King County Mobility News

Find a Ride's Trip Planner - 2026 Improvements

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:05:55 GMT

Moving forward on our roadmap

Since 2018, Hopelink has been working to make real the vision of King County Mobility Coalition , and many regional partners, on a One-Call/One-Click system.

In 2024, our project expanded our Find a Ride transportation service discovery site to include a trip planner. Throughout the last few years, we have steadily moved forward on our multi-phase roadmap to increase mobility access across Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties. Our trip planner, Phase 1 of our roadmap, displays more than two dozen services that you will not find in any other trip planner. With the support of two vendors, Anthro-Tech and Cambridge Systematics, and incorporating feedback from our Mobility Team, various Mobility Coalition Partners and individuals with disabilities, we are excited to bring you an updated version of Find a Ride in March 2026.

Two services in our trip planner are King County Metro Flex and Northshore Senior Center's Transportation Service, that supports older adults and people with disabilities near Bothell.

Find a Ride Trip Planner Version 1.4.7

The trip planner was updated in March 2026 to include several enhancements and accessibility improvements co-designed with community input. Find a Ride's Advisory Committee stewards this program, and prioritizes inclusion, accessibility, and equity. Our Find a Ride trip planner is particularly grateful to our advisory committee members who are blind or have low vision as we went through a robust inclusive planning process to support greater accessibility.

Our trip planner now displays fares and bus route information.

It also includes the names of WSDOT Ferries, and other services, like the Seattle Street Car and the Circulator.

Why did we make these changes? We listened to you!

Customizable alert section was requested by our Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET) partners
Accessibility improvements were by request of individuals with disabilities and organizations focused on priority populations with access and functional needs. Thank you to Anthro-Tech for our Accessibility Audit!
Bus Numbers in transportation results were one of our most-requested features during our community testing phase.
Previous spinner while results were loading was difficult to see, so we made it bigger. This is a work in progress! It can take up to 15 seconds for results to load because of the large geographies of demand responsive services!

Learn more

Championing accessibility through using a Nothing About Us Without Us framework ensures that people with lived experiences shape policies that directly impact them. Learn about Phase 2 , our multi-phase roadmap, and project updates on our project page .

Feedback is always welcome by emailing FindARide@hopelink.org . If you are an organizational partner who wants to use Find a Ride to support your community, let's set up a virtual meeting, or meet in-person, to help you navigate our website. Trainings available!

Detailed Release Notes

Added Fares!
Added an Alert Banner!
Added support for customized HTML fare text by service (including auto-translate).
Added Marshallese and Dari languages.
Added a new footer with links.
Cleaned up the directions page.
Replaced contact button with a link (better for screen readers).
Fixed an error when sending itinerary emails; need to address fares showing zero in emails next.
Aligned times to the center - closer to other text.
Moved the mode of travel (bus, walk, car) to its own line for better readability.
Replaced loading image with new one and gave alert focus (support for screen-readers).
Allowed HTML in text at bottom of directions page.
Fixed browser back button issue (was going to an unexpected page when used).
Added duration label on trip results list item.
Added transit route to icon on trip results page.
Added alt text to all mode icons on trip results list.
Moved "Don't show this again" checkbox until after instructions and buttons on the Customize Travel Profile page.
Ensured alert text is read immediately by screen readers when present.
Additional suggestions based on Anthro-Tech accessibility audit related to screen reader users:
Consistent page title.
Announcing suggested list in drop down menus.
Properly labeling date of trip.
Choose a trip has associated information.
Announcing Preferred Language dialog box.
Announcing age box.
Announcing email box.
Additional assisting information for screen reader users for the following pages:
Plan a trip.
Sign In.
Create an Account.
Email this result.

We are grateful to our Phase 1 and Phase 2 funding partners:

WSDOT, King County Metro, King County RALS, Sound Transit, Seattle DOT, Hopelink, Disability Empowerment Center, Seattle-King County Aging and Disability Services, and the Federal Transit Administration.

We are grateful to our "One-Call" providers:

Transportation Resources Line, part of the Community Living Connections Network, operated by Hopelink.
VOAWW Connect, operated by Volunteers of America Western Washington.
Access Pierce, operated by Pierce County United Way.

