Ben Franklin Transit outlines service growth, ADA stop upgrades and West Richland ridership

Ben Franklin Transit officials gave the West Richland City Council an overview of regional ridership trends and local service changes Tuesday, emphasizing investments to increase access and make routes more reliable.

The presenter said BFT has recovered from a COVID-era drop to about 2,000 boardings per day and now provides roughly 10,000–12,000 fixed‑route boardings daily across the Tri‑Cities, with about 44,000–45,000 boardings a year originating in West Richland. Agency staff attributed recent gains to route adjustments and programs such as youth-ride-free, college pass agreements and more frequent service on selected lines.

For West Richland specifically, BFT described two routes: Route 20 (direct service into Richland via Van Giesen) and the newer Route 10, which was converted from hourly to 30‑minute peak service after being reconfigured to interline with Route 20. The agency said Route 10 serves the Queensgate Transit Center and a newly designated West Richland Transit Center, and highlighted ridership ‘‘hot spots’’ near Queensgate, Duportail and Enterprise Middle School.

BFT representatives also described service modes that complement fixed routes. ‘‘Connect’’ is an on‑demand, app‑driven service operated by Via that can bring riders to bus stops and transit centers in lower‑density areas. Officials said Connect is intended to be a first‑/last‑mile connector rather than a door‑to‑door replacement for fixed routes.

Accessibility and infrastructure were a major focus. BFT said it has increased the share of ADA‑accessible stops from roughly 15% a few years ago to about 25% today, with a target to add approximately 4 percentage points of accessible stops each year. The presenter said the agency recently added five new stops in West Richland and estimated current local bus‑stop improvements accounted for about $5,200 in spending so far.

The briefing reviewed capital projects as well. The Queensgate Transit Center, completed in 2024, was largely state‑funded (the presenter said about 70% state funds and 30% local sales tax). BFT is also in concept design for redevelopment of a major transit center in Pasco and expects to build a facilities maintenance building and a Huntington training facility for CDL testing.

Council members raised a question about whether West Richland’s relatively small share of regional ridership (about 1.6%) could threaten continued service. A BFT official replied that the agency is focused on growing service in West Richland, that routes typically require two to three years to reach maturity, and that the agency is committed to establishing reliable service before growth accelerates.

The presenter invited further collaboration with city staff on locating training or maintenance facilities locally and offered to return with updates.

The presentation closed with council and mayoral appreciation for the briefing. — Reported from the West Richland City Council meeting