Intercity Transit

❧

Wikipedia

Intercity Transit
Headquarters510 Pattison St. SE
Olympia, Washington
Service areaThurston County, Washington
Service typeBus, paratransit
Routes21[1]
Daily ridership11,688
Annual ridership4,242,904 (2024)
Fuel typeB20 Diesel (Biodiesel)
General ManagerEmily Bergkamp[2]
Websitewww.intercitytransit.com

Intercity Transit is a public transportation agency organized as a municipal corporation in Thurston County, Washington, United States. It serves Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, and Yelm and Lakewood: an area of approximately 94 square miles (240 km2). It operates 19 bus routes,[3] the Dial-A-Lift door-to-door service, a vanpool program, and specialized van programs.

In FY 2024 the system had an annual ridership of 4,242,904, or about 11,688 daily boardings.

In 2009, the American Public Transportation Association gave Intercity Transit the America's Best Public Transportation System award for the mid-size category.[4]

Routes and services

All of Intercity Transit's fixed route services were suspended on April 13, 2020, and replaced temporarily by an on-demand system with advance reservations limited to only passengers with "essential business" as part of the local response to the pandemic.[5] Limited fixed route service resumed in June alongside the advance reservation system but ridership remained 70 percent below its 2019 levels.[6][7] Intercounty service to Lakewood resumed in June 2021.[8]

Intercity Transit previously maintained a free shuttle route called Dash, which provided service between the Capitol Campus and downtown Olympia via Capitol Way.[9] Dash ran every fifteen minutes on weekdays, every ten minutes on weekends, and was close to several public parking lots. However, this service was retired during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fleet

Intercity Transit "Dash" Bus 951 running in the Lakefair parade

Intercity Transit operates 77 coaches, 33 Dial-A-Lift vans, and 221 vanpool vans.[10] Intercity Transit purchased six new hybrid electric buses in 2010,[11] and nine new hybrid electric buses in 2014. Intercity Transit is one of the first transportation systems in the country to use an all-biodiesel fleet.

All of Intercity Transit's coaches are Gillig Low Floor buses.[12] They are equipped with wheelchair accessibility, kneeling doors, automatic stop announcements, and surveillance cameras.

Fares

Intercity Transit began a five-year zero-fare pilot project in January 2020 as part of its service expansion approved in a 2018 ballot measure.[13][14] The agency also launched a zero-fare express bus route connecting Capital Mall to Lacey in September 2019.[15] The pilot was extended to 2028 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which also forced the suspension of the express route and Dash.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Routes
  2. ↑ General Manager of Intercity Transit
  3. ↑ "Routes". Intercity Transit. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  4. ↑ "APTA Award Fact Sheet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-22. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  5. ↑ Gentzler, Sara (April 7, 2020). "Intercity Transit to require reservations starting next week due to COVID-19". The Olympian. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  6. ↑ Boone, Rolf (June 18, 2020). "Limited fixed-route bus service returns on Sunday, Intercity Transit announces". The Olympian. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  7. ↑ Boone, Rolf (August 22, 2020). "Intercity Transit ridership plunges during pandemic, down nearly 70 percent in July". The Olympian. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Intercity Transit to Resume Express Bus Service to Pierce County" (Press release). Intercity Transit. June 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  9. ↑ Dash Shuttle
  10. ↑ Meet the Fleet
  11. ↑ "Hybrid Fact Sheet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  12. ↑ "Fleet Composition" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  13. ↑ Banse, Tom (January 2, 2020). "'Get on and go!' No bus fare needed anymore on Olympia transit system". KUOW. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  14. ↑ Sundell, Allison (December 5, 2019). "Thurston County buses to launch zero-fare pilot in January". KING 5 News. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  15. ↑ Spegman, Abby (September 11, 2019). "Coming soon: A bus ride across Olympia in 10 stops — for free". The Olympian. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  16. ↑ Tu, Maylin (September 21, 2022). "As Fare-Free Transit Catches On, Checking In On 5 Cities With Free Public Transit". NextCity. Retrieved October 12, 2022.