Getting around Monroe with Community Transit
Community Transit is here to get you where you want to go. We are proud to be a part of the Monroe community — we live here, ride here, and drive here. Wherever you need to go in Monroe, feel good about how you get there.
About Monroe
Monroe is located at the confluence of the Skykomish, Snohomish, and Snoqualmie rivers near the Cascade foothills, about 30 miles northeast of Seattle. Its population was estimated to be 20,209 in 2021.
The city's largest employer is the Washington State Department of Corrections, which operates the Monroe Correctional Complex and provides more than 1,100 jobs. Other large employers include the Monroe School District, the Cadman quarry, the Evergreen State Fair, EvergreenHealth Monroe, and large retailers.
Popular destinations include its 14 parks — including Al Borlin Park and Lake Tye Park. Monroe also has 14 miles of multi-use pedestrian and bicycle trails that connect neighborhoods and parks.
People traveling to and from the area can choose from multiple routes served by Community Transit buses, DART paratransit service, and Vanpool.
Monroe also has a privately owned airfield, First Air Field, located adjacent to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds.
Popular Destinations
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.
