From Bothell to Boeing: Green Line bus route begins Sunday

EVERETT — Major changes are coming to Community Transit in March.

A decade after the Swift Blue Line began operating, which has become the agency’s most popular bus route, a second bus rapid transit line is launching.

The Swift Green Line will run from the new Seaway Transit Center, located across the street from Boeing’s Everett factory, to the Canyon Park Park and Ride in Bothell.

Traveling south, the route follows Airport Road through the Paine Field area. On 128th Street it heads east, then turns south on the Bothell-Everett Highway to Canyon Park.

The Blue and Green Swift lines will connect at Highway 99 and Airport Road, creating Snohomish County’s first high-capacity transit network.

Swift buses come every 10 minutes weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and every 20 minutes on nights and weekends.

Construction on the 12.5-mile Swift Green Line corridor and its 34 stations began in late 2017. The new service is set to start at noon Sunday.

To commemorate the launch of the Green Line, the agency is holding a kick-off ceremony 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at McCollum Park.

Eventually Everett Transit, King County Metro and Sound Transit’s buses will stop at the Seaway Transit Center, which will not have any public parking.

This month Community Transit is also modifying routes that serve the Boeing plant. With the opening of the Seaway Transit Center, the agency is truncating all Boeing routes there, rather than have buses travel along the Boeing Perimeter Road.

“One of the reasons for that, it’s not the most efficient thing to do,” said Martin Munguia, a spokesperson for Community Transit.

It took a lot of service hours to travel around the Perimeter Road to drop off employees, he said.

A Boeing shuttle, scheduled to arrive about every 12 minutes, will then ferry employees to and from the transit center. This will go into effect starting Monday March 25.

“Boeing should be able to drop them off closer to work,” Munguia said.

Boeing vice president and general manager Elizabeth Lund said the Seaway center will be an important hub for Boeing Everett employees, giving them more options to commute.

“Community Transit’s investment in the Swift Green Line is an integral part of helping reduce traffic and congestion for everyone in the area,” Lund said in an email.

With this change, Community Transit is able to add one additional trip in the morning and the evening to the 107, 227 and 247 routes.

Boeing bus routes on Everett Transit are being altered at the end of this month. Route 3 and 70, both of which travel along Perimeter Road, will start and stop at the Seaway Transit Center starting March 31.

Facing a budget deficit, the agency is cutting service and raising fares. All Everett Transit routes are being modified at the end of March, with one, route 17, being eliminated. The agency says the move will make south-end routes on average about 21 percent faster.

Lizz Giordano: 425-374-4165; egiordano@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @lizzgior.