Getting around Darrington with Community Transit
Community Transit is here to get you where you want to go. We are proud to be a part of the Darrington community — we live here, ride here, and drive here. Wherever you need to go in Darrington, feel good about how you get there.
About Darrington
Darrington is a small mountain town in the foothills of the Cascades, located where two rivers once joined in a valley between the Sauk and the Stillaguamish rivers. The Sauk-Suiattle tribe were the first people to settle in the valley and today their tribe headquarters are located in Darrington. Darrington is connected to nearby areas by State Route 530, which runs along the two rivers towards the city of Arlington, located 30 miles to the west.
Town is home to a variety of small logging and lumber companies as well as Hampton Lumber’s state-of-the-art mill. Darrington’s location near the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and scenic rivers make it a popular destination for outdoor recreation.
People traveling to and from the area can ride from Community Transit buses along Route 230, which connects people to the neighboring Smokey Point Transit Center in Arlington. DART paratransit service and Vanpool are also options. The Sauk-Suiattle DC (Darrington-Concrete) Direct Shuttle Bus Service, a program operated by the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, also offers public transportation to residents of the reservation, Darrington, and surrounding communities.
Spanning over 27 miles between the City of Arlington and the Town of Darrington, the Whitehorse Regional Trail follows the path of the former BNSF railroad through the North Stillaguamish River Valley, offering a scenic travel option for people hiking, biking, and riding horseback.
New Zip Shuttle pilot areas now available
Zip Shuttle service areas now include Lake Stevens, Arlington, and Darrington in addition to Alderwood to make getting around even easier!
Popular Destinations
D'Arling Direct shuttle service
Homage's D'Arling Direct, combined with Community Transit’s Route 230 service, gives you more options for travel between Darrington and Arlington on weekdays and weekends.
Community Transit ridership increased 19% in 2022
Community Transit has released its end-of-the-year ridership numbers for 2022 and the data shows a positive trend in total system boardings.
The transit agency reported a total of 5.8M boardings in 2022, a significant increase over 4.9M boardings in 2021. Fixed-route bus service experienced a 19% increase. Breaking it down further, average weekday boardings increased by 20%, average Saturday boardings increased 14%, and average Sunday boardings increased 15% .
Swift Bus Rapid Transit
One of the significant contributing factors to the increase in boardings was Swift Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which accounted for almost 36% of total fixed-route boardings. The Swift Blue and Green lines together showed an average increase of 14% on weekdays, 11% on Saturdays, and 10% on Sundays. In comparison to the previous year, Swift BRT service had an increase of 240k total boardings.
DART Paratransit
The DART paratransit service performed well in 2022, with a 24% increase in total boardings. DART ridership was up 23% in average weekday boardings, 22% on Saturdays, and 34% on Sundays.
Vanpool
Vanpool total boardings went up 22% in ’22, almost 51k more boardings than the previous year. As of now there is 252 Vanpool vehicles on the road versus 219 at the end of 2021.
Zip
Zip Alderwood Shuttle started service in October 2022 and ridership numbers were not included in this report.
Many factors have contributed to the increase in transit ridership, including the loosening of COVID-19 policies and attitudes, which allowed people to return to office work and other activities. The introduction of the free youth transit pass in September 2022 also had a positive impact on the boardings.
