Kitsap Transit is a

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...

agency serving

Kitsap County, Washington Kitsap County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton. The county was formed out of King County and Jefferson County ...

, part of the

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierc ...

. The system is based in Bremerton and operates bus service on 40 fixed routes, a foot ferry, a

vanpool Vanpools or Vanpooling is an element of the transit system that allow groups of people to share the ride similar to a carpool, but on a larger scale with concurrent savings in fuel and vehicle operating costs and thus usually a lower cost to the ...

system, worker-driver services, and dial-a-ride services. The Kitsap Fast Ferries are also operated by Kitsap Transit. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

History

Beginning in 1971, the city of Bremerton operated a municipal transit system that had been bought out from a private company. A countywide public transportation benefit area (PTBA) was formed in 1978 to explore a transit system for Kitsap County as a whole. A 0.2 percent

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...

was put before voters in May of that year for a countywide system, but was rejected. A second attempt was put on the September 27, 1982 ballot, with a 0.3 percent sales tax and a limited PTBA serving Bremerton, Gorst, Port Orchard,

Poulsbo Poulsbo ( ) is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the smallest of the four cities in Kitsap County. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census and an estimated 10,927 in 2018. The area was historically ...

and Silverdale. The PTBA was approved by 55.6 percent of voters, and service began in January 1983, taking over the Bremerton municipal system. In 1992, Kitsap Transit became the first transit agency in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

to install a traffic signal preemption system for bus priority, beginning with 40 buses and 42 traffic signals in a year-long trial of the " Opticom" system. Kitsap Transit formed a public-private partnership with Kitsap Ferry Company to operate a passenger ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle in 2004, replacing a former

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals ...

passenger run that was suspended the previous year. The service was suspended in 2007, after voters rejected a sales tax increase to fund the ferry's rising fuel costs. Kitsap Transit, looking to revive the service, placed a 0.3 percent sales tax on the November 2016 ballot to fund fast ferry service, which was passed by voters. The new Kitsap Fast Ferries service began operation on July 10, 2017, traveling 28 minutes between Bremerton and Seattle. A second fast ferry route, connecting Kingston to Seattle, began operating in November 2018. In 2002, Kitsap Transit purchased Horluck Transportation, the operators of a foot ferry from Bremerton to Port Orchard and

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, for $1.52 million. During a period of declining sales tax revenue following the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

, Kitsap Transit made major service cuts to make up for a budget shortfall. Sunday and holiday service was discontinued in February 2009, low-performing routes were consolidated or eliminated later that year. Fares were raised twice to $2, and employees were laid off. In 2015, Kitsap Transit tested a

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

from Alexander Dennis on routes serving ferry runs. The agency debuted a new

battery electric bus A battery electric bus is an electric bus that is driven by an electric motor and obtains energy from on-board batteries. Many trolleybuses use batteries as an auxiliary or emergency power source. In 2018, the National Renewable Energy Laborator ...

manufactured by Proterra in April 2018.

Services

Kitsap Transit oversees the operations of these services: * Routed bus service (40 routes; 120 buses) * Foot ferry service ( Bremerton to Port Orchard and Annapolis) * Fast ferry service ( Bremerton and

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

) * ACCESS (Door-to-door/curb-to-curb service for elderly and disabled) * Worker/Driver (Commuter routes operating between various points in Kitsap County and either the

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...

in Bremerton or Naval Submarine Base Bangor. Drivers are full-time employees at the Navy installations who are also employed as part-time Kitsap Transit operators.) * Vanpool * TIP (Transit Incentive Program), a program for employees at federal work sites. * SCOOT (Smart Commuter Option of Today), a

carsharing Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...

program in the urbanized areas of Kitsap County. Kitsap Transit participates in the ORCA Card program. Kitsap Transit routes connect to Jefferson Transit,

Mason Transit Authority The Mason Transit Authority (MTA), formerly the Mason County Transportation Authority, is the public transit authority of Mason County, Washington, United States. It operates free bus service within the county, connecting the city of Shelton, Hoo ...

, Pierce Transit and the

terminals in Bremerton, Bainbridge,

and Southworth.

Administration

Kitsap Transit is overseen by a ten-member executive board composed of the three county commissioners, the mayor of Bremerton, a Bremerton City Council member, appointed representatives from the cities of Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Port Orchard, and Poulsbo, an at-large member from the three smaller cities, and a non-voting member representing the agency's labor unions.

Current fleet

References

External links

Official website
{{Puget Sound Transit Bus transportation in Washington (state) County government agencies in Washington (state) Intermodal transportation authorities in Washington (state) Ferry companies based in Washington (state) Transportation in Kitsap County, Washington Transportation in Seattle Sound Transit 1983 establishments in Washington (state)