MONROE — Senior citizens here are among those who are counting as a success this week’s Community Transit Board decision to expand bus service, despite an upcoming fare increase.
The board voted on Thursday to bring back bus service Sundays and holidays starting June 7. Adult and Dial-A-Ride Transportation fares are set to increase by 25 cents on July 1. Community Transit also is expanding service on several routes and increasing trips, mostly during off-peak times.
City leaders in Monroe were among those who spoke at public hearings about proposed changes to bus services. As a result, the transit board rejected a plan to alter Route 222, which provides service to the new Walmart store on Highway 9 in Marysville. It approved a change to Route 280 so riders traveling between Boeing and Granite Falls or Lake Stevens will no longer have to change buses in Everett.
The board also rejected a plan to cut service along the Village Way loop in Monroe. The short route takes riders to the Monroe Boys &Girls Club, the Sky Valley Food Bank, the Sno-Isle Library and the East County Senior Center.
Bev Rice, of Monroe, said many people rely on the bus to get to the 700-member senior center. If the Village Way loop were cut, she said, some seniors would have trouble making the quarter-mile trek to another bus stop on Main Street.
“A lot of them are on walkers or are disabled,” Rice, 75, said. “They can’t walk that far.”
Marc Avni, the center’s director, said bus service is also important for about 100 seniors who live in the apartments behind the center. One resident, Shirley Soreano, 80, said she hasn’t been able to drive since she had a heart attack in October. Now, she plans to get around on the bus when her daughters can’t drive her.
“It’s quite an inconvenience,” she said of not driving. “You depend on that bus service.”
Soreano said she doesn’t feel safe walking to Main Street, especially in the rain. Marion Allred, 82, died after being hit by a bus while crossing Main Street in September.
Anvi said he doesn’t want the seniors walking to the stop either. He fought to keep busses running on the Village Way loop with other city leaders, including Mayor Geoffrey Thomas.
“It shows what a concerted community effort can do to elicit a positive response,” Anvi said.
Bus service in Monroe also is being expanded in June to provide transportation to the western part of Main Street and Fryelands Boulevard. Details on service expansion, fare increases and Sunday routes throughout Snohomish County can be found on Community Transit’s website. The service expansion does not require more busses but Community Transit plans to hire 34 new drivers before June.
Even with the additions, bus service hasn’t been restored to pre-recession levels, Community Transit spokesman Martin Munguia said. Because the economy had taken a toll on sales tax revenue, the agency in 2010 suspended Sunday and holiday service. In two rounds of budget cuts, bus service was reduced by 37 percent and a third of workers were eliminated.
“We know there’s more demand for service than we’re providing at this time,” Munguia said.
That’s why Community Transit is seeking approval of a bill in Olympia. House Bill 1393 would allow the agency to ask voters to approve of more money — up to three-tenths of one percent sales tax — for transit service. Community Transit is currently at the state maximum of nine-tenths of one percent sales taxing authority.
More money would help pay for a second Swift bus between Bothell and Boeing in addition to extra commuter service to Seattle. It would allow for more frequent bus trips throughout the county and longer operating hours.
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports
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