Friday, April 19, 2013

Whidbey Island for 20 years #freetransit on 0.6% tax

From The Tyee 2007 by Dave Olsen: "Have you ever imagined a world where riders of public transit pay no fares, the atmosphere on board every bus is calm and friendly, and all buses not only have bike racks and are wheelchair accessible, but are completely free of advertisements?

Do you want to experience the real thing? Then come along on my visit to Whidbey Island in Northwest Washington State."

Island Transit (includes vanpool)BC Transit in Nanaimo
Service Population79,25292,300
Ridership1,101,711 (902,793 for buses; 198,918 for vanpools)2,317,763
Service Kilometres4,548,706 (2,804,721 for buses; 1,743,984 for vanpools)2,263,992
Service Hours71,031 (all buses)94,333
Vehicles in Service56 buses; 101 vans31 buses
Operating Budget$8,392,677 ($0 from fares; all from a 0.6% sales tax collected in Island County)$6,906,910 ($3,065,488 from fares)