KT to receive $15 million grant for bus-driver training facility
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Kitsap Transit will receive $15 million in federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration for a regional bus-driver training facility off Highway 3 near the Bremerton National Airport. The funds will be used to enhance safety and to support transit agencies in Kitsap and neighboring counties.
The transit agency has its sights set on an 8.4-acre training site located on a vacant parcel in the Puget Sound Industrial Center. KT is working on acquiring the property, with next steps being to seek construction bids for next year for a 10,000-square-foot building with classrooms, a simulator training room, locker rooms, and office spaces, per a KT news release.
The simulator, which is currently located at KT’s Gateway Center in Bremerton, uses actual footage and maps of the bus routes alongside various passenger capacities and weather and road conditions to train operators. Two driving courses will also be located at the new site for hands-on learning.
“Transit helps reduce traffic congestion, improve road safety, and promotes regional economic growth, but it doesn’t work without a well-trained corps of bus drivers,” said KT executive director John Clauson. “This training facility will help us recruit and retain outstanding bus drivers and dispatchers who provide safe, reliable service to passengers riding on transit in Kitsap County and beyond.”
The project’s total cost is $33 million, including property acquisition and construction, the release says. KT shared that it will contribute $3.75 million in local funds. If needed, the agency will seek additional grants or reduce the scale of the project.
The training facility is one of 34 bus and bus facility projects nationwide that are receiving nearly $390 million, the Federal Transit Administration announced last month, the release says. Currently, there is no concrete training facility for KT bus operators and dispatchers. They must be trained in an assortment of spaces, which include maintenance yards, offices, and classrooms that are not reliable or do not have all the necessary equipment for training.
“This new facility will provide world-class training to ease our bus driver shortage and help neighbors get where they need to go, whether that’s a military family getting from Bangor to Bremerton, a high school student headed to work in Silverdale, or a senior getting to the grocery store,” U.S. Rep. Emily Randall said.
If all goes according to plan, construction will be completed in late 2028.