We are grateful to our the transportation providers who are represented in our trip planner:

We are grateful to our Phase 1 Advisory Committee partners, past and present:

Age-Friendly Seattle

Bellevue Network on Aging

Catholic Community Services

Center for Independence

Chinese Information and Service Center

CIRC Living

City of Kirkland

Community Advocates & System Users

Community Transit

Cowlitz Wahkiakum Council of Governments

Crisis Connections

Disability Empowerment Center

Everett Transit

Full Path Transit Technology

HealthierHere

Homage Senior Services

Hopelink NEMT & DART

Hopelink Mobility Team

Hopelink Leadership

Indian American Community Services (IACS)

King County Metro

King County Records and Licensing Services

Kirkland Senior Council

Lincoln Hill Retirement Community

Molina Healthcare

Muckleshoot Tribe

North Sound 211

Northshore Senior Center

Pierce County Coordinated Transportation Coalition

Pierce County United Way

Pierce Transit

Puget Sound Educational Services District

Puget Sound Regional Council

RTAP (National Rural Transportation Assistance Program)

Seattle Department of Transportation

Seattle-King County Aging and Disability Services

Snoqualmie Valley Transportation

Snotrac

Snow Goose

Sound Generations

Sound Transit

University of Washington Taskar Center for Accessible Technology

Visit Bellevue

Volunteers of America Western Washington

Washington State Department of Transportation

Join us! Rural Transportation Advocacy 101 Workshop

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 22:52:09 GMT

Thursday, May 21st 5:00-8:00pm, North Bend City Hall

Join Transportation Choices Coalition, Hopelink, and the Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition for a Snoqualmie Valley Rural Transportation Advocacy 101 Workshop!

Date: May 21st
Time: 5:00P M – 8:00 PM with networking and dessert from 8-8:30pm
Location: North Bend City Hall
Address: 920 SE Cedar Falls Way, North Bend, WA 98045

Every piece of our streets, trails, and transit takes advocacy. Whether it’s a crosswalk, sidewalk, or bus stop, someone asked for it to be there. This workshop is designed for people who live or work in the Snoqualmie Valley or have a direct connection to this region. Come learn about rural transportation advocacy and practice skills to help support your community’s access to safe, sustainable, and equitable transportation.

You will hear from a dynamic panel of local and regional leaders working across transportation, public policy, and community advocacy. Then, we’ll learn about different advocacy skills like how to give effective testimony and practice together.

We encourage everyone to participate, regardless of ability. We welcome requests for accommodations and assistance with transportation to the event. Please contact contact Heather Clark, Hopelink’s Program Manager of Coalitions, at 425-625-6784 or HClark@hopelink.org no later than February 27th.

Travel and childcare reimbursement may be available upon request.

Share Your Transportation Story- Help Shape a More Inclusive King County

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 22:40:29 GMT

Your Story Matters

Share Your Transportation Story — Help Shape a More Inclusive King County

Every day, thousands of King County residents face a simple but life‑changing challenge: getting where they need to go. For people who cannot drive, or cannot afford to drive, basic activities like visiting the doctor, getting to work, attending school, buying groceries, practicing their faith, or participating in community life become major hurdles. These barriers directly affect health, opportunity, and overall wellbeing.

We want to change that — and your story can help.

Why Your Story Matters

Many communities across King County, from dense urban neighborhoods to rural towns, lack reliable and accessible transportation options. Yet the people most affected by these gaps are often left out of transportation planning.

This project aims to change the narrative by centering the lived experiences of non‑drivers and those facing the highest transportation barriers. Your story helps humanize the data that decision makers rely on. It shows the real impact of transit gaps — and the real opportunities for improvement.

What We’re Building

We’re creating a digital Story Map : a collection of personal transportation experiences that will be shared with service providers, planners, and local leaders. These stories will help guide more equitable, effective, and inclusive transit solutions for all of King County.

How You Can Participate

Sharing your story is simple. Use the link below to submit a brief interest form. Your experience — whether it’s a daily struggle or a single moment that shaped your perspective — can help build a transportation system that truly works for everyone.

Share your story. Help us create transit systems that include everyone. Spanish Russian Chinese

If you have questions or need language translation or accessibility accommodations, please contact: Lyn McCarthy - King County Mobility Coalition Program Supervisor (Hopelink) Email: EMcCarthy@hopelink.org Phone: (425) 466‑3442

RARET Flooding 2025 Transportation Report

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 20:58:15 GMT

Read the full 10-page report here: RARET Flooding 2025 Transportation Report

December 2025 saw atmospheric river conditions bringing trillions of gallons of rainwater to the Pacific Northwest, triggering a hydrologic outlook, meaning there were upcoming conditions that could support flooding in western Washington. This evolved into flood warnings for much of the region as the NWS River Gauge tool predicted major flood threats as some reached historic levels . Natural events like these present distinct transportation challenges. For a geography like western Washington, variable elevation and an abundance of rivers running from the mountains to the Puget Sound mean that several communities and transportation corridors exist in flood plains. Infrastructure failure from levee breaches can further exacerbate flooding and expand the geographic extent of impacts.

