As Community Transit celebrates its 50th anniversary, the milestone honors not just expanding bus lines, but the supportive workplace culture that makes the agency feel like family.

Few people understand that environment better than Kathleen Custer Kurjiaka (pictured below). During her 30-year career, she rose from a 21-year-old rookie coach operator to president of the local bus drivers’ union.

Kurjiaka began driving neighborhood routes in Darrington and Brier, finding a tight-knit community among fellow drivers and mentors who looked out for each other on and off the road.

As president of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) local 1576, Kurjiaka worked closely with Community Transit leaders to strengthen that supportive culture. Together, they partnered on key policies that prioritized fairness and employee well-being—collaborating on balanced attendance guidelines and establishing a forward-looking Safe Driving Policy designed to support and train drivers rather than penalize them.

"Community Transit has always been a community," Kurjiaka reflected. "They've always treated their employees like family, and the employees treated each other like family."

Fifty years in, that commitment to its frontline team remains the agency’s greatest strength.