The Dash and Pierce County changes will take effect Oct. 2, while changes to bus route 60 will come later. Here’s what the authority decided:
Dash shuttle: In October, IT will trim the shuttle’s weekday morning and evening hours to 7:05 a.m. to 6:25 p.m. from 6:45 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. Once the Legislative session is under way, IT will operate a third bus from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the busiest time for the service. IT also will eliminate Saturday service from September to December. The shuttle still will be available on Saturdays from April to August – peak months of the Olympia Farmers Market.
Olympia Express: Also in October, IT will add two weekday trips to Pierce County – a northbound trip that will start from the Olympia Transit Center at 4:35 p.m. and a southbound trip at 5:50 p.m., which puts a former “deadhead trip” – a bus that returned to Olympia with no passengers – into service. The additions to the Olympia Express routes come as a result of a Pierce Transit decision to cut its eight remaining one-way trips Oct. 2.
Route 60: Although a starting date still needs to be decided, the authority approved slight changes to the route. Buses on that route will stay on Lilly Road, rather than deviate off Lilly Road near Saint Francis House; it will continue to serve Panorama and maintain service on Sleater-Kinney Road, but won’t detour onto the Panorama campus. And it will no longer access Pacific Avenue, but will operate along Lilly Road, Martin Way and Sleater-Kinney Road on its way to and from the Lacey Transit Center.
The changes were needed to improve the timeliness of service along the route, spokeswoman Meg Kester said. There also will be limited service to Saint Francis House – 10 trips instead of 21 – and, depending on the time, some people might have to walk a short distance to Lilly Road. Saint Francis House and Panorama residents might qualify for IT’s dial-a-lift service for the disabled or those with limited mobility, she said.
A starting date for the changes to route 60 still needs to be decided because of details being worked out among IT, Panorama and the city of Lacey.
In addition to the changes, the authority asked that the changes to the Dash shuttle be reviewed quarterly – ridership, operating costs and productivity, for example – and that the Olympia Express additions be reviewed in three months.