From a transportation perspective, the primary impacts stem from unusable infrastructure during major flood conditions , resulting in the geographic isolation of certain communities that effectively become population islands, as seen in past events such as flooding in 2009. As a result, the movement of people and essential goods is disrupted, requiring significant rerouting or suspension of travel until floodwaters recede. Individuals affected by flooding may experience prolonged delays or become completely cut off, forcing the postponement of even essential trips. In some cases, flooding directly impacts residences, displacing individuals from their homes and damaging or destroying personal property, including vehicles. Displacement, isolation, and the loss or damage of vehicles are all factors which can exacerbate challenges for non-drivers or even create new non-drivers.

RARET , a Mobility Management coalition serving Snohomish, King, and Pierce Counties, engaged transportation providers and mobility managers following the late-2025 major flooding in western Washington to identify lessons learned and best practices related to life-sustaining transportation during emergency events.

Key findings include:

Strengthening transportation provider flood preparedness and partnerships
Establishing internal task forces within smaller transportation providers to support flood response
Improving coordination between Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) brokers and county-level emergency management
Increasing access to transportation resources during recovery
Leveraging Mobility Management education and outreach capabilities
Ensuring printed transportation materials are available in multiple languages and that digital resources are accessible

Transportation providers, particularly those with smaller staff and more limited resources, may be less prepared for flood impacts. Providers with established flood response processes, often informed by prior experience, offer valuable models for best practices. The flooding event also highlighted the critical role NEMT can play during emergencies. Strengthening bi-directional relationships between NEMT brokers and emergency management agencies is mutually beneficial. Additionally, greater integration of Mobility Management into preparedness and recovery efforts can help ensure transportation needs are addressed through direct support from mobility professionals where possible.

For RARET, key internal lessons learned include:

The need to improve education for emergency managers on the use and implementation of the Emergency Transportation Provider Network (ETPN) Portal, particularly for situations when RARET staff cannot be reached
Increasing RARET’s understanding of statewide mobility managers’ capabilities and readiness to support emergency response efforts
Coordinating with the regional one-call, one-click project to clarify procedures for accommodating individuals who wish to use text messaging, while that functionality remains under development

Recommendation Cheat Sheet

Preparation

Transportation providers should identify flood-prone areas within their service regions and develop flood action plans where risks exist.
Emergency management agencies should strengthen relationships with Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) brokers to improve regional resilience.
Transportation providers should maintain current, printable transportation resources that can be distributed as physical materials during disasters, in multiple languages.

Response

Transportation providers should understand which tools are available to assess flood risk, how to access them, and how to use them effectively. Response plans should clearly define risk thresholds that trigger specific actions.
Transportation providers should identify key personnel responsible for monitoring developing flood conditions and supporting timely, informed operational decision-making.

Recovery

Mobility Management can serve as transportation subject matter experts when establishing recovery resource hubs.
Clearly identifying priority languages in impacted zones for transportation materials enables mobility managers and transportation providers to collaborate on producing and distributing accessible resources.
Following an event, the one-call, one-click tool Find a Ride can be useful to non-drivers displaced from their homes by helping them understand transportation options available to them in their temporary or permanent housing locations.

For a complete look at RARET’s report, and to view the anecdotes from local partners which informed these findings, see the link here . To contact RARET, reach out to DSydnor@hopelink.org via email.

Help Promote Find a Ride's Trip Planner

lloe@hopelink.org (Laura Loe ) — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:00:48 GMT

Find a Ride's Trip Planner will help you discover mobility services across Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties!

We have created a communications toolkit.

The Find a Ride Communications Toolkit contains information to share on your social media channels and to promote Find a Ride’s Trip Planner throughout Puget Sound at in-person events.

You may either copy these messages directly or customize them to reach your audience.

This toolkit includes translated newsletter blurbs, translated 8 ½ by 11 flyers, and suggested social media posts.

Thank you for helping get the word out. The trip planner is available in: Amharic, English, Chinese, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mon-Khmer/ Cambodian, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, with more languages being added in the future.

Email FindARide@hopelink.org for more information. Phone support is available.

Visit our website to try our new trip planner!

We encourage you to explore available transportation options by trying out the trip planner, and share feedback in our form or by sending an email to FindARide@hopelink.org.

Help us promote Find a Ride.

We are reaching out to ask for your support in raising awareness about Find a Ride’s new trip planner for Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties. This is an exciting tool that will benefit your community members, clients, and staff. This program will better connect older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals to transportation option. Find a Ride will also improve access to other important community resources.

We are grateful to be part of the inclusive planning to design this trip planner and Find a Ride program. For more information on this new approach to discovering specialized transportation, please visit our program website .

Download Find a Ride flyers to share with your community, or email FindARide@hopelink.org if you would like flyers mailed to your organization.

Social Media Post –Translated

These posts can be used for any platform.

