Date:
Monday, December 10, 2007
Contact:
Michele Villnave, WSDOT Communications, 360-705-7875 (Olympia)
Don Chartock, WSDOT Project Development Coordinator, 360-705-7928 (Olympia)
WALLA WALLA - WSDOT held a ribbon-cutting on Dec. 10 to celebrate the Travel Washington Grape Line bus service from Walla Walla to Pasco. Travel Washington Grape Line is the initial step in establishing the Washington Intercity Rural Bus Program. The Grape Line service will operate daily and offer three scheduled round trips between Walla Walla and Pasco.
“The community of Walla Walla asked for help to restore intercity service, it was the largest city in the state without any intercity connections,” said Don Chartock, Project Development Coordinator, “We saw it as a critical need to help Walla Walla. The Travel Washington Grape Line will allow students from college to go home for the holidays, veterans and seniors to access health services in the Tri-Cities area, and will provide connections to other public transportation services.”
The Travel Washington Grape Line will be the first route in the nation to be funded through a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) pilot program that matches private sector investments with grant money. WSDOT awarded the grant to the Central Washington Airporter (CWA) to provide the service.
Intercity bus service is public transportation to a city with the intent of making timed connections to additional cities from rural to urban areas. Intercity transportation is not only about getting from Walla Walla to Pasco; it is about getting from Walla Walla to any place in the country. All of the Travel Washington routes will make connections with other intercity carriers. This coordination means that people will have reliable transportation to wherever they want to go.
For more information on the Travel Washington Grape Line service please visit the Web site. To learn more about Washington State’s Intercity Bus Plan visit WSDOT’s Web site.
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