Whatcom Transportation Authority
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| Commenced operation | January 1, 1984 |
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| Headquarters | 4111 Bakerview Spur, BellinghamCoordinates: 48°47′12.5″N 122°26′56″W / 48.786806°N 122.44889°W |
| Locale | Whatcom County, Washington |
| Service type | bus service, paratransit, vanpool |
| Routes | 31 |
| Fleet | 60 buses, 38 paratransit vehicles, 38 vans |
| Annual ridership | 5,242,852 (2014) |
| Website | ridewta.com |
The Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) is the public transit authority of Whatcom County in northwestern Washington, based in the city of Bellingham. It provides bus service on 31 fixed routes, including branded "GO Lines" with 15-minute frequencies on weekdays, to cities in its service area. In addition to bus service, the WTA offers paratransit service and a vanpool programs.
The WTA is funded by a 0.6% sales tax within the Whatcom County public transportation benefit area (PTBA) and grants from the state and federal governments. Service began on January 1, 1984, using equipment bought from the Bellingham municipal transit system after a countywide authority was established a year earlier. The WTA carried 5 million total riders on fixed bus routes in 2014, averaging out to 17,000 weekday boardings.
The Whatcom Transportation Authority was created in 1983 and service in western Whatcom County, including the cities of Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden, began on January 1, 1984. The city of Bellingham began operating its own municipal transit system in 1971 by taking over a failing private operator, funding it with a 0.3% sales tax within the city beginning in 1975. The system was absorbed into the new countywide public transportation benefit area, which adopted the same sales tax rate in 1983.
The "GO Lines" are four corridors where local service combines for 15-minute headways on weekdays and are branded with a specific color by the WTA beginning in 2005.
A fifth GO Line, the Red Line from Bellingham Station to the Fairhaven Transportation Center, was removed in March 2017.
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