On Sunday, Aug. 31, Pierce Transit will open its first new public transit facility since Tacoma Dome Station was completed in 1998. The Spanaway Transit Center is located along the Mountain Highway/SR-7 between 204th St. E and 208th St. E. The new transit center will serve as the southern terminus for Route 1, the agency’s highest-ridership route, as well as Stream Community Line, Pierce Transit’s only high-capacity transit line. Currently, those routes’ southernmost point is a simple bus stop along the road in front of the Spanaway Walmart.

The new facility will provide benefits for transit riders as well as for bus drivers, including:

  • Parking for up to 38 cars, with parking for up to 250 cars coming in the transit center’s second phase, slated to begin construction in 2027. This will give people from around the area a new option of parking their car and catching a bus ride as far north as Tacoma, where they can connect at Tacoma Dome Station with other local bus routes, Sound Transit Express routes, the Sound Transit T Line through Tacoma, Sounder commuter rail, Amtrak trains, and eventually Sound Transit Link light rail.
  • The transit center will provide a comfortable place for transit riders to wait for their ride complete with covered shelters, lighting, benches, and dedicated departure and arrival locations for each route.
  • The transit center will include two Chargepoint electric vehicle chargers available for public use. When the transit center’s parking is expanded during the project’s second phase, a minimum of 2 percent of the parking stalls will include Chargepoint EV chargers.
  • The Spanaway Transit Center has several amenities not seen in older Transit Center designs. These include a short term rideshare drop off zone where passengers can be quickly dropped off to can catch the Route 1 or Stream lines. The site also includes several green design initiatives, including green stormwater solutions throughout the site that offer 100 percent infiltration of stormwater runoff so no pollutants or water will leave the site. The Operator Comfort Facility also includes energy efficient appliances such as low flow fixtures and heat pumps for energy efficient heating and cooling.
  • The Operator Comfort Facility mentioned above is a new location where operators can take a break between shifts, get a snack and use the restroom.

Previously, most of these amenities were unavailable to customers or operators within miles of the new transit center’s location.

In addition to opening the Spanaway Transit Center, on Aug. 31 Pierce Transit will make schedule improvements to many of its bus routes as part of its twice-yearly schedule update process. Some changes will be minor; others will be more significant. Among those improvements:

  • Timetables for weekday service on many routes will be adjusted slightly to account for the latest traffic patterns and ensure buses arrive on time.
  • Route 206 will be altered to serve the new Amazon warehouse facility and its employees in the Woodbrook neighborhood. In order to make this change and ensure efficiencies, Spring St. will be eliminated from the path of travel.

Details on all Pierce Transit service changes can be found at PierceTransit.org/pierce-transit-routes and on the Transit app.

Pierce Transit provides free Wi-Fi on buses and has invested in other technology that helps riders understand system conditions, such as bus departures and how to locate their bus in real-time. Riders can get up-to-date information through:

  1. PierceTransit.org offers complete schedules (to view, download or print by route), maps, trip planning, service alerts and real-time bus arrival information.
  2. Monitors at major boarding hubs, showing real-time arrival information.
  3. Transit app for trip planning and real-time information.
  4. Route alerts by subscription: Sign up at PierceTransit.org/StayConnected.
  5. Call (from any phone) or text (from a smartphone) your bus stop number to 253.533.7084 for real-time arrival info.
  6. Call Pierce Transit’s Customer Service Center for assistance at 253.581.8000 (option 2, then option 2 again). Customer Service can also print and mail individual route schedules.

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