In this edition …

  • Transit-related observations from Tuesday's Bellingham Plan open house.
  • Cordata and Lynden are most impacted by upcoming WTA schedule changes.
  • Bellingham City Council OKs proposal for more housing near Route 1 in Fairhaven. 
  • Apply to be a member of the Skagit Transit Community Advisory Committee. 
  • Anna Zivarts, author of When Driving Is Not an Option: "We should be proud of our status as nondrivers."

CITY OF BELLINGHAM

Transit Observations From Tuesday's Bellingham Plan Open House

BhamByBus attended the City of Bellingham's Housing Types and Neighborhoods Open House on Tuesday evening at Bellingham High School, part of an ongoing series of public engagement opportunities to seek feedback on The Bellingham Plan, which is informing the city's comprehensive planning efforts. Transit wasn't the topic of the open house, but it popped up in other ways.

Before open house attendees broke up into tabletop discussions, they circulated in the Bellingham High School Commons among a series of information boards with associated planning context, background, and findings from survey work, including trends on remote work, missing middle housing, short-term rental policy, housing and climate impacts, among other considerations the COB is weighing with the development of The Bellingham Plan. The plan, which will guide the city's growth over the next 20 years, is anticipated to be completed in 2025, when COB officials will start the process to finalize and implement new zoning regulations. 

A question open house attendees considered: "If these parking requirements are reduced or removed, what are the most important considerations to include alongside these changes?" 

Milling about the Commons, BhamByBus found there was a great deal of attendee interest in a presentation board about considerations around parking, parking minimums (which may be reduced or eliminated in the future), and land use that asked the question: "If these parking requirements are reduced or removed, what are the most important considerations to include alongside these changes?" 

  • Provide more paid public parking at popular destinations.
  • Require alternative parking be provided.
  • Require more accessible parking spaces.
  • Dedicate more street parking spaces to short-term pick-up/drop-off.
  • Increase funding for transit and pedestrian infrastructure. (Requires new funding source.)
  • Increase funding for bicycle infrastructure. (Requires new funding source.)
  • Encourage the development/locating of bicycle or scooter share in Bellingham.
  • Provide a "fee-in-lieu-of" option for those who reduce the parking they provide.
  • Establish more Residential Parking Zones in residential zones near popular destinations. (Requires funding for enforcement.)

With that board, attendees were asked to use stickers to note the options they would prioritize if parking minimums are reduced or removed entirely, something the Bellingham City Council has been considering recently. While those who showed up in-person to a COB open house on a Tuesday evening aren't necessarily representative of all city residents, the sticker placement was interesting though perhaps not surprising given the environmental sensibilities of many Bellinghamsters. There's not much public appetite to provide more parking and a lot of enthusiasm for more transit service and bicycle infrastructure investments. 

But it's important to note that the two most popular considerations on that board — more transit and more bicycle infrastructure — would necessitate new funding sources. 

Paraphrasing something I heard from an open house attendee: "We hear a lot about transit being the solution but getting people to try transit and use transit is a steep hill to climb. People like their cars." Fair enough. However, while there are many people who indeed like driving, there are many other drivers out there who dislike driving and wish they had better transit options.

Something to watch in the years to come as the COB finalizes and implements The Bellingham Plan: If Bellinghamsters are indeed willing to support additional funding sources needed for more high-quality transit — frequent service at least every 15 minutes on most routes — and additional bicycle infrastructure, will they leave their car keys at home? Will they be cheerleaders on the sidelines who think transit or bicycling are transportation options for other people? Or will they give transit and bicycling a chance? Time will tell.

WHATCOM COUNTY

Cordata, Lynden Transit Riders Most Impacted by June 16 WTA Schedule Changes

Although the Whatcom Transit Authority had previously announced that the Lynden Hop on-demand transportation service in the City of Lynden will be eliminated on June 16, the agency on Wednesday shared some additional upcoming bus schedule changes. According to a WTA social media announcement, the following changes are planned.

Route 24 Cordata:
Weekdays & Saturdays: Service frequency reduced to once per hour (previously every 30 minutes).
Route 26 Lynden:
New service added on Bay Lyn Dr.
Routing on 19th St, Pine St, and Double Ditch Rd eliminated.
Departure times from Cordata Station remain the same with slight adjustments along the route.
Route 29 Cordata/Kline:
Weekdays & Saturdays: Adjusted departure times but remains hourly.
Route 48 Bakerview Spur:
Weekdays & Saturdays: Increased to hourly service.
Routing within the Irongate Industrial area modified.
Route 71X Everson/Nooksack/Sumas:
Minor schedule changes on the first weekday trip to Cordata Station.
Route 72X Kendall:
Minor schedule changes on the first weekday trip to Bellingham Station.
Small changes to Saturday and Sunday schedules.
Lynden Hop:
After careful consideration and extensive community engagement, WTA is discontinuing this service.

Besides the aforementioned sunsetting of the Lynden Hop service, the biggest WTA changes are coming to Route 24 (Cordata) in the City of Bellingham's Cordata neighborhood, where service will be cut from every 30 minutes to once an hour. Meanwhile, Route 48 (Cordata to Bakerview Spur) will now see service once an hour with some minor route changes. 

CITY OF BELLINGHAM  |  FAIRHAVEN

Fairhaven 'Pit' Development Site Is Well Served by Transit  

On Monday, Bellingham City Council members unanimously approved changes to height limits in Fairhaven that will pave the way for a new 4-story mixed-use development at 11th Street & Mill Avenue on the site of a gravel parking lot, a.k.a., "The Pit." In recent weeks, much of the discussion around the proposed multi-building development focused on blocked views and parking impacts. While the new development would include at least 80 parking stalls available to the public, those spots may not be free like the current ones in The Pit. 

But the development site, which would include include approximately 200 rental apartment units — 20% of which would be affordable for 12 years — will be well served by transit, with the WTA's Route 1 (Downtown to Fairhaven) and Route 14 (Downtown to Fairhaven via WWU) being a short stroll or roll away. Additionally, the development agreement with Dominion Sustainable Development Corporation includes a new permanent easement for a portion of the South Bay Trail that currently crosses private property, plus an adjacent public overlook.

"I know there will definitely be impacts that will make some people unhappy, but you have to look at the totality of what's best for the community and we don't have a lot of levers to create affordable housing," Councilmember Lisa Anderson said, according to the Cascadia Daily News. "This is an opportunity for us to give something, to get something that the community really needs." 

SKAGIT COUNTY

Skagit Transit Community Advisory Committee Seeking New Members 

Attention Skagit County residents who ride transit: The Skagit Transit Community Advisory Committee, which advises the Skagit Transit Board of Directors by providing input into agency plans and policies that impact ridership, is seeking new members. The Community Advisory Committee hosts hybrid meetings (via Zoom and in-person) every second Tuesday of the month at 4:30 p.m. at the Skagit Station in Mount Vernon.

'We Should Be Proud of Our Status as Nondrivers'

Anna Zivarts, author of When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency (Island Press, 2024) and director of the Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, writes in The Stranger: 

When we insist on visibility as nondrivers, our presence demands a reckoning of the costs and moral efficacy of car dependency. Rather than being ashamed about our disabilities or the lack of resources that prevents us from driving, we should be proud of our status as nondrivers. Instead of a future of congested drive-thrus, oceans of parking lots and freeway-ramp spaghetti nests, our existence tips the scales in favor of communities designed in ways that work better and are healthier for all of us.