Silverdale’s newest public transportation hub has been ceremoniously opened by Kitsap Transit, agency officials saying it will increase route connections throughout the county and bolster its growing electric bus fleet.
Routes began operating from the new Silverdale Transit Center June 26, two days after county and state officials gathered to commemorate the opening of the new center at Ridgetop Boulevard across from St. Michael Medical Center. A brief delay that the agency said was due to circumstances beyond KT’s control kept buses detouring to nearby Ridgetop Middle School June 24 and 25.
Features of the $25 million project include eight bus bays, a canopy to provide riders with shelter, ADA accessibility, restrooms, bicycle storage and a dedicated on-ramp for buses traveling south on Highway 303. The new facility replaces the transfer center off Greaves Way, which was limited in functionality and was intended to be a temporary solution for the agency’s loss of its transfer center at the Kitsap Mall in 2011.
Over a decade later, KT executive director John Clauson said: “It’s been quite a quest for us, looking for a permanent home for Kitsap Transit here in the Central Kitsap area. The definition of temporary is hard to say, but anyway, we went through a rather lengthy process to find a permanent location.”
The Ridgetop site was selected in 2015 along with another site that would open in 2019 as the Wheaton Way Transit Center in East Bremerton. As time continued, the project would evolve into what County Commissioner Katie Walters called a “significant leap forward in innovation, sustainability, accessibility and community connectivity,” especially as the agency had begun eyeing electricity as a substantial source of power for buses of the future.
That motivated KT’s first-ever incorporation of an inductive charging system into its newest transit center, allowing buses to charge wirelessly as one might charge a cell phone. The center features four InductEV chargers and pads in the ground located where buses will stop. “Coils in the pavement quickly and automatically recharge battery-electric buses while they are staged and waiting for passengers to board and get off the vehicle,” KT officials said.
Gov. Jay Inslee was present in 2022 when ground broke on the lot, his praise for the development matching his worry of climate change. Melissa Littleton from the governor’s office continued the praise on behalf of Inslee, saying, “We are not only enhancing our infrastructure but also ensuring that our cities remain at the forefront of clean and efficient transportation.”
A new transit center also means new and reconstructed routes. The new facility will serve old routes 212, 217, 223, 301, 332 and 333; and it will also serve new routes 265, 266 and 331. Mayor Greg Wheeler of Bremerton spoke highly of the new location, including the increased frequency of select routes.
“The Silverdale Transit Center as part of the Kitsap Transit network is providing mobility and accessibility for riders, transporting them to jobs, medical care, shopping and other services. It will connect residents to multiple destinations as well as other parts of the county, increasing the ability to earn an income, stay healthier, keep connected and maintain quality of life.”
Melissa Littleton from the governor’s office shares a few words about the new transit center in Silverdale.
