Island Transit (Washington)
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Island Transit's County Connector bus at Everett Station
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| Slogan | Fare Free! |
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| Commenced operation | December 1, 1987 |
| Headquarters | 19758 State Route 20 Coupeville, Washington |
| Service area | Island County, Washington |
| Service type | Bus service, paratransit, vanpool |
| Routes | 13 |
| Annual ridership | 974,899 (2015) |
| Fuel type | Diesel |
| Chief executive | Mike Nortier |
| Website | islandtransit |
Island Transit is a zero-fare transit system in Island County, Washington, serving Whidbey Island and Camano Island. The system consists of fixed-route bus service, paratransit, and vanpools, and carried a total of 974,899 passengers in 2015. There is no weekend or holiday service on Island Transit routes.
The system is funded by a 0.9 percent sales tax within Island County, as well as state and federal grants. The tax was initially 0.3 percent when bus service started in 1987, but was increased in 2000 and 2009 in response to funding shortfalls.
Island Transit was established in 1983 as a public transportation benefit area (PTBA), a type of municipal corporation in Washington state for public transit agencies. The Island County Board of Commissioners proposed the creation of a PTBA in September 1980, using a 0.3 percent sales and use tax to fund a bus system. The sales tax was part of two countywide votes in 1980 and 1982, where it was twice rejected. Following the second defeat, the boundaries of the PTBA were re-drawn to exclude part of northern Whidbey Island and all of Camano Island. The sales tax and transit system was approved by 56.5 percent of voters in a third ballot measure, held on November 8, 1983, within the revised boundaries.
A lawsuit was filed in 1985 challenging the revision of PTBA boundaries prior to the third vote, with the appellants from northern Whidbey arguing that their constitutional rights of equal protection and equal suffrage were deprived because of their inability to vote on the measure. The following year, the Washington Supreme Court upheld the PTBA's boundary revision, allowing it to begin collecting sales tax that was authorized by the vote. The PTBA renamed itself "Island Transit" and began operating fare-free service on December 1, 1987, with four bus routes covering Oak Harbor and southern Whidbey Island, vanpool service to the Boeing Everett Factory, and contracted dial-a-ride service.
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