Sound Transit breaks ground on Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility
Project will be a key element of Sound Transit’s Stride bus rapid transit system
Today, Sound Transit and project partners celebrated the groundbreaking of Sound Transit’s Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility (Bus OMF). The Bus OMF will primarily serve as the home of Stride, an all-new three-line bus rapid transit system that will transform travel around Lake Washington. Stride will dramatically cut travel times and improve transit reliability between Burien and Bellevue, Bellevue and Lynnwood, and from Shoreline to Bothell, operating battery electric buses every 10-15 minutes primarily using HOV and dedicated lanes.
The Bus OMF, which is located north of the Canyon Park Park-and-Ride in Bothell, will include a new operations and maintenance building and parking structures for buses and support vehicles for Stride and some ST Express bus service. It will also include the charging infrastructure necessary to support Stride’s double-decker and articulated battery electric buses and include space for fleet expansion to accommodate increases in demand for bus service in the future.
“The start of construction on the new Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility for Stride is an exciting milestone that will lead to better mobility for hundreds of thousands of people,” said Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive and chair of the Sound Transit Board. “In the short term, the construction of this state-of-the-art, sustainably built facility will boost economic and workforce development in the area. Longer term, Sound Transit’s Stride network will knit together major transportation corridors so either light rail or bus rapid transit are available all along the I-5 and I-405 corridors between Everett and Tacoma.”
“I’m thrilled to break ground on our region’s first dedicated all-electric bus rapid transit facility, which will support 48 battery electric buses and link Lynnwood, Bellevue, Tukwila, Shoreline, and more to light rail,” said Sound Transit Board Vice Chair and King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci. “With cleaner, quieter, faster, and more frequent service powered by a simple ORCA tap, Stride will slash travel times, open new pathways to jobs, education, and recreation, and drive us toward a zero-emissions fleet by 2050.”
“Bus rapid transit will make it easier to move in and around Bothell and will also help us meet our climate and housing goals,” said Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson. “We’re excited to see the impact of this regional investment here in Bothell both initially and over time.”
“The thousands of construction workers working on Sound Transit projects across our region are some of the safest, most highly trained, and productive skilled craft workers found anywhere in the world,” said Bryan Johnson, president of Northwest Building Trades.
“We’re incredibly proud to continue our 25-year partnership with Sound Transit—a collaboration that has spanned more than 11 projects and helped shape transit infrastructure across the region,” said Andrew Fernandez, district manager for PCL Construction. “Breaking ground on the Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility marks another important step in supporting a growing system and the communities it serves. We’re excited to be part of a project that will improve mobility, create opportunity, and deliver long-term benefits to the people of this region.”
“This operations and maintenance facility will be the anchor for our upcoming 45-mile Stride bus rapid transit network, connecting 11 cities all along I-405 and SR 522 to Link light rail and to each other,” said Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine. “It will bring dozens of living-wage jobs to Canyon Park and Snohomish County, operating and maintaining a first-in-the-nation fleet of fast, reliable, all-electric buses.”