SWIFT Bus Rapid Transit

The SWIFT BRT is a bus rapid transit system under construction/planning in Snohomish County, operated by Community Transit. The first line, the Everett Station-Aurora Village Transit Center line, is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in November 2009 at a cost of about $30 million [ [http://www.commtrans.org/Projects/Swift.cfm Community Transit: Swift Bus Rapid Transit ] ] .

Service

SWIFT will begin service with the 16.7-mile line from the Aurora Village Transit Center, onto SR 99 north towards Everett Station. The route will utilize 7 miles of transit only lanes, and 10 miles where buses have signal priority at intersections. It will replace the existing Community Transit route #100. Service will run at least every ten minutes for most of the day. There will be 12 station pairs - 2 other station pairs are being deferred plus there's 1 southbound-only "opportunity" - along the route, serving the cities of Shoreline, Edmonds, Lynnwood, and Everett.clear

Name	City	Location	Connections
SWIFT BRT (Aurora Village Transit Center - Everett Station)
Aurora VillageclearTransit Center	Shoreline	N. 200th St. and Ashworth Ave. N.	Community Transit routes 101, 118, 130, 131clearMetro Transit routes 301, 303, 331, 342, 346, 358, 373
238th Street	Edmonds	Highway 99 and 238th St. S.W.	Community Transit routes 101, 118, 416, 870
216th Street	Edmonds	Highway 99 and 216th St. S.W.	Community Transit routes 101, 110, 404, 405, 406, 810, 870, 871
204th Street (southbound, future station opportunity)	Edmonds	Highway 99 and 216th St. S.W.	Community Transit routes 101, 810
200th Street (northbound)- 196th Street (southbound)	Lynnwood	Highway 99 and 196th St. S.W.	Community Transit routes 101, 114 (at 196th and 200th), 115 and 116 (at 200th), 118, 441 (at 200th)
176th Street (northbound)- 174th Street (southbound)	Lynnwood	Highway 99 and 176th St. S.W.	Community Transit routes 101, 118, 119, 190
148th Street	Lynnwood	Highway 99 and 148th St. S.W.	Community Transit routes 101, 113, 118, 415, 417, 880, 885
Lincoln Way	Lynnwood	Highway 99 and 148th St. S.W.	Community Transit routes 101, 415
Airport Road	Everett	Highway 99/Evergreen Wayclearand Airport Road	Community Transit routes 101, 411clearEverett Transit routes 9, 11
112th Street- deferred	Everett	Highway 99 and 112th St. S.W.	Everett Transit routes 8, 9, 11
4th Ave. W.	Everett	Evergreen Way and 4th Ave. W.	Everett Transit routes 7, 8, 9
Casino Road	Everett	Evergreen Way and Casino Road	Everett Transit routes 1, 2, 7, 9
Madison Street (northbound)- Pecks Drive (southbound) -deferred	Everett	Evergreen Way and Madison Street (northbound)/Pecks Drive (southbound)	Everett Transit routes 7, 8, 9clearST Express route 513
50th Street	Everett	Evergreen Way and 50th St. S.E.	Everett Transit routes 7, 9clearST Express route 513
41st Street	Everett	Rucker Ave. and 41st St. S.E.	Everett Transit routes 1, 2, 7, 9, 23clearST Express route 513
Wetmore/Pacific Avenues	Everett	Wetmore Ave./Pacific Ave.	Everett Transit routes 1, 4, 7, 8, 16, 20, 23clearST Express routes 510, 513
Everett Station	Everett	33rd St. and McDougall Ave.	Community Transit routes 100, 200, 201, 202, 270, 271, 275, 280clearEverett Transit routes 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 16, 20, 23, 701, 702clearST Express routes 510, 513, 532clearSounder Commuter RailclearSkagit Transit - Everett Express route 90XclearIsland Transit route 412clearAmtrakclearGreyhoundclearNorthwest Trailwaysclear
End of line

[Community Transit employee and bus rider]

Equipment and Stations

The infrastructure of the SWIFT system will make it bus rapid transit. The 15 vehicles will be 60-foot articulated buses with larger seating to accommodate about 48 passengers, standing areas for about 32 passengers, wheelchair access at the second door, and bike access at the third door, bike racks just inside.
Larger than a standard bus shelter, SWIFT stations will be designed similar to a light rail station, identified by a roadside marker that stands out, with ample lighting, translucent weather barriers that are graffiti-resistant, and real-time monitors to let waiting passengers know when the next bus will arrive. Frequent visits by transit police as well as regular upkeep of the facility will help riders feel safe and secure during their brief waits at each station. Passengers without transit passes will pay fares at ticket vending machines located (off-board) at SWIFT stations. The combination of off-board fare collection, three door loading, and a raised curbs for easy access onto the low-floor Swift buses should result in faster boarding and less time spent at each stop. Further, limited stops within the corridor plus advanced technological systems, e.g. transit signal priority (TSP), automated stop announcements, and Smart (ORCA) cards, should shorten time spent on each end-to-end trip in the corridor by about 30%. [ [http://www.commtrans.org/Projects/Swift.cfm] and [2] ]

References