Kitsap Transit plans to start up Sunday bus service this year with fixed route and on-demand bus services, pending the recruitment of more bus operators.

Operations director Michael Bozarth said KT needs 43 bus operators to resume pre-pandemic service levels and add Sunday service. The agency has launched a new operator recruitment campaign – new hires can receive up to a $7,000 bonus.

A proposal presented to the KT board Feb. 7 envisions the service running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and rolled out across the county in three phases: Bremerton in August; Silverdale, Poulsbo and Port Orchard in December; and Bainbridge Island in February 2024.

KT shut down Sunday bus service in 2009 during the Great Recession, which cut deep into sales-tax revenue, a news release states. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, KT had completed an overhaul of its fixed-route network and was poised to increase service. The pandemic wreaked havoc on transit ridership and reduced the number of bus operators locally and nationally. The board made it a priority to bring back Sunday service in 2023.

The Sunday fixed-route service in Bremerton would consist of Route 217— Bremerton/Silverdale East running every half-hour. In the second phase, Route 8—Bethel would run every half-hour in Port Orchard and Route 332—Poulsbo/Silverdale every 60 minutes. In the third phase, Route 390—Poulsbo/Bainbridge would run every 60 minutes, per the news release.

The proposed Sunday service includes on-demand service, similar to its rideshare services (BI Ride, Kingston Ride, SK Ride) that operate in defined areas in the county. The public will be able to request bus pick-ups and drop-offs through a mobile app or a call center.

KT has piloted the Ride Pingo app on its BI Ride service and is testing the Rides on Demand app on its Kingston Ride and SK Ride services. KT plans to procure on-demand software to support the Sunday service.