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The Whatcom Transit Authority is proposing a suite of bus service improvements for June 2025 that will bring some new and realigned routes and boosted service along others. WTA is kicking off a series of community outreach events to seek feedback on the proposed changes, starting on Saturday and Sunday at Bellingham SeaFeast. If you’re headed to Squalicum Harbor, the new Route 47 (Harbor) will have additional bus trips this weekend!

BhamByBus hopes to check out one of the upcoming community outreach events, but here are some first thoughts on what WTA is proposing for June 2025. There’s a lot to like!

Goodbye, Route 4. Hello, Routes 9 and 18.

Diagram of the proposed Route 9 (Hospital to Downtown): The portion of Route 4 between PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and Downtown Bellingham would be partially rerouted and become the new Route 9
Route 9 (Hospital to Downtown): The portion of Route 4 between PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and Downtown Bellingham would be partially rerouted and become the new Route 9, which would offer service every 30 minutes on weekdays, and hourly service on Saturdays and Sundays. (Route diagram via WTA)
  • WTA envisions realigning, partially rerouting, and boosting bus service to and from PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, Whatcom County’s largest employer, by splitting the underperforming Route 4 into two new routes that would replace it: Route 9 (Hospital to Downtown) and Route 18 (Cordata to Hospital via Maplewood). 
  • The new Route 9 between downtown and the hospital would abandon Route 4’s pathway via the Cornwall Park neighborhood for a more direct north-south pathway through Sunnyland via James Street. It would also see bus service every 30 minutes weekdays and hourly on Saturdays and Sundays. (Route 4 currently sees hourly service Mondays through Saturdays and lacks any Sunday service.) This would be a big win for hospital workers, those seeking better transit access to the medical center, and the James Street corridor in Sunnyland, making some of the neighborhood’s breweries like El Sueñito Brewing, Kulshan Brewing, and Otherlands Brewing more accessible via more transit.  
  • The remainder of Route 4 via Birchwood Avenue and Maplewood Avenue would become Route 18. While the new Maplewood route would maintain service to Cordata Station via Bakerview Road, any trip to or from Downtown Bellingham would require a transfer via Route 232 (at Northwest Avenue), Route 15 (at Meridian Street), or the new Route 9 (at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center).
Diagram of the proposed Route 18 (Maplewood): The northern and western portions of Route 4 would become Route 18, connecting Cordata Station, Maplewood Avenue, and PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center.
Route 18 (Maplewood): Under the proposed June 2025 service changes, the northern and western portions of Route 4 would become Route 18, connecting Cordata Station, Maplewood Avenue, and PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center. (Route diagram via WTA)

Boosted service along W. Holly Street and Eldridge Avenue.

The weekday only Route 10, connecting Downtown Bellingham and Bellingham Technical College, would boost bus service along W. Holly Street and Eldridge Avenue.
Route 10 (Eldridge): The weekday only Route 10, connecting Downtown Bellingham and Bellingham Technical College, would boost bus service along W. Holly Street and Eldridge Avenue, supplementing the existing Route 3, which would see new service on Sunday in the June 2025 service proposal. (Route diagram via WTA)

Additional bus service along the Bellingham Waterfront. 

  • When WTA introduced the new Routes 46 (Granary) and 47 (Harbor) in September to bring transit service to Bellingham’s waterfront, the agency indicated that the limited service — hourly trips in the morning and late afternoon, but not midday and evenings — was “interim.” With WTA’s June 2025 service proposal, additional trips would be added to bring all-day hourly service seven days a week.
  • This is all great news for Bellingham’s waterfront, especially Squalicum Harbor, which was a transit desert up until recently. With both Routes 46 and 47 combined in the Waterfront District, people going to and from Bellingham Station and places like the Granary Building, Mercy Housing’s new Millworks building, the Portal Container Village, Kulshan Brewing’s Trackside Beer Garden, and Waypoint Park, have bus service twice an hour with the two hourly routes. 
The back of a Route 47 bus.
Waterfront bus service via Route 46 and 47 would see additional trips in the June 2025 service changes proposal. (Photo by Michael Grass / BhamByBus)

Lummi Nation buses to serve Cordata.

  • WTA is proposing to partially realign and increase service along Route 50 (Lummi Nation) from approximately every 90 minutes to every 60 minutes, seven days a week. Route 50 would also operate out of Cordata Station instead of Bellingham Station. That’d mean Route 50 riders would need to transfer at Cordata for a bus downtown but they'd gain better access to shopping, jobs, and services in and near Cordata. 

New service to King Mountain.

  • WTA is reallocating some service along Route 48 (Bakerview Spur to Cordata/WCC) to create the new Route 45 on the north end of Bellingham running between Cordata Station and Bakerview Spur via the King Mountain neighborhood in the vicinity of James Street & E. Kellogg Road, which currently lacks transit service. The route would be hourly Monday through Saturday. 

Check out the full slate of June 2025 bus service proposals.

What comes next?

WTA is seeking feedback on the June 2025 service proposal online at engage.ridewta.com and at upcoming community outreach events:

The WTA Board of Directors will host a public hearing regarding the June 2025 service proposal on November 7.