Sound Transit Secures $15.9 Million in Funding for Stride Bus Rapid Transit to Reach Burien
Sound Transit announced that it will receive $15.9 million in new federal funding for investments in Stride Bus Rapid Transit on I-405 South, which will significantly improve bus service for residents of the region.
The funding includes a $12.9 million competitive grant from the Federal Transit Administration, secured with support from Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell and the rest of the region’s congressional delegation. The grant will be used to purchase new bus transit vehicles and construct the South Renton Transit Center station on the S1 line between Burien and Bellevue.
A $3 million allocation in the FY2022 omnibus appropriations bill that was championed by Senator Patty Murray.
Sound Transit’s Stride system will provide faster, more reliable bus service along a 37-mile corridor from Lynnwood to Burien and a 9-mile corridor from Shoreline to Bothell. The new funding will support construction of the S1 line between Burien and Bellevue, which the agency is working to open in 2026. In the particularly congested section between Bellevue and Renton, S1 line buses will operate primarily in toll lanes express developed in partnership with the Washington State Department of Transportation, with additional routing on I-405 and SR 518 general purpose lanes and local streets in Burien, Renton, and Bellevue.
“Stride will provide faster, more reliable journeys to thousands of passengers every day on new dedicated lines spanning the east, north and south sides of Lake Washington,” said Kent Keel, chairman of the Sound Transit Board. “This funding for the construction of the Stride S1 line on I-405 south will help us relieve our residents of chronic congestion. I want to thank the Biden administration, Senators Murray and Cantwell, and the rest of the congressional delegation for their partnership and support. »
The omnibus bill also includes Sound Transit’s $200 million installments for fiscal year 2022 for grant agreements previously awarded by the Federal Transit Administration supporting the Lynnwood and Federal Way light rail extensions that the agency is running. strives to open in 2024.
“Faster and more frequent public transit will improve the lives of people who live and work in southern King County,” said Sound Transit Board member Ed Prince. “Many members of our community rely on public transit, and better mobility means better access to jobs, education, and the many cultural and recreational activities our region has to offer.
“Our investments in public transit infrastructure are essential not only for getting people around, but also for our economy and our environment. They can’t happen without strong federal partnerships like this,” said Sound Transit board member Claudia Balducci, chair of the board’s System Expansion Committee. “We thank Senator Murray, our congressional delegation, and the Biden administration for enabling the positive transformation that happens every time we open a new line.”
The Stride S2 line is scheduled to open in 2027 between Bellevue and Lynnwood. The S3 line is scheduled to open in 2026 between Bothell and Shoreline. Stride passengers will be able to easily transfer to and from Sound Transit’s rapidly expanding Link light rail system in Tukwila, Bellevue, Shoreline and Lynnwood and an array of local bus routes. In Bothell, the S3 line will connect users to the bus service to Woodinville.
Prior to the opening of the Stride lines, Sound Transit will complete the Link light rail extensions that more than double the range of the Link system. In 2023, Sound Transit will open the 2-Line, extending light rail from Seattle to Mercer Island, Bellevue and the Overlake area to Redmond. In 2024, Sound Transit is scheduled to open 1-line extensions to Lynnwood and Federal Way and a 2-line extension to downtown Redmond.
Sound Transit’s light rail expansions are backed by nearly $2 billion in FTA grants to reach Lynnwood and Federal Way, plus the largest set of Transportation Infrastructure Funding and Innovation Acts (TIFIA) of the United States Department of Transportation. loans. The loans create more than $500 million in savings for regional ratepayers.
Information about Sound Transit extensions can be found at https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion.
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