Celebrating 40 years of Kitsap Transit
Members of Kitsap Transit’s Board of Commissioners commemorate the start of service in 1983.
On April 1, 1983, Kitsap Transit was born.
Well – not exactly.
Kitsap County voters approved a local option sales tax to fund the fledgling transportation system in the fall of 1982. Prior to the vote, public transit in Kitsap County was operated by a mix of public and private entities.
Over the first year, then-Executive Director Richard Hayes worked with his board of commissioners to bring those disparate transit services under the umbrella of Kitsap Transit: Municipal transit service operated by the City of Bremerton; commuter buses that served the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; paratransit services for the elderly and disabled; and private operator Bremerton-Charleston Transportation.
Kitsap Transit’s service began in early April 1983 with a few used buses operating routes in Poulsbo and Port Orchard.
Now, 40 years later, Kitsap Transit buses move people across the Kitsap Peninsula from Port Orchard to Bainbridge Island. The agency has grown to include more than 500 employees. Our services have also expanded to include carpools and vanpools, Worker/Driver buses, and local and fast ferries. Every year, we help hundreds of thousands of people get where they need to go.
To mark our 40th anniversary, we published a series of stories in our Headways newsletters this year, each spanning a decade of our existence, along with historical photos, videos and an interactive timeline:
We’re honored to have served the residents of Kitsap County for 40 years, and we want to hear your transit stories! Send your favorite bus or ferry routes, fun or memorable transit experiences, or Kitsap Transit historical tidbits to: marketing@kitsaptransit.com. We may share them over the course of the year.
Thank you for riding with us and supporting public transportation!