Welcome to Pierce Transit’s 2024 Annual Report. I very much appreciate you taking the time to learn more about the many ways our agency served members of our community over the past year.

In 2024, Pierce Transit spent a significant amount of time and effort planning for the future, including the development of a new 6-year Strategic Plan and a 20-year Long Range Plan. We also launched major service enhancements and attended hundreds of events where we provided you with information about Pierce Transit’s services and gathered your ideas for improvements. You will find more information about these accomplishments and many others in this report.

Thank you for your continued support of Pierce Transit, your local public transportation provider. We look forward to continuing to serve you in the days and years ahead.

Mike Griffus
Pierce Transit CEO

In Spring 2024, Pierce Transit hosted community leaders and elected officials at a celebration to launch the South Sound’s first high capacity transit line, called Stream Community Line. This new service, offered in partnership with MultiCare, travels between Spanaway and Tacoma, offering frequent, rapid and convenient weekday morning and afternoon trips.

Stream has fewer stops than Route 1, which runs along the same corridor, offering those who commute to and from downtown Tacoma a quicker and more direct ride. It also provides a great way to connect to other local and regional transit services at Tacoma Dome Station, the region’s largest multi-modal transit hub. Stream service also offers upgraded amenities, such as enhanced shelters with lighting, digital next bus information, and an accessibility “push-to-text” feature to hear when the next bus will arrive.

In 2024, Pierce Transit completed a new 6-year Strategic Plan. The plan is anchored by four goals focused on customers, community partnerships, agency employees, and the sustainability of the agency’s finances, infrastructure and environment. This document will guide Pierce Transit’s work in the years ahead and help us continue improving service to riders. We hope you will keep an eye on our progress by visiting our Strategic Plan Accountability Dashboard.

Over the next 20 years, Pierce County’s population will grow, new technologies will change how and why people travel, and the funding to deliver robust transit service will continue to be a challenge.

To address and prepare for these changes, in 2024 Pierce Transit began drafting a new Long Range Plan, called Destination 2045. Throughout the summer and fall, and into 2025, we conducted a vigorous outreach process and received significant input from customers and community members about their vision for the future of Pierce Transit services.

The final plan, which will be adopted in 2025, will require additional funding to be completed.

In early April 2024 Gig Harbor city leaders, along with representatives from the business community, health care industry, higher education and others gathered to celebrate the launch of the Gig Harbor Runner, an affordable, on-demand neighborhood transit service that provides service within a designated zone.

The Gig Harbor Runner improves transportation access, facilitating travel to health care, education, shopping and job opportunities, including new flexibility for workers on non-traditional shifts. It also provides a connection to bus services available at the Purdy and Kimball Drive Park & Rides. Runner technology also pairs riders headed in the same direction, reducing single occupancy trips, alleviating congestion and reducing emissions.

Pierce Transit has more than 500 bus shelters throughout its 292-square-mile service area. Many are more than 20 years old and are showing signs of wear and tear; most also lack lighting. In late summer 2024, Pierce Transit held a celebration with Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, other elected officials and dignitaries to kick off bus shelter upgrades throughout Pierce Transit’s service area. We were also celebrating the award of a federal grant supported by Senator Patty Murray and Congresswoman Strickland that would provide additional funding for this project.

The new shelters feature a bench seat and solar lighting for riders’ comfort and are sized to use the former shelter’s concrete pad, making for a simpler and cost-effective installation process. We prioritized installation of the new shelters starting in low and very low equity designations, and by the end of 2024 had upgraded 40 shelters around Pierce County. Pierce Transit plans to upgrade our remaining bus shelters in the years ahead, providing funding is available.

As part of Pierce Transit’s quest to continually improve service for riders and community partners, the agency launched a new website. The new site features improved navigation that makes it easier to quickly find the information you are seeking. It also has expanded accessibility settings to make the site more customizable and engaging for individuals with disabilities. It features new tools, too, such as a calendar view for events such as Board of Commissioners meetings and community outreach events, as well as an adaptable platform that functions well on any device.

Pierce Transit maintains a healthy funding reserve, carries no debt, and has a balanced budget. Eighty-five percent of Pierce Transit’s employees are related to direct service on the street; just 15 percent serve in administrative roles. Pierce Transit has received the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting, the highest level of recognition in governmental accounting and reporting, for 40 consecutive years.

The majority of funding for Pierce Transit’s services comes from local sales tax, with the agency receiving sixth-tenths of a penny on each dollar spent within our service area. This is the lowest rate collected among similar-sized transit agencies in Washington.

Our peers in Thurston and Snohomish counties receive double that funding rate, allowing them to provide more frequent service that starts earlier and runs later in the day. Pierce Transit provides the highest level of service possible within its funding limitations.

Pierce Transit’s “Good to Give” team is a group of agency employees who volunteer to harness the power of giving, helping strengthen communities throughout Pierce County. This team was created to ensure our agency is supporting our community in meaningful and impactful ways.

Throughout the year, agency employees volunteered on their own time to clean up the agency’s “Adopt-a-Street” area in Lakewood, packed food for the Emergency Food Network, worked with Lakewood Rotary to stock a little free pantry, organized United Way campaign activities, coordinated a “Stuff the Bus” event to gather school supplies, and participated in the American Heart Association’s Heart and Stroke Walk.

Not only are these Pierce Transit employees, they are also your neighbors who care about making Pierce County the best community in Washington.

