Sound Transit broke ground on Aug. 12, 2025, on a new electric bus base in Bothell, Wash., that's considered crucial to the region's Stride bus rapid transit (BRT) plans, the urbanist.org reported.
Situated within the Canyon Park Business Center, the 10-acre facility will initially support 48 battery electric buses that serve the Stride S1, S2 and S3 lines.
Up to 120 buses can be accommodated at the $274 million base, according to urbanist.org. That will allow Sound Transit to expand its future service and offer charging space for electric buses on other routes.
"This operations and maintenance facility will be the anchor for our upcoming 45-mile Stride bus rapid transit network, connecting 11 cities all along I-405 and SR 522 to Link light rail and to each other," Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said in a statement. "It will bring dozens of living-wage jobs to Canyon Park and Snohomish County, operating and maintaining a first-in-the-nation fleet of fast, reliable, all-electric buses."
Sound Transit hired Denver, Colo.-based PCL Construction in May 2025 to build the base, according to theurbanist.org.
Features of the new Bothell Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) will include an operations center, a vehicle maintenance facility, a 255-vehicle parking lot for employees and visitors and charging infrastructure for the all-electric Stride fleet.
The BRT system will tie together the Eastside with bus service, while improving connections to the west and interfacing with the Link light rail network in Bellevue, Lynnwood, Shoreline Sout and Tukwila, the urbanist.org reported.
"Stride will dramatically cut travel times and improve transit reliability between Burien and Bellevue, Bellevue and Lynnwood and from Shoreline to Bothell," the agency said.
Battery electric buses will run every 10-15 minutes and will primarily use dedicated lanes or high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, according to theurbanist.org.
The agency originally promised the three Stride bus lines in its Sound Transit 3 (ST3) package that regional voters approved in 2016.
Although Sound Transit's first pledged to open the lines in 2024, delays have pushed the likely start of service to 2028, according to the urbanist.org.
