Ribbon Cutting in Walla Walla Washington for the Travel Washington Grape Line |
Travel Washington Grape Line
Ribbon cutting-Ceremony 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 and to learn more about Washington State’s Intercity Bus Plan visit
WSDOT’s Web site. To see more
photos from the ribbon cutting.
CWA to Operate Travel Washington Grape Line Intercity bus service is about to be restored to southeast Washington from Walla Walla to Pasco. The Washington State Department of Transportation has chosen Central Washington Airporter (CWA) to provide service between Walla Walla and Pasco. The Grape Line will be the first in a series of new intercity routes using the Travel Washington tradename.
The Grape Line will provide a way for riders to travel from Walla Walla to anywhere on the intercity network, whether it is Seattle or Miami. This is the first intercity service to the region since Greyhound dropped service in 2005, and reinforces the concept of connecting rural and urban areas.
Under the new Request for Proposal (RFP) process, the best competitive bid is selected to provide service under the Travel Washington name. Central Washington Airporter (CWA) is scheduled to begin service in the fall of 2007.
For more specific information regarding schedules and bus stop locations, visit the
Grape Line Web site.