Incorporate the website in your posts: https://www.FindARide.org

Tag @Hopelink on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Tag @HopelinkHelps on Instagram.

Amharic

በ King፣ Pierce እና Snohomish ካውንቲዎች ውስጥ ላሉ ነዋሪዎች የእለት ተዕለት የጉዞ እቅድ ለማውጣት በማህበረሰቡ እና @Hopelink የተፈጠረውን አዲሱን የመልቲሞዳል ጉዞ እቅድ አውጪ ይሞክሩት። ለመጀመር FindARide.org ን ይጎብኙ! #መጓጓዣ #መጓጓዝለሁሉም #FindARide

English

Try out the new multimodal trip planner created by community and @Hopelink to streamline daily trip planning for residents in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. Visit FindARide.org to get started! #Transportation #MobilityForAll #FindARide

French

Essayez le nouveau planificateur de trajet multimodal conçu par la communauté et @Hopelink afin de simplifier la planification des trajets quotidiens des habitants des comtés de King, Pierce et Snohomish. Rendez-vous sur le site FindARide.org et lancez-vous ! #Transports #MobilitéPourTous #FindARide

Chinese

试用社区与 @Hopelink 开发的新多模式行程规划器，以简化 King 县、Pierce 县和 Snohomish 县居民的日常出行计划。请访问 FindARide.org 开始体验！#交通 #全民出行#FindARide

Hindi

King, Pierce और Snohomish काउंटिज़ के निवासियों के लिए रोज़ाना ट्रिप की योजना को आसान बनाने के लिए कम्युनिटी और @Hopelink द्वारा बनाए गए नए मल्टीमोडल ट्रिप प्लानर को आज़माएँ। शुरू करने के लिए FindARide.org पर जाएं! #Transportation #MobilityForAll #FindARide

Japanese

コミュニティと @Hopelink が作った新しい多モードの旅行プランナーをぜひお試しください。King 郡、Pierce 郡、Snohomish 郡住民の日々の旅行計画を効率化します。FindARide.org にアクセスして、今すぐ始めましょう！#交通 #すべての人にモビリティを#FindARide

Korean

지역사회와 @Hopelink에서 만든 새로운 멀티모달 여행 플래너를 이용하여 King, Pierce, Snohomish 카운티 거주자의 일상적인 여행 계획을 쉽게 도와주세요. FindARide.org를 방문하여 시작하세요! #교통수단 #모두를위한이동수단 #FindARide

Mon-Khmer; Cambodian

សាកល្បងមុខងាររៀបចំផែនការធ្វើដំណើរពហុម៉ូដថ្មី ដែលបង្កើតឡើងដោយសហគមន៍ និង @Hopelink ដើម្បីសម្រួលដល់ការរៀបចំផែនការធ្វើដំណើរប្រចាំថ្ងៃសម្រាប់អ្នករស់នៅក្នុងខោនធី King, Pierce និង Snohomish។ ចូលទៅកាន់គេហទំព័រ FindARide.org ដើម្បីចាប់ផ្តើម! #មធ្យោបាយធ្វើដំណើរ #ការធ្វើដំណើរសម្រាប់គ្រប់គ្នា #FindARide

Punjabi

King, Pierce, ਅਤੇ Snohomish ਕਾਉਂਟੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਵਸਨੀਕਾਂ ਲਈ ਰੋਜ਼ਾਨਾ ਦੇ ਟਰਿੱਪ ਲਈ ਯੋਜਨਾ ਨੂੰ ਸਰਲ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਕਮਿਊਨਿਟੀ ਅਤੇ @Hopelink ਦੁਆਰਾ ਬਣਾਏ ਨਵੇਂ ਮਲਟੀਮੋਡਲ ਟਰਿੱਪ ਪਲਾਨਰ ਦੀ ਵਰਤੋਂ ਕਰੋ। ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ FindARide.org 'ਤੇ ਜਾਓ! #ਆਵਾਜਾਈ #ਸਾਰੇਲਈਮੋਬਿਲਿਟੀ #FindARide

Russian

Попробуйте наш новый планировщик маршрутов, учитывающий разные виды транспорта. Это результат совместной работы сообщества и @Hopelink, призванной упростить планирование ежедневных маршрутов для жителей округов King, Pierce и Snohomish. Чтобы начать, перейдите на сайт FindARide.org! #Транспорт #МобильностьДляВсех #FindARide

Somali

Isku day qorshaha safarka cusub ee leh qaababka badan ee ay sameeyeen bulshada iyo @Hopelink si aad u hagaajisid qorshaynta safarka maalinlaha ah ee dadka dagan degmooyinka King, Pierce, iyo Snohomish. Booqo FindARide.org si aad u bilawdo! #Gaadiidka #Isu-socodka Dhamaan Dadka #FindARide

