Everett Transit Annexation Would Level Up City's Transit System, Mayor Says
Snohomish County's largest city has had its own city-run transit system for decades, but Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin is looking forward to a different future. The annexation of Everett Transit into the countywide Community Transit system is a move that Franklin sees as essential to accommodate the needs of a growing city, she told Everett's transportation advisory committee last week.
Franklin's remarks come on the heels of an April announcement that the City of Everett was officially resuming annexation talks with Community Transit, an idea that had been bandied about in Snohomish County for years. Thanks to a change in state law approved last year, the move now does not require the approval of local voters, merely a majority vote of the Everett Council and the Community Transit board.
If enacted, the portion of the city's sales tax devoted to public transit would increase from 0.6% to the 1.2% Community Transit currently collects across the rest of Snohomish County, bringing Everett's total sales tax rate to 10.5%.
A 2023 consolidation study outlined major benefits that would stem from the move, including a near-doubling of transit service within the city and a 366% increase in the number of bus routes coming at least every 30 minutes throughout the day. Most Everett Transit routes have their last trip of the day around 8pm, if not earlier, and additional funds would allow those routes to operate later into the evening. That study included a concept map that showed the fundamental difference that annexation could mean for Everett's transit network.
https://www.theurbanist.org/everett-transit-annexation-would-level-up-citys-transit-system-mayor-says/