Community Transit Celebrates Opening of Swift Orange Line BRT

Community Transit, Snohomish County, WA, along with elected officials and community members, celebrated the start of service on the agency’s Swift Orange Line BRT recently with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Lynnwood Transit Center. Swift Orange Line will provide the premier bus-to-light rail connection in Snohomish County when the Link light rail extends to Lynnwood later this year, with buses arriving and departing the train station every 10 minutes most of the day.

Swift Orange Line, the agency’s third BRT line, will link Edmonds College, Alderwood Mall, and Mill Creek with 13 stops including rain shelters, additional seating, improved lighting, and real-time arrival and departure signage. A new transit center at Edmonds College and a redesigned transit center at McCollum Park Park & Ride will enhance the 11-mile route.

“Providing high-quality, frequent transit service is the best way we know to get people where they need to go faster so they can work, visit family, receive healthcare, and shop,” said FTA Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool, whose agency supported the project with $68 million in grants. “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is making projects like the Swift Orange Line possible all over our country, and I’m so happy to be in Snohomish County to help make this new route a reality. Of course, it would not be possible without the tremendous team at Community Transit, which delivered a great project early and under budget.”

The Swift Orange Line is an $83 million project that has received $68 million in federal funding, including $37.2 million from Capital Investment Grant funds and $6.5 million of American Rescue Plan stimulus funding. The project also received $5 million as part of the Connecting Washington package. Local sales tax approved by voters provides $10 million. The project was completed on time and under budget.

“You cannot have a big-league economy with little-league infrastructure. Thanks in part to historic federal investments, Community Transit is expanding high-quality service to connect residents to jobs, school, the store, recreational opportunities, and more,” said Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), the lead Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. “I will continue to work with local elected officials and community leaders to address infrastructure needs; create more jobs; and build a cleaner, greener, safer, and more accessible transportation system in Puget Sound.”