Spanish

Pruebe el nuevo planificador de viajes multimodal creado por la comunidad y @Hopelink para facilitar la planificación diaria de viajes para los residentes de los condados de King, Pierce y Snohomish. ¡Visite FindARide.org para comenzar! #Transporte #MovilidadParaTodos #FindARide #FindARide

Tagalog

Subukan ang bagong multimodal na tagaplano ng biyahe na ginawa ng komunidad at @Hopelink para i-streamline ang pang-araw-araw na pagpaplano ng biyahe para sa mga residente sa King, Pierce, at Snohomish county. Bisitahin ang FindARide.org para makapagsimula! #Transportasyon #PagkilosParasaLahat #FindARide

Tigrinya

ንነበርቲ ኣውራጃታት King፣ Pierceን Snohomishን መዓልታዊ ውጥን ጉዕዞ ንምምሕያሽ፡ ነቲ ብማሕበረሰብን @Hopelinkን ዝተፈጥረ ሓድሽ ብዙሕ መጓዓዝያታት ዝሓዘ ወጣኒ ጉዕዞ ፈትኑ። ንምጅማር ኣብ FindARide.org ተወከሱ! #መጓዓዝያ #ምንቅስቓስ ንኹሉ #FindARide

Ukrainian

Спробуйте наш новий планувальник маршрутів з урахуванням різних видів транспорту. Він створений завдяки співпраці представників громади й @Hopelink, щоб спростити планування щоденних поїздок для мешканців округів King, Pierce і Snohomish. Щоб почати користуватися ним, перейдіть на сайт FindARide.org! #Транспортування #ТранспортДляВсіх #FindARide

Vietnamese

Các cư dân ở các quận King, Pierce và Snohomish hãy dùng thử công cụ lập kế hoạch chuyến đi đa phương thức mới do cộng đồng và @Hopelink tạo ra để lập kế hoạch chuyến đi hằng ngày dễ dàng hơn. Truy cập FindARide.org để bắt đầu! #GiaoThông #PhươngTiệnDiChuyểnChoMọiNgười #FindARide

Download the complete Find a Ride Communications Toolkit

Additional information is available in our full pdf toolkit , including sample newsletter posts, additional social media posts, and a sample email to send to your networks.

Last updated 10/17/2025

Find a Ride Phase 2 Readiness

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 17:24:12 GMT

Next Steps in Advancing Equitable Mobility Through Easy On-Boarding

Acknowledgments

Find a Ride is indebted to the work of Kevin Chambers, from Full Path Transit Technology who prepared this report, with input from Hopelink’s Find a Ride Leadership Team. Thank you to Find a Ride's project partners, funders, and community members who lent their support to our Phase 2 Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Grant (ICAM) application.

Introduction to One-Call/One-Click

The current transportation system burdens community members to find rides on their own. This becomes especially tricky for anyone who wants to use specialized transportation. At their simplest, one-call or one-click services enable customers to make one phone call or search one website to receive information about all transportation services available in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.

The Problem

► The core challenge Phase 2 seeks to address is that among the many eligibility-based services in the Puget Sound region, each has its own unique set of rules and procedures for rider intake, eligibility determination, and enrollment verification. In most cases, these are manual processes.

This leads to:

Significant barriers for new riders, where difficulties in accessing first-time services results in limited regional mobility. This often occurs during a period of transition, when specialized services can have a positive impact on a person’s life.
Labor-intensive processes for agencies, where manual and one-off processes divert the limited resources.
Lack of regional coordination between agencies makes it hard to invest in tools that work across the entire region because each agency has its own processes.

Proposed Solution

► In its ICAM grant application, Hopelink proposed a system that, at a high level, would:

Collect new rider intakes electronically through a secure web-based application, including all necessary documentation.
Support streamlined eligibility determinations with adaptable workflows that cater to both riders and agency staff.
Securely store eligibility information in a centralized database for use by riders, agency staff, and Find a Ride's trip planner.

► Through this system, Hopelink aims for:

A 40% decrease in time spent completing paperwork and registering for programs,
A 20% increase in users enrolled in at least one new service, and
80% project satisfaction from Project Partners and Advisory Committee

Current Conditions In the Region

► Broadly speaking, there are no consistent approaches to managing rider intake, determining eligibility, or verifying enrollment in the region.