In 2024, Pierce Transit did something it often does – jump in to help when there is an emergency or serious weather event.

In August, West Pierce Fire and Rescue recognized Pierce Transit for providing buses that served as temporary shelter for individuals displaced following a fire at the Hidden Lakes Apartments.

We also provided buses to transport search and rescue personnel to Sea‑Tac to assist with hurricanes in the Southeast. In addition, when we experienced severe weather, Pierce Transit provided free rides to warming and cooling centers to ensure the safety of our community members.

Every so often, Pierce Transit welcomes our community members to board without paying a fare, inviting them to try transit and celebrate with us.

In 2024, we provided “free ride” days on Transit Equity Day, Earth Day, the first day of June/Ride Transit Month, Black Friday (to encourage folks to shop local), and New Year’s Eve, to provide a safe transportation alternative.

At Pierce Transit, youth 18 and under ride free. In 2024, we provided more than 1 million rides to young people, helping them get to school, jobs, enrichment activities, and other destinations that help them grow and flourish.

We were also the first in the region to design and install accessible bus stop signage that includes braille, raised lettering, large print and other identifying features that make it easier for people with disabilities to travel independently.

We know staying safe while riding transit is one of our customers’ top priorities. It’s ours, too. That’s why Pierce Transit continues to go the extra mile to give you a safe and comfortable riding experience. In 2024, our Safety Department issued 356 Distinguished Driver certificates to agency employees, primarily bus operators, for exhibiting exceptional skills, sound judgment and a commitment to safe driving.

Other safety features of note include:

• Enhancing law enforcement and security staff presence on site at our transit centers and facilities.
• Working with local, state and federal partners to conduct regular safety trainings and tabletop exercises
• to plan and practice.
• Using virtual reality training to ensure new drivers are familiar with safety inspections, road hazards and routes before getting on the road.
• Welcoming four new Million Mile Club members celebrating one million miles of accident-free driving.

Public transit is a key factor in lowering carbon emissions and reducing traffic congestion in our community. Pierce Transit has long been an innovator when it comes to using alternate fuels to cut back on pollution. We began using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the early 1990s, and renewable CNG powers most of our fleet today. We added several battery electric buses a few years ago and in 2024, the Federal Transit Administration announced it would award Pierce Transit additional funds to purchase more battery electric buses and install new charging equipment.

In 2024, Pierce Transit met you at 576 events across Pierce County, sharing information about our services, listening to how we could better reach specific communities with information about how to ride, and connecting with people in every neighborhood about how to provide transportation services that work best for them.

We also held our first-ever “Summit” event, hosting 59 community leaders at our headquarters to connect, show them first-hand the services we provide, and discuss ways we can partner to serve the people of Pierce County.

As we celebrate 45 years of service in 2025, it’s a great time to reflect on the accomplishments of the past year and get excited for what’s coming in the months and years ahead. In 2024, I’m incredibly proud of the work the staff and board did to roll out a 6-year Strategic Plan that will guide the agency going forward. And we don’t do that work alone; partnerships continue moving us forward in the community. This year:

• The Stream Community Line, sponsored by MultiCare, began serving the Pacific Ave./State Route 7 corridor.
• Local disability advocates helped us design and roll out accessible bus stop signs at Commerce Street Station.
• We expanded Runner microtransit to Gig Harbor to make it easier for residents to get around, and help students connect to the TCC Gig Harbor campus.
• The Pierce Transit outreach team shared information about Pierce Transit’s services at community meetings, special events and neighborhood gatherings throughout our service area.
• The Free Youth Transit Pass provided kids and teens with 1 million free rides in 2024.
• Funding awards allowed us to upgrade bus shelters across the system and expand our electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure.

We look forward to partnering with you, our riders and our community, in 2025!

Kristina Walker
Pierce Transit Board Chair
Tacoma City Councilmember

Pierce Transit is currently governed by a 10-member Board of Commissioners consisting of nine voting members made up of elected officials representing Pierce County, Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place and the smaller cities and towns in Pierce County, and one non-voting union representative.

Kristina Walker
Board Chair,
Commissioner
Tacoma City Council

Jason Whalen
Board Vice Chair,
Commissioner
Mayor of Lakewood

Rosie Ayala
Commissioner
Pierce County Council

Olgy Diaz
Commissioner
Tacoma City Council

Doug Fagundes
Commissioner
Represents cities of Auburn, Edgewood, Fife, Milton, Pacific, Ruston, and Steilacoom

John Hines
Commissioner
Tacoma City Council

John Hoheusle
Commissioner
Non-voting Labor Representative

Jim Kastama
Commissioner
Mayor of Puyallup
Represents city of Puyallup

Ryan Mello
Commissioner
Pierce County Executive

Shannon Reynolds
Commissioner
Fircrest City Council
Represents cities of Fircrest, Gig Harbor, and University Place

Pierce Transit has been proudly serving the community since 1980. This year, we celebrate our 45th anniversary. While the routes, buses and service areas have changed over the years, our commitment to safety, service and connections remains at the core of our agency’s mission. Be on the lookout for social media posts, commemorations and community outreach related to the anniversary throughout 2025!

Thanks again for taking the time to read Pierce Transit’s 2024 Annual Report. In it you’ve seen how a wide variety of people benefit from local transit. Here are a few more ways we improve lives in our community: