The C-Tran Board of Directors unanimously approved changes to more than a dozen of the transit agency’s service routes Tuesday night.
The changes “constitute the largest service change C-Tran has had in probably 10 years,” said C-Tran Director of Public Affairs Scott Patterson. “We know what our ridership has been in a recent years and it’s not been very good. … We’re really focused in on trying to make changes we believe will serve greater segments of the community and certainly help ridership.”
The new routes take effect after Sept. 4, except for Route 73, which will start service once the new transit center on the south side of Vancouver Mall opens.
Eleven routes will be adjusted and four new routes will be added. Many of the changes are influenced by The Vine, C-Tran’s new bus rapid transit system, but that system won’t go into effect until sometime after September.
Broadly speaking, the adjusted routes were trimmed to focus on shorter trip durations, making arrival times more reliable and improving connections between buses. Most of the current services are retained.
During the public comment period, several people spoke out against changing Route 19, which currently goes through the Washington State University Vancouver campus, and prompted a lengthy discussion by the board of directors prior to the vote.
Under the changes, buses no longer will go through the Washington State University Vancouver campus, but they will go through Mount Vista residential areas and drive past two medical clinics. Currently, clinic patrons using Route 19 have to walk about a half-mile to get to their destination.
Starting in September, rather than going directly to WSUV, buses will go down Northeast 20th Avenue and will serve WSUV with a stop on Northeast 29th Street, a quarter of a mile away from campus via a pedestrian path. C-Tran Senior Planner Roger Hanson said placing routes within a quarter of a mile of major destinations is considered adequate service in public transit. Buses then will turn left and go to Northeast 159th Avenue.
Students will have weekend service to campus, and disabled people who qualify for C-Van service will still get direct service to the campus.
To some applause from the audience, Battle Ground Councilman and board member Mike Dalesandro proposed an amendment to pull Route 19 from the list of changes, but it was defeated 6-2.
Vancouver City Councilor and board member Jack Burkman said that although there might not be an affordable, short-term solution for perfect bus services to WSUV and the medical clinics, “I believe the fix is in the 2030 or 2040 plan.”
Changes outlined
The changes to the routes were first proposed in January, and in the subsequent months C-Tran’s staff held multiple public meetings, fielded hundreds of comments on the changes and further refined the routes. During the outreach phase, several of the original routing concepts were changed, one was dropped and some new ones were added.
Some of the changes include:
• Route 2, which runs south from the 99th Street Transit Center — past Columbia River High School, Eisenhower Elementary School and Jason Lee Middle School — to a loop in downtown Vancouver, will shift west to operate on Kauffman Avenue.
• Routes 5 and 6 will merge into one and replace Route 3. The new Route 6 will loop through the Fruit Valley area and head east on Fourth Plain Boulevard and south on Grand Boulevard to the Washington State Department of Transportation Park & Ride stop on Columbia House Boulevard.
• Route 25 will circle the county buildings downtown, then go along St. Johns and St. James roads up to 99th Street and the 99th Street Transit Center.
• Route 38, at its eastern end, will follow Southeast 192nd Avenue and Southeast 34th Street to the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center, ending the loop around Costco.
• The new Route 73 will loop all the way around Vancouver Mall.
• Route 7 from Battle Ground will no longer serve Five Corners but will stay on state Highway 503/117th Avenue to Fourth Plain Boulevard and the mall. Route 72 will change to serve Five Corners, but won’t run on Fourth Plain.
• Routes 30, 32, 37 and 38 will have altered loops through downtown Vancouver via Washington Street.