As mentioned earlier, the processes of most small, specialized transportation providers rely on manual methods to establish eligibility for new riders.
Some larger providers, such as King County Metro’s Paratransit service, Access, are developing more digitized and streamlined onboarding processes. However, these improvements are unique to each large provider and cannot be readily replicated by other large agencies, let alone smaller ones.
The Medicaid brokerage for non-emergency medical transportation in King and Snohomish Counties (operated by Hopelink) maintains an up-to-date database of people eligible for its services, but this data is held as strictly confidential by state and federal regulation and unlikely to be shared as part of a broader coordination effort without a significant legal and technical investment.
ORCA, the region’s e-fare platform, offers eligibility-based reduced fare programs for youth, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and those with lower incomes. It’s possible to apply for these programs electronically through online portals implemented by ORCA member agencies, but ORCA does not readily support integrations to enable eligibility determinations for other services.
ADA paratransit services in the region share eligibility information to support reciprocity agreements; however, this is currently a manual process involving phone calls between agency paratransit staff for each rider that requests service outside of their area of residence.
Outside of these ADA paratransit providers, there are no well-established agreements for sharing rider data between organizations.

► Despite the general lack of coordination in rider onboarding, there are other coordination efforts that are noteworthy:

The expansion of Sound Transit Light Rail into multiple counties is helping to drive the development of data exchange systems designed to enhance operational coordination between ADA paratransit services. This includes a proposed Regional ADA Paratransit ID (RAPID) for any rider eligible for ADA Paratransit services in the region. Such systems could enable paratransit fleets to coordinate rider journeys under various scenarios, with mechanisms to facilitate reconciliation and reimbursement after the services are provided.
King County’s licensing department of for-hire transportation, which regulates taxis and TNCs, is developing a centralized dispatch system to manage the County’s limited number of wheelchair-accessible for-hire vehicles.
These efforts are in their early stages. While the types of coordination and required technology may differ from those in Find a Ride’s Phase 2, both aim to increase access for people with mobility barriers. Furthermore, their success would involve coordination like the prior projects carried out by Hopelink and the King County Mobility Coalition. As such, there may be opportunities to join forces in a way that allows these other projects to benefit from Hopelink’s coalition-building experience.

RFI Responses

► In March, Hopelink issued a request for information (RFI) to gather information from technology solutions providers interested in addressing the challenges described earlier. The RFI expressed particular interest in similar efforts undertaken elsewhere, measures of success for similar projects, and recommendations for approaches to data security.

► The following organizations provided detailed responses:

Cambridge Systematics, a national transportation consulting firm that is a current vendor for Phase 1 of Find a Ride, provides the “One-Click” open-source tool.
CaseWorthy , a provider of data management systems for human services providers, currently provides tools for several of Hopelink’s human services programs.
DemandTrans , a technology development company with experience in both demand-responsive transportation and the healthcare industry.
Spare Labs , a public transportation technology company focused on tools to plan and operate ADA paratransit, microtransit, and other types of demand response services.
TransitOps, a company that develops and supports open technology tools for effective and equitable public transit.
Ready Computing specializes in data integration within the healthcare industry, focusing on providing healthcare workers with the data they need at the point of care.

► Responses fell into two broad categories: those from providers with developed solutions (CaseWorthy, Ready Computing, and Spare Labs) and those from software development firms interested in helping Hopelink develop new tools or integrate existing ones (Cambridge Systematics, DemandTrans, and TransitOps).

Built Solutions

► Given that the work of Find a Ride Phase 2 sits at the intersection of transportation and human services, Hopelink reached out to vendors of technology solutions in both domains. For developed solutions, we received one response from the transportation sector and two from human services.

Spare Labs has recently initiated a project with King County Metro’s Access ADA paratransit program to modernize its eligibility processes and is eager to expand its presence in the region, providing additional tools that support eligibility-based services. While Spare’s current offerings do not appear to include extensive tools for coordinating eligibility management across multiple providers, they do provide a comprehensive set of features and workflows for managing intakes, determinations, and enrollment with a single agency. These capabilities could possibly be extended to work in the multi-agency context that is the focus of Phase 2.

CaseWorthy , a provider of technology for human services agencies to manage their data and activities, offers a set of tools that enable agencies to develop their own intake forms and manage them with multi-step, robust workflows from initial referral through to determinations and enrollment. CaseWorthy also states that the platform includes capabilities for managing data sharing between organizations based on sharing agreements. Additionally, the tool offers several application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate integration with other software systems.

Ready Computing is a technology vendor that serves healthcare, social services, and other fields. They offer a low-code/no-code platform that enables the creation of intakes initiated by agency staff or directly by new riders. The platform supports configurable workflows to manage those intakes through to eligibility determinations. The system also has built-in capabilities supporting closed-loop referrals that could come from healthcare providers, social service case managers, or 211 systems. Ready Computing is currently developing a community information exchange for HealthierHere, the Accountable Community of Health (ACH) for King County.

All three vendors have extensive experience in data security and assert that they are HIPAA compliant.

