EVERETT — On the advent of its 50th Anniversary of carrying Snohomish County riders, Community Transit on Thursday marked the historic milestone with a reception for elected leaders, regional transit partners, and former employees. On the same day, the agency kicked off its fare-free week echoing its first days of service, and a week earlier released a proposed interlocal agreement that would fold Everett Transit into the county agency on April 1, 2027.
“We’re here to make sure everybody can get from where they are to where they want to be, no matter what, no matter when,” Chief Executive Officer Ric Ilgenfritz, told the Lynnwood Times on the community focus of his transit agency. “If you don’t want to drive, or you can’t afford to drive, or you have one car, but more than one driver in the family and someone else needs to get around we’re here for you to pick you up and have your back.”
Following 1974 state legislation that authorized the creation of Public Transportation Benefit Areas (PTBAs), Community Transit launched October 4, 1976, as the Snohomish County Public Transportation Benefit Area, with seven routes and buses leased from Seattle Metro. And in 1979, the agency officially changed its name to Community Transit.
Board Chair and Mayor of Mukilteo, Joe Marine, shared with attendees that the system has expanded greatly since its early days from less than 1 million in its first year to 9.5 million annual boardings today. Community Transit now spans 23 jurisdictions and provides about 34,000 weekday rides on more than 250 buses, plus paratransit, vanpool and 37 Zip microtransit shuttles.
“That is a big difference from where we started,” Mayor Marine said. “We’ve achieved a lot together in the last half century as our nation journeyed forward from 200 years to 250 years. The growth and progress have been non-stop.”
Former Washington State Rep. Luis Moscoso, who represented the 1st District for three terms, shared with the Lynnwood Times that Vic Sood, Community Transit’s first executive director from 1976 to 1984, hired him on the spot which eventually led to his three decades of public service.
“I am so glad to see Vic, because he put me on this trajectory that kept me in transportation,” said Moscoso, who served as the first president-business agent of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1576 before serving as vice chair of the House Transportation Committee. “This is so important to see him still here at his age, and being part of this.”
Virenda “Vic” Sood, then a transportation planner with the city of Mountlake Terrace, along with then-City Manager Bob White, helped pass the state law creating PTBAs. After leaving Community Transit in 1984, he spent about two decades with transit in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay area.
To mark the half-century milestone of providing a car-free alternative to Snohomish County residents, Community Transit is showcasing “Bluebell,” an original vintage 1959 GMC bus restored and converted into a mobile museum, named through a public contest earlier this year. To see a map of where to tour Bluebell on its travels through Snohomish County, click here.
Also marking its 50th Anniversary, from Thursday through October 8, Community Transit buses and DART paratransit are free. The agency said the week is a thank-you to the county and a chance to try the bus. The Ride Free Week also falls during Week Without Driving, the annual campaign that asks people who usually drive to leave the car behind and see what the trip is like for neighbors who cannot drive or choose not to. Riders can pair the free fares with the Switch Your Trips Challenge: log at least 10 transit trips from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31 at ctgo.org/rewards for a chance at prizes.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA02) ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was a regular Community Transit rider prior to becoming one of its board members as a Snohomish County councilman and, since 2001, a staunch advocate for public transit in Congress.
“I do remember the first time I took that ride vividly,” Larsen said, describing the relief of skipping congestion on I-5 by taking Community Transit from Everett to Seattle.
Larsen jokingly compared himself of being a “client” of Community Transit to an old Hair Club for Men commercial.
“I’m not just a board member. I’ve actually used Community Transit. I was a client,” he said.
Larsen, who founded and co-chairs the Congressional Bus Caucus, credited joint work for $43 million that helped build the Swift Green Line, Community Transit’s second bus rapid transit line, which opened in 2019, and $37 million towards the $79.4 million Swift Orange Line, which opened in 2024.
U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA01) shared about Community Transit’s growth in the 1st Congressional District, which now runs from the Swift Green Line’s southern end at UW Bothell through Mill Creek to the Smokey Point Transit Center.
“A lot of change, even over this last decade, more and more families have choose to call Snohomish County home,” Rep. DelBene said. “The demand for reliable, fast transportation, accessible public transit has never been greater.”
Rep. DelBene, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, secured $2 million for the Swift Green Line extension serving UW Bothell, in her district, and Cascadia College.
“It’s all about kind of looking ahead,” DelBene said. “And I know folks at Community Transit have done a great job of not just understanding where we need to be now but understanding where we’re going to need to be and building towards that.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee provided in a statement to the Lynnwood Times regarding Thursday’s tribute: “Congratulations to Community Transit on 50 years of growing service to Snohomish County.”
In a letter read by Community Transit CEO Ilgenfritz, Sen. Cantwell wrote that she has supported more than $135 million in federal grants for the agency since 2002 and asked to be counted as a partner for the next 50 years.
Sen. Patty Murray, also unable to attend, shared in letter read by Ilgenfritz that she helped secure $3 million for the agency’s Gold Line design.
“I’m proud to be pro-transit and pro-Community Transit,” Sen. Murray wrote. “Here’s to the next 50 years.”
State Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, chair of the Washington State Senate Transportation Committee and former Mukilteo City councilman, recalled his first childhood experience when Community Transit parked a bus in the lot of Fairmont Elementary School and stepping on it for the first time.
“It’s those experiences of what transit can do to transform our lives,” Sen. Liias said reflecting on his trips to Everett Mall and later UW. “That really were the foundation of our Kids Ride Free program to make sure that every Washington youth has the exact same opportunities that I had those years ago to explore transit for themselves.”
Liias joked about his affection for the agency’s retro 1980s “jewel tone” mountain logo over its current “squiggly line.”
“That was the best logo. We gotta bring it back,” Liias said.
Liias pointing to state legislation he authored that allow local jurisdictions with new statutory tools to pursue transit system consolidations—the councilmanic foundation for the current interlocal agreement that would fold Everett Transit into Community Transit.
“Your driver’s license shouldn’t be the only way you can move around your communities,” Liias said to applause. “We need to provide folks with options and choices and a plethora of ways to move around.”
He thanked Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin and the Community Transit board for utilizing their new tool which will provide Everett residents with new public transit opportunities.
Looking ahead, Liias said buses will be cleaner, running on electricity, hydrogen and other technology, and championed that fares should stay affordable for both workers and seniors. He added that he would like to see Zip-style on-demand cars in the cities of Snohomish, Marysville and “every community across the county.”
A central theme of Thursday’s reception was the evolving relationship between Community Transit and the City of Everett—specifically the leaderships of CEO Ric Ilgenfritz and Mayor Franklin.
When Community Transit was established in 1976, Everett—the county seat and largest municipality—already operated a mature municipal transit system and opted not to join the PTBA. Now, five decades later, the City of Everett and its councilmembers and transit officials are actively evaluating a full consolidation to unify service across Snohomish County.
Mayor Franklin addressed by Ilgenfritz at Thursday’s reception as “our de facto co-host,” conveyed her journey from municipal governance to becoming a vocal transit advocate.
“When you first run for office, you run on whatever your campaign promises are. I didn’t run on transit eight years ago,” Mayor Franklin admitted. “But I have become a real transportation champion because I have seen how transformative it is. Public transit just connects us.”
Everett Transit, she said, was built for a different city and with Everett Link on the horizon, the local system has to be ready.
“And as that growth is happening and we have light rail coming our way with four Everett stations in the plan and the six in the Everett link extension it’s really important that we provide services,” Franklin said. “So, it’s great to be here to celebrate with Community Transit, the partnership that we’ve had over the years is extraordinary and it’s great to be continuing that partnership. I am very excited that our city council and the Community Transit board is considering this merger of the Everett Transit into Community Transit as it’s a huge opportunity for our entire region.”
She urged transit supporters to speak to both the Everett City Council and the Community Transit board on the annexation over the next four weeks and attend one of two public hearings: October 28 hosted by the Everett City Council and October 29 hosted by Community Transit Board.
CEO Ilgenfritz commended Mayor Franklin for her vision and partnership through months of collaborative, detailed negotiations surrounding Community Transit and Everett Transit merger.
Franklin and Ilgenfritz released the proposed annexation agreement on September 23 which aims to streamline routes, eliminate redundant administrative structures, and create a single seamless transit operator across Snohomish County as Sound Transit’s Link light rail continues its northward expansion.
Under state law, Everett can join Community Transit’s benefit area by votes of the City Council and the Community Transit board. Both bodies are expected to vote in early November, with Everett action anticipated Nov. 4 and the board Nov. 5. A public vote is not required.
If both approve, Community Transit would become Everett’s operator April 1, 2027. Community Transit would pay the city $54.5 million at closing with Everett transferring $16 million in transit capital reserves, for a net of $38.5 million deal to the city.
About 145 Everett Transit jobs would move, and existing collective bargaining agreements would be honored—both Franklin and Ilgenfritz have committed and shared that no current employee with Everett Transit will lose their job with a handful remaining with the city. Current Everett paratransit customers would be grandfathered in as long as they are registered in the Everett Transit system before the April 1, 2027, date.
Fares on Everett routes would be frozen for 12 months, and the agreement commits to growing transit service within the city 50% by 2031, against what Ilgenfritz has called a best case of 25% over 20 years if Everett Transit stayed as an independent agency. Existing services in Everett would be maintained or improved until a new network plan, with public engagement, is adopted ahead of a March 2028 service change, Ilgenfritz shared in late September.
The adopted 2026-2031 Transit Development Plan, passed August 6 by the Community Transit board, did not include the acquisition of Everett Transit, however it aligns with the agency’s strategic goals of growing its customer base by 25% and ridership by 24% with fixed-route service planned to rise about 21% by 2031 and the doubling of Zip hours with up to six new zones.
In looking ahead over the next six years, Community Transit’s capital priorities are the Green Line extension into Bothell and Gold Line, a roughly 15-mile bus rapid transit route from Everett Station to Smokey Point via Marysville.
Author: Mario Lotmore
