EVERETT, Wash. -- Going to church in Snohomish County? Chances are, you won't be able get there by bus.
Snohomish County's Community Transit Board voted 9-to-0 Thursday evening to suspend all of its Sunday and major holiday bus service.
The move is part of a series of cuts designed to keep the transportation authority's budget from a $5 million deficit. The vote also shortens and eliminates dozens of routes in the county while increasing fares by 25 cents for local and Dial-A-Ride Transit service, or DART.
DART is the the county's paratransit service, and what Jenny Anderson and her service dog Brandon rely on almost every day.
"On Sundays I go see friends and family for my social life a lot, and that will have to stop or people will have to come get me," she said during public comment. "I sincerely ask the board to reconsider that, make cuts, make leniency wherever you can, but please keep it operating on Sundays."
Marty Seagran, a longtime Boeing engineer who rides the bus to work every day, said he actually bought his house in Gold Bar, in part, because it was next to a bus stop.
"Last few years I've had real bad night vision problems so it's real hard to drive in the dark, especially in the rain," Seagran said. "We just feel that Community Transit did the quick easy cut instead of looking at the whole situation."
Anderson and Seagran were just two of several regular commuters -- some disabled, low-income or holiday workers -- who asked the board to reconsider.
The board did spend some discussion on finding rides for customeers who must use the bus on Sundays, but no vote was made on that.
Community Transit said cutting a whole day, and Sunday in particular, helps save more money than reducing the frequency of runs because it allows their transit and maintenance centers to stay closed.
Thursday's vote will also include the elimination of 55 bus driver positions, either through early retirement incentives, layoffs, or other methods.
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