Rethink Everett Transit

Overview

Thank you for visiting the Rethink Transit online open house, a planning effort to help the City of Everett plan future transit service. This online open house closed for public feedback on April 5, 2021. The project team is now summarizing feedback from the community and will post a summary of the public outreach online in the coming months. To learn more about the Rethink Transit effort, please review the information on this site or contact us below.

Why is this planning needed?

Everett is growing and the population is expected to increase up to 60% in the next 20 years. The city’s goals include supporting the transportation needs of this growing population and business community.

To help accommodate growth, the Everett Transit Long-Range Plan was finalized in 2018. The plan defined objectives for Everett’s transit planning through 2040. Everett Transit engaged more than 2,000 community members during the development of the plan.

Since the adoption of the Everett Transit Long Range Plan, it has become clear that the current transit funding will cover operational costs but will not allow for significantly improved transit service that will support the growing population and jobs in Everett. Improving transit as the city grows provides important benefits across the community, even to people who do not use transit often but know someone who depends on it.

In 2020, we reached out to the community to understand priorities for planning the future of transit in Everett. Since then, we conducted a technical analysis of three options for transit service in Everett. On this site you can learn more about the analysis and the three funding options for transit service in Everett the City of Everett has identified: Current Funding, Growth, and Growth through Consolidation.

Watch our short video to see how these options will affect your transit experience.

Project Timeline

2018

  • Long-Range Plan adopted

2019

  • Workshops on future transit options

Spring - Summer 2020

  • City begins process to evaluate transit options
  • Public outreach conducted to gather feedback on transit values

Summer - Fall 2020

  • City conducts technical analysis of transit options
  • Public outreach conducted to gather feedback on future transit options
  • Results of public outreach and technical analysis shared with City Council

Fall 2020 - Winter 2021

  • City continues technical analysis of transit options

Spring - Summer 2021 (We are here)

  • Public outreach conducted to share transit funding options assessment
  • Results of public outreach and technical analysis shared with City Council for further deliberation and consideration

Future transit service options

To plan for the future of transit service in Everett the City of Everett has identified: Current Funding, Growth, and Growth through Consolidation, outlined below. Watch our short video to see how these options will affect your transit experience.

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CURRENT FUNDING

Service impacts: This option will allow Everett Transit to slowly restore some of the service cut during the COVID-19 pandemic, but would not provide enough revenue to grow service beyond what existed pre-COVID-19. This option will:

  • Allow Everett Transit to pay operating and capital costs and make some small service improvements.
  • Not allow Everett Transit to keep up with growing jobs and population in Everett.

Service improvements will happen slowly within the next ten years. The service level provided by mid-March 2021 will remain the service level for several years into the future.

Funding sources: This option would maintain the current local transit tax rate (currently 0.6%, or 6 cents on a $10 taxable purchase). If Everett experiences significant economic growth, which could spur more sales tax revenue, it may allow for more small improvements in transit services.

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GROWTH

Service impacts: This option will provide moderate growth in transit service within the City of Everett within a ten-year period. The improvements will:

  • Increase frequency of local bus service.
  • Expand operating hours in the mornings, evenings, and on weekends.
  • Expand access to jobs within Everett for Everett residents.

The moderate increase in funding for this option means these service improvements would occur gradually, as Everett Transit expands its fleet, facilities, and workforce to provide more service. However, the funding level for this option would limit the ability of the transit system to provide adequate service for Everett residents as the city grows. The local service improvements under this option within the next ten years will be similar to the improvements achieved in the Growth through Consolidation option in two years.

Funding sources: To implement this option, the local transit sales tax (0.6%) would be increased by 0.3% (3 cents on a $10 taxable purchase) to reach a total local transit sales tax of 0.9% (9 cents on a $10 taxable purchase). Increasing the local transit sales tax requires approval by Everett voters and is the maximum allowable to Everett Transit under current state law.

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GROWTH THROUGH CONSOLIDATION

Service impacts: This option will involve merging Everett Transit with Community Transit, the regional transit provider. The option will provide the greatest amount of transit service throughout the city and its neighborhoods, expanding access to transit for the largest number of Everett residents, as well as improving service into nearby Snohomish County areas. The improvements will:

  • Increase bus routes and frequency of bus service.
  • Expand access to jobs for Everett residents.
  • Reduce walk time to bus stops.
  • Expand operating hours in the mornings, evenings, and on weekends.

Service improvements will be significant within the first two years. Service provided by the merged transit agency would shorten transit travel times, reduce riders' need to transfer, and integrate transit services between Everett and other parts of Snohomish County. These improvements would require that voters approve the City of Everett joining the Community Transit service area.

Funding sources: To implement this option, the current local transit sales tax (0.6%) would be increased by 0.6% (6 cents on a $10 taxable purchase) to reach a total of 1.2% (12 cents on a $10 taxable purchase) in Everett. This is because state law requires the transit sales tax levied by Community Transit to be uniform throughout the service boundaries of Community Transit.

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