Washington State Capitol building, people walking, and an intercity transit bus

Intercity Transit is a municipal corporation that provides public transportation for people who live and work in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Yelm, an area of approximately 101 square miles. We operate 18 bus routes, a door-to-door service for people with disabilities, a vanpool program, specialized van programs, and are active in community partnerships.

Mission and Vision

Intercity Transit's mission is to promote transportation choices that support an accessible, sustainable, livable, healthy and prosperous community.

Our vision is to be a leading transit system in the country, recognized by our peers, community and customers for our well-trained, highly motivated, customer-focused, community-minded employees committed to enhancing the quality of life for all in Thurston County.

Benefits

Public transportation is part of our transportation network and plays an important role in the county's economic health by:

  • Providing transportation to jobs, schools, and community activities;
  • Reducing congestion on local roads allowing private automobiles and freight to travel more
    efficiently;
  • Helping seniors and people with disabilities remain independent;
  • Providing both commuter and lifeline services for community members; and
  • Protecting the environment by reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

Ridership

Demand for public transportation services is strong.  In 2018, we provided roughly 4.5 million rides on fixed-route, Dial-A-Lift, and vanpool services. 

Service Area

Our service area, called a Public Transportation Benefit Area (PTBA), encompasses the city limits of the Cities of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Yelm and their urban growth areas. A portion of the sales tax from retail sales within the PTBA goes to Intercity Transit to help fund services provided within the PTBA. 

Communities such as Boston Harbor, Tenino, Rochester, Bucoda and Rainier are not currently eligible for bus service because they are not inside the PTBA. Intercity Transit does not collect any sales tax from these communities. An annexation process would need to occur for these communities to receive public transportation services. There are three different options for implementing the annexation process. If you have questions about annexation after you read these options, please contact: Emily Bergkamp, Interim General Manager, at 360-705-5889  

18 Bus Routes

Fixed-route bus service is available on 18 routes. Bus service includes:

  • 17 routes serving the greater Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater/Yelm area;
  • Express service to Lakewood (Pierce County), including connection to the Sound Transit Seattle Express service and Sounder rail; and
  • Connections to neighboring transit systems including Pierce, Grays Harbor, Twin and Mason.

Dial-A-Lift Service

Mandated by the Americans with Disabilities ActDial-A-Lift service provides door-to-door transportation for customers with disabilities that prevent them from using Intercity Transit’s regular fixed-route service. Demand for this service is high. Dial-A-Lift is also the most costly of transit services to operate.  In addition to Dial-A-Lift service, we are committed that our services be easily accessible. This means all our buses are lift-equipped and accommodate wheelchairs and our service materials can be made available in large print or Braille format.

Vanpool

Intercity Transit provides vanpool services to three or more commuters who to share a commute. Participants pay a low monthly fare that covers the cost of operating the van, including gas, maintenance and insurance.

Market Research and Surveys

2015 Market Segmentation Study

This study asks riders, potential riders, and nonriders about Intercity Transit services.

30th Anniversary Survey Brings Positive Feedback

As part of our 30th year of service, we invited the public to tell us how we are doing. We received 1,455 surveys from households within our 97-square-mile service area.

Dial-A-Lift Survey Conducted in 2011

A survey of 450 Dial-A-Lift clients conducted in spring 2011 gathered data on customer satisfaction with Dial-A-Lift service. Ninety-six percent of survey participants reported they are "Very" or "Somewhat" satisfied with their experience using Dial-A-Lift.