Kitsap Transit

Kitsap Transit

Kitsap Transit Bus 757 at the Washington State Ferry terminal in Bremerton
Founded	1978
Commenced operation	1983
Headquarters	Bremerton, Washington
Locale	Kitsap County, Washington
Service type	Bus, foot ferry, vanpool, paratransit
Routes	40
Hubs	9
Fleet	120 buses
Fuel type	Diesel
Operator	Kitsap County Public Transportation Benefit Area Authority
Website	kitsaptransit.com

Kitsap Transit is a public transit agency serving Kitsap County, Washington, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The system is based in Bremerton and operates bus service on 40 fixed routes, a foot ferry, a vanpool system, worker-driver services, and dial-a-ride services.

In 2015, Kitsap Transit carried a total of 3,813,509 passengers across all its services.

Beginning in 1971, the city of Bremerton operated a municipal transit system that had been bought out from a private company.

A countywide public transportation benefit area (PTBA) was formed in 1978 to explore a transit system for Kitsap County as a whole. A 0.2 percent sales tax was put before voters in May of that year for a countywide system, but was rejected. A second attempt was put on the September 27, 1982 ballot, with a 0.3 percent sales tax and a limited PTBA serving Bremerton, Gorst, Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Silverdale. The PTBA was approved by 55.6 percent of voters, and service began in January 1983, taking over the Bremerton municipal system.

In 1992, Kitsap Transit became the first transit agency in the United States to install a traffic signal preemption system for bus priority, beginning with 40 buses and 42 traffic signals in a year-long trial of the "Opticom" system.

Kitsap Transit formed a public-private partnership with Kitsap Ferry Company to operate a passenger ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle in 2004, replacing a former Washington State Ferries passenger run that was suspended the previous year. The service was suspended in 2007, after voters rejected a sales tax increase to fund the ferry's rising fuel costs. Kitsap Transit, looking to revive the service, placed a 0.3 percent sales tax on the November 2016 ballot to fund fast ferry service, which was passed by voters. The new Kitsap Fast Ferries service will begin operation in July 2017, traveling 28 minutes between Bremerton and Seattle.