Technical Expertise to Build and Manage a Project

► Cambridge Systematics , DemandTrans , and TransitOps all provided valuable insight and recommendations rooted in their extensive experience in the field of transit technology.

► With respect to data security, common themes emerged from their responses:

Keep the technology simple. Doing so enhances data security by reducing the number of potential areas of attack from the outside and accidental data breaches from within. Simplicity makes it easier to identify, secure, and monitor critical components.
Identify components with high security requirements and design accordingly. Elements that don’t require high security can potentially be separated out, with lower levels of security applied to hosting and tooling where feasible.
Emphasize security policies, training, and retraining. This is crucial because human error is the leading cause of data breaches. Initial and recurring training, updated with new threats as they emerge, ensures that all personnel are aware of data security best practices and their roles in maintaining data integrity and confidentiality.
Budget for periodic security auditing and third-party security tools. This aligns with a proactive risk management approach and continuous improvement of an organization's security posture. Such investments provide an independent assessment of vulnerabilities and ensure ongoing adherence to evolving security best practices and compliance standards.

► Outside of data security, these respondents made other valuable recommendations that centered on the importance of early work . Such recommendations focus on areas that should be addressed early in the project to reduce risk as we continue on our roadmap :

System design. Regarding the structure of the collected data and the interactions among systems to be integrated, it’s crucial that all requirements for the final system be collected and agreed upon by all stakeholders before undertaking any software development. While this may seem a slow and arduous process, it is far less costly and time-consuming than making a late-stage change to already-developed systems.
Project phasing. Cambridge Systematics specifically recommends a “phased agency rollout with careful selection of pilot agencies” for the Phase 2 Development Approach. This pilot group should be diverse, covering variations in service, eligibility requirements, and documentation forms, to ensure comprehensive learning and adaptation.
Gathering reporting needs. At the end of each month, what will the system need to produce for agencies, and for Hopelink as manager of the overall system? More broadly, what key performance indicators need to be collected to help understand whether the tools are serving their intended purposes?
Establishing ownership and governance. TransitOps highlighted the importance of having clear lines of responsibility for overseeing the full user experience, defining what constitutes overall success of the system, setting priorities, and managing issues as they arise.
Having a mobile-first, accessible design from the start. This recommendation aligns with Find a Ride’s objectives of providing accessible tools to people with a wide range of access and functional needs and may have limited access to technology tools.

Next Steps And How the Coalition Can Ensure Success

Support efforts to streamline the rider onboarding process.
Engage and promote the Phase 2 inclusive planning and co-design process.
Help assemble and garner support for the pilot agencies.

As of this writing, final obligation of the grant funds by the FTA is imminent. Once started, the project must be completed within 24 months. The total budget for the project is $649,370.

While Hopelink waits for the final go-ahead, important foundational work can continue. Here are some things the coalition can do:

► Support efforts to streamline the rider onboarding process : We heard loud and clear from the RFI responders that one key to developing a secure system for regionally coordinating intake, eligibility determination, and enrollment for transportation services is simplicity.

How you and your organization can help:

Think about how your organization, and the region, can reduce complexity, whether it’s in terms of eligibility criteria, processes, rules, data sharing, or anything else

► Engage and promote the Phase 2 inclusive planning and co-design process : Hopelink will continue to explore the landscape for vendors, experts in the field, and passionate community members who can support and improve this groundbreaking project.

How you and your organization can help:

Share your ideas and expertise
Connect us with people you know who could help advance this effort
Think about who’s missing from these conversations and share your thoughts with us

► Help assemble and garner support for the pilot agencies : As noted earlier in this document, a strong group of pilot agencies will make all the difference in developing a tool that works well for later participants.

How you and your organization can help:

Consider joining this effort in its early phases. We at Hopelink would be excited to brainstorm with you about how you can participate in a way that matches your needs and organizational capacity.
Encourage other organizations to consider joining this next phase of Find a Ride as a way to improve their own processes and advance accessibility for the entire region.

Conclusion

To effectively advance equitable mobility through easy onboarding, the Find a Ride Phase 2 project must address the current challenges fragmented and manual eligibility processes present. The success of this initiative depends on continued collaboration with pilot agencies and a collective commitment to streamline onboarding processes, ultimately enhancing accessibility for all residents of the Puget Sound region.

Learn more

We are excited to continue collaborating with community partners, Hopelink colleagues, transportation providers, and, most importantly, travelers across Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties.

Please follow this program on our website for the One-Call/One-Click System. Learn more . Visit our current FindARide.org website for trip discovery in Central Puget Sound, and to provide feedback. A PDF of this report is available here . If you have questions about this report, please contact Laura Loe (she/her), Program Manager, Find a Ride, cell phone 425-941-6791 and ema il lloe@hopelink.org .

