other needs have been identified and we expect increased demand for improved service between Lacey/Olympia and Lakewood/Tacoma as gas prices increase, the population and congestion around Joint Base Lewis McChord grows, and Sound Transit expands commuter rail service to Lakewood. Should gas prices increase sharply, as some predict, this agency will see increased pressure on our operating budget and likely increased demand for yet more service from people turning to public transportation to help alleviate strained household budgets. There continues to be great uncertainty about the state of the economy as well as the future of federal and State funding, and Intercity Transit must continue to be fiscally cautious.

Especially in these lean times, Intercity Transit is very fortunate that we are able to maintain and moderately increase transit service levels but we must be prepared for an uncertain future.

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