The Mason Transit Authority (MTA), formerly the Mason County Transportation Authority, is the

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

authority of Mason County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It operates

free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications o ...

within the county, connecting the city of

Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire * Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire * Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedf ...

, Hoodsport, Grapeview, Allyn, Belfair, the native tribal reservations of the Skokomish and Squaxin people, and paid commuter service to Olympia in Thurston County, Brinnon in Jefferson County, and Bremerton in Kitsap County. The agency also provides general public dial-a-ride service, operates 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 ...

fleet, a worker/driver program that provides commuter service to the

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility 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 ...

, volunteer driver program for senior transportation, a supplemental service that is an after school activity bus and a community van program.

History

Public transit in Mason County was conceived with the establishment of a

public transportation benefit area A public transportation benefit area, abbreviated as PTBA, is a type of public-benefit corporation for public transit operators in the U.S. state of Washington. It was authorized in 1975 along with a funding mechanism that uses sales taxes levied w ...

(PTBA) on September 22, 1987. After two unsuccessful attempts at approving the PTBA in 1985 and 1988, a countywide vote on November 15, 1991 approved the Mason County Public Transportation Benefit Area and a

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 govern ...

of 0.2% to fund public transportation. Buses began operating on December 1, 1992. The Mason County Transit Authority officially changed its name to Mason Transit Authority in 2013. In 2015, the agency was named the Rural Transit System of the Year by the Community Transit Association of America, citing the completion of the county's transit-community center.

Facilities

Transit-Community Center

The Transit-Community Center is a combined

community center A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

and

transit center A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports, and ferry slips. ...

located in

that opened on April 1, 2015. It was originally a

Washington National Guard The Washington National Guard is one of the four elements of the State of Washington's Washington Military Department and a component of the National Guard of the United States. It is headquartered at Camp Murray, Washington and is defined by ...

armory built in the 1950s that was purchased by the MTA in 2006 and renovated at a cost of $9.9 million, funded by local sales tax and funding from the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

Services

Fares

Since its founding, MTA provided fare-free service for trips within Mason County; until 2023, it charged $1.50 for trips that traveled into neighboring counties. Youth fares were removed in September 2022 as part of a statewide transit initiative. On January 1, 2023, MTA removed all fares for fixed route and dial-a-ride services as part of a three-year pilot; the $2.50 fare for worker/driver routes to 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 ...

remained in place.

Routes

Connecting services

Kitsap Transit Kitsap Transit is a public transit agency serving Kitsap County, Washington, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The system is based in Bremerton and operates bus service on 40 fixed routes, a foot ferry, a vanpool system, worker-driver serv ...

and

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget ...

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard ...

(via route 3) *

Intercity Transit 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 . It operates 19 bu ...

and

Grays Harbor Transit The Grays Harbor Transportation Authority, doing business as Grays Harbor Transit (and abbreviated as GH Transit), is a public transit agency serving Grays Harbor County in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates eleven fixed bus routes traveli ...

in Olympia (via route 6) * Squaxin Transit in Kamilche (via route 6) * Jefferson Transit in Brinnon (via route 8) *

in McCleary (via Route P)

Fleet

Current Bus Fleet

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.masontransit.org/ Bus transportation in Washington (state) Transit agencies in Washington (state) Transportation in Mason County, Washington Free public transport