By Sara Gentzler
The Olympian
Olympia’s Intercity Transit will suspend its regular bus service and require advance reservations for people who need transportation for “essential trips” starting Monday, April 13, the agency announced Tuesday.
The public transportation agency, which serves Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Yelm, cites Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” emergency order in its announcement and says the move is aimed at limiting the risk of COVID-19 exposure for customers and employees.
The Olympia and Lacey transit centers will close to the public while regular bus service is paused, according to an IT press release. Dial-A-Lift, a door-to-door service for people with disabilities, will still be available for essential trips.
“We are absolutely committed to serving our customers and our community throughout this crisis,” said General Manager Ann Freeman-Manzanares in a prepared statement. “To do that in our current environment, we have to make adjustments to ensure the health and safety of our riders and our employees.”
Essential trips, according to the press release, include trips to grocery stores, pharmacies, and medical appointments, along with transportation for essential employees who work for essential businesses.
Representatives will be vetting trips to ensure they’re essential, according to IT.
When The Olympian asked via email whether trips would be considered essential for people experiencing homelessness who rely on public transit to get to the shelter where they stay or to support services, an IT spokesperson replied that the agency is coordinating with local social service providers.
“Intercity Transit is working closely with local social service providers to ensure the populations they serve — including, but not limited to, individuals with limited income, homeless populations, people with disabilities, the senior community — will be able to coordinate with us for essential trips under this new service delivery model with case-by-case flexibility,” spokesperson Nicky Upson wrote in an email.
Service providers can contact IT on a client’s behalf, Upson said.
Riders can make reservations two to five days in advance — not the day-of, according to the agency — and trips will run between 7 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The agency will use its many types of vehicles to complete the trips, it says, which will be detailed and disinfected each night. It plans to “re-evaluate whether fixed route service will be restored and to what level” when the end date for the governor’s order draws nearer.
