The numerous benefits of a robust public transit system cannot be overestimated. It provides a cost-effective way to get to daily tasks. It connects communities across the state, with rural towns, suburban communities, and urban centers using buses, light rail, and van pools. It reduces congestion and pollution, and it supports economic activity and growth.
Transportation is the second-most-expensive item on the average household’s budget, after housing. Many people live in communities that require them to drive long distances to get to work, school, the doctor, and more, increasing their transportation costs. This places working and middle-class people in Washington state and across the country between a rock and a hard place: Either pay more than $10,000 per year to own and drive a car or pay the time tax of having to rely on low-quality public transit, walking, or biking to get around (if public transit service, sidewalks, and safe bike infrastructure even exist where they live). This has been called the “impossible paradox of car ownership.” Quality, reliable public transit can help households avoid this choice and save thousands of dollars per year, whether they can replace just a few car trips with public transit or have the freedom to make all their trips without a personal vehicle.
“ … public transit is an essential piece of our transportation system. For many, public transit is a primary connection to work, school, health care, groceries and family. For others, public transit is an affordable travel option that frees their hands from the steering wheel and keeps our air cleaner and traffic flowing.”
– The Washington Department of Transportation: The Benefits of a Robust Public Transit System
For nondrivers, who make up close to thirty percent of Washington state’s population, transit is a lifeline. Nondrivers include seniors, students, low-income families, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people who choose not to drive. Nondriving status often means that people must use transit to get where they need to go, including to work, medical appointments, and other social engagements. A study commissioned by the Washington State Legislature Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) identified transit service deficits, including long bus rides, low frequency, and limited hours, as barriers to using public transit. In addition, the study noted that the lack of sidewalks and street crossings could make getting to the bus stop dangerous. These barriers are even greater for disabled nondrivers living in rural communities where transportation options end early evening, and other transportation services are limited and expensive.
Public transportation is crucial for more than those with no other option. Every day, people take hundreds of thousands of trips on buses, trains, streetcars or paratransit vehicles, and that number is growing every year. In Washington state, the DOT reports that “In 2023, public transportation passengers grew … 164.9 million, from 137.7 million in 2022. Fixed route service made up about 76.6% of total public transportation passenger trips statewide, up 0.3% from 76.4% in 2022. Additionally, light rail passenger trips increased … to 28.7 million in 2023.” These trips get people to work and school, to the doctor’s office, to visits with family and friends, and to buy the food and goods that keep them and their households running. Without public transportation, many of these trips simply wouldn’t happen, and the needs of the people who take them would go unmet, and every other trip would become much more difficult. Public transportation keeps streets clearer so that the many trips people currently need to take by car aren’t mired in congestion. Whether someone is a bus rider or only sees the bus through their windshield, they benefit from its presence.
In the following report, we share stories of people from Washington who experience the benefits and limitations of public transit every day. They are workers, seniors, people with disabilities, and students who use existing public transportation to live their lives. They are public transportation riders whose everyday lives would improve if public transportation received more operations funding to increase frequency, improve dependability, and expand access.