Rural Transit Connects Those With Limited Public Transportation to Population Hubs Around Region

Regional residents who live in rural areas have the option of riding a transit system geared specifically for their needs.

The program, called “Rural Transit,” was developed by the Thurston Regional Planning Council decades ago and connects to places such as Tumwater, Chehalis, Centralia, Rochester, Tenino, Bucoda and Rainier, all free of charge.

Amy Hatch-Winecka, senior planner with Thurston Regional Planning Council and coordinator of the program, said there is a plan to connect Rural Transit to the Mellen Street Station Twin Transit recently installed “so that we can connect to Twin Transit for folks that want to go elsewhere within Lewis County.”

Rural Transit already connects to the Twin Transit line at the Amtrak station in Centralia.

The service also collaborates with other transit providers, such as Intercity Transit in Thurston County.

“At Tumwater Square, we connect with Intercity Transit to take folks farther into Olympia,” Hatch-Winecka said. “And I know that we have some riders that connect on up to Pierce County.”

The service runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays only, but Saturday service is another aspect that Thurston Regional Planning Council may include in a future iteration of the program. There are designated stops along three routes, Hatch-Winecka said.

“But then also, we have an opportunity for people within three quarters of a mile or so (from a stop) to request a pickup from wherever they are — from their home, their business, a doctor’s appointment, what have you,” she said. “They can actually call and arrange a bus to come and it will just deviate from its normal route to come and take you along the way.”

Route information and the line to call for a route-deviation pickup can be found online at https://www.trpc.org/325/Rural-Transit.

“That is a super cool service,” Hatch-Winecka said about the route deviations. “Knowing that those areas are not as densely populated and as easy to get around via transit, I love that we can offer these deviated routes.”

Rural Transit contracts with the business “Around the Sound,” which provides the buses, though they are marked with “Rural Transit” decals.

The funding for the program comes from a Washington State Department of Transportation grant. In June, the Thurston Regional Planning Council will begin the application process for an additional round of funding to be considered by the Legislature in January 2023.

“We’re brainstorming now with riders and with the drivers as to what they’re hearing to try to figure out what the next proposal will look like,” Hatch-Winecka said. “Because, obviously, we want to make sure that we are sustaining the current level of service, and then making enhancements to make the service even more functional for folks.”

In January, there were 1,404 total trips taken on Rural Transit — one person one way is a trip, so round trips for five people is counted as 10 trips.

During the last few months of 2021, the service saw numbers that mostly lined up with January's totals, showing a steady and consistent ridership.

In December, there were 1,165 total trips, though routes were impacted by road closures due to inclement weather. There were 1,431 total trips in November, 1,594 total trips in October and 1,496 total trips in September.