Rural Transportation Advocacy 101 Workshop

emccarthy@hopelink.org (Lyn McCarthy) — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 20:42:35 GMT

SVMC hosted a Rural Transporation Advocacy 101 Workshop on June 13th, 2025

We invited elected officials, service providers and advocates from rural jurisdictions in King County to join this advocacy workshop. Every part of our streets, trails, and transit requires advocacy. Whether it’s a crosswalk, sidewalk, or bus stop, someone advocated for it! This workshop was designed for people who live or work in the Snoqualmie Valley and are interested in creating transportation solutions that meet the unique needs of our rural cities and towns. Participants learned about rural transportation advocacy and practiced skills to help support the community’s access to safe, sustainable, and equitable transportation.

View the full recording of the here . You may also view the recording of panelist highlights , general highlights and panel interviews below.

Full Event Video

Panelist Highlights

General Highlights

Panel Interviews

View the Graphic Recording by Tim Corey.

left to right: Michelle Allison (King County Metro), Sarah Perry (King County Council), Adair Hawkins (Mayor, Carnation)

Left to Right: Salwa Raphael (Hopelink), Roz Novikova (Hopelink), Anna Zivarts (Disability Rights WA), Staci Sahoo (Hopelink)

Above: Salwa Raphael delivering practice legislative testimony

Above: Marianna Hanefeld (WSDOT) and Staci Sahoo (Hopelink Mobility) discuss advocacy efforts in King County.

Downstream Transportation Impacts of Medicaid Cuts & Changes

DSydnor@hopelink.org (Dean Sydnor ) — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:34:28 GMT

Situational Awareness from the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET)

This blog was produced by the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET), a coalition of Hopelink Mobility Management focused on transportation problem solving surrounding emergency events in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties with a focus on access and functional needs. Reach out to Dean Sydnor (DSydnor@hopelink.org) to learn more about RARET.

The current Congressional Budget Office assessment of pending legislation outlines significant reductions in the number of Medicaid recipients, with a trillion dollars in cuts and millions projected to lose coverage . Governor Bob Ferguson’s office declared this “will fundamentally alter Washington’s health care system and result in hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians losing their health care”.

What is Medicaid?

Medicaid is a means-tested program that finances primary and acute medical services as well as long-term services and supports. A means-tested program is one that assesses eligibility based on income. Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal government and the states. The federal government's share of most Medicaid expenditures is called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). The remainder is referred to as the state share .

Roughly 1 in 5 Washingtonians (approx. 2 million people) rely on Apple Health, WA’s Medicaid program, for their healthcare coverage. At least 250,000 Washingtonians are estimated to lose coverage over the next ten years. The impacts of this federal legislation are wide-ranging, and its effect on the transportation landscape of the central Puget Sound and beyond should not be overlooked. See the HCA’s fact sheet breaking down the impacts to Washington State for more details.

Immediate impacts: Coverage Losses & NEMT

Non-emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) in Washington is a transportation system that connects people to transportation resources, facilitating access to their Medicaid-billable appointments. It does this in a few ways; Medicaid recipients with transportation benefits are either lower-mode or higher-mode clients of NEMT. Lower-mode clients can take fixed route transit and receive bus-fare and/or gas-reimbursement for their medical trips. Higher-mode clients’ doctors provide a note to the NEMT brokerage explaining the medical reason they cannot take fixed-route transit, which justifies the NEMT broker arranging door-to-door transportation for these clients via one of their contracted transportation service providers. A big advantage of NEMT is that it has complete coverage over an entire region, whereas services like ADA Paratransit can only mirror fixed-route service areas in a region, which can create gaps in rural areas where fixed-route services are scarce. In short, NEMT facilitates rides, bus fare, and gas reimbursement to get people to and from Medicaid billable healthcare.

NEMT is funded by Medicaid packages with transportation benefits providing services like door-to-door rides, bus fare, and gas reimbursement.

NEMT in Washington uses brokerages that take calls and arrange trips for contracted transportation providers paid by Medicaid.

The brokers in the Central Puget Sound region are Hopelink NEMT (King/Snohomish) and Paratransit Services (Pierce) .

The good news is that NEMT is legally protected and cannot be altered without specific legislation. But that good news won’t help clients who lose Medicaid coverage. If an individual's coverage lapses or is terminated, NEMT services cannot be provided. The immediate impact will fall on patients and healthcare facilities attempting to coordinate transportation - particularly for discharges. For instance, discharging a Medicaid patient from the ER typically involves a simple call to the NEMT broker to arrange transport. Without active Medicaid coverage, that option disappears. As a result, patients with limited financial means