Twin Transit

Public transportation service in Lewis County was originally operated by private companies under city-granted franchises.[5] The operating franchise for Centralia and Chehalis was held by the Tri-City Transit Company of Aberdeen until 1953, when it was acquired by the Twin City Transit Company.[6] The company operated an hourly bus between Centralia and Chehalis, but had financial difficulties and proposed ceasing operations several times in the 1950s and 1960s.[7][8] In January 1972, the Twin Transit Company planned to shut down but was ordered by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to continue for 30-days per its franchise agreement while the local government searched for an alternative.[9] The company debuted a short-lived dial-a-ride service in April 1972 to save costs, but it was shut down three months later due to operating losses.[10][11]

A citizens group was formed in 1972 to advocate for a permanent public transit system in Lewis County, while a charity service provided free buses in lieu of the Twin City Transit Company.[12] The Centralia city government established its own single-route bus service in December 1973, using two used coaches purchased from the Bellingham Transit Company,[13][14] but it attracted few riders.[15] The city government had also planned to recoup some operating costs by selling advertisements, but found few businesses willing to pay.[16] A household utility tax of under $1 per month was proposed to fund an expanded public transit system and an advisory vote was placed on the November 1975 ballot in Chehalis and Centralia.[17][18] The non-binding endorsement of a household utility tax passed by 51.4 percent in Chehalis and 53.6 percent in Centralia.[19]

The Lewis County government organized a public transportation benefit area and held several meetings to determine its boundaries, which initially included the Twin Cities and surrounding unincorporated areas.[20] A binding measure to establish a household utility tax was placed on the November 2, 1976, ballot and was passed by 53.5 percent of voters.[21][22] The Lewis Public Transportation Benefit Area Authority, branded as Twin Transit, was created by the ballot measure and began collecting household utility taxes ahead of a launch scheduled for 1977.[23] Twin Transit began operating on November 1, 1977, with two routes and used coaches acquired from the Centralia bus system.[24][25] In its first month of free service, the system carried 9,000 passengers but suffered from maintenance issues that affected its older coaches.[24] The household tax was replaced by a 0.1 percent sales tax in 1985.[26][27]

In the early 2000s, Twin Transit collaborated with several local transit agencies to operate experimental inter-city services to Longview (connecting onward to Vancouver) and Olympia with funding from the Lower Columbia Community Action Council.[28] The agency consolidated several routes and eliminated most weekend service in 2013, but debuted a commuter route to Olympia.[29]

A grant of $37,000 from the TransAlta Coal Transition Board in 2017 helped to fund the transit system's first electric bus charging station.[30]

In 2021, Lewis County and the city of Chehalis were awarded $4.45 million in grants to construct a hydrogen fueling station, to be the first in Washington. Construction, in large part by Twin Transit, is scheduled to be completed in 2023 on Port of Chehalis property and would produce up to 2 megawatts.[31] An updated lease agreement began in March 2023 between the Port of Chehalis and Twin Transit and it was announced that the estimated cost of the project was to be approximately $10 million.[32]

In May 2021, Twin Transit introduced an overhauled system to its route lines and added inter-county commuter service.[3] Twin Transit offers five local and county fixed-route lines and two inter-county commuter services.[33] These routes are:

• Blue Line: North Centralia
• Brown Line: Mellen Street station to Morton[34]
• Green Line: Mellen Street station to Tumwater and Olympia[3]
• Orange Line: West Centralia
• Purple Line: Mellen Street station to Castle Rock and Kelso[35]
• Red Line: Chehalis
• Yellow Line: Centralia - Chehalis Express

The routes are color coded to match local school colors.[3]

The agency previously had the Capital Commuter, a route to the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, that debuted in November 2013, but the route was eliminated in September 2014 as part of a service reduction that also included all Sunday service.[36][37] A replacement route, the Green Line, began in 2021, operating directly from the Mellen Street e-Transit Station in Centralia to the Tumwater Transit Hub, with onward connections to Intercity Transit.[3][33] Additionally in 2021, the linked transit programs began to offer connecting options to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.[38] In August 2022, Twin Transit introduced a fixed-route line to Castle Rock.[39] In March 2023, direct routes to Morton[34] and Kelso were created. The Kelso line ended a joint partnership with RiverCities Transit.[35]

Twin Transit coordinates with a Thurston County commuter program, Rural Transit, that allows riders in more rural areas of Lewis County to have access to the intercounty bus system. As of 2022, Rural Transit links with Twin Transit at Centralia's Amtrak station; there are future plans to connect the program at the Mellen Street Station. The free-to-ride service is weekday only.[40]

The central hub for Twin Transit is the Mellen Street e-Transit Station located next to I-5 in Centralia. The station covers 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) and hosts an induction charging station for the electric bus fleet, and includes EV charging units for passenger vehicles. The area is also used for carpool parking. The Mellen Street station was built based on a 2020 fund of $3.4 million from a combination of a Green Transportation Grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, and a settlement from the Volkswagen emissions scandal.[38]

Additional hubs are planned within Chehalis. A station in south Chehalis near the port is expected to be similar to the Mellen Street station with a focus on logistics for a better connection to the Longview-Kelso transit program.[38] Another hub, announced in 2023, would be located at a current park-and-ride at the I-5 and Washington State Route 6 exchange near the city's government district. The land, leased at a minimum of 5 years to Twin Transit, would be used as a transfer station for the system, with plans to include charging stations for EV passenger vehicles, a dog park, and a potential visitor center.[44]

The first fleet of buses used by Twin Transit consisted of two coaches from the Centralia bus system.[24] In 2020, Twin Transit announced plans to purchase its first battery electric buses with an order for two converted Gillig Phantom coaches;[45] the electric buses debuted in 2021.[38] The agency also plans to purchase two hydrogen fuel cell buses following the completion of the first hydrogen refueling station in the state, funded by grants awarded to the Chehalis city government.[4][46]

Twin Transit has five carpool vans, primarily used for the DARTT program.[42]

Beginning in October 2022, children are allowed to ride the transit system at no charge. Based on the mandatory Move Ahead Washington program created by the state legislature meant to provide easier transit access for children, all local transit agencies will be reimbursed for the loss of fares. Twin Transit requires all children under the age of 10 to be escorted by an older family member.[47]

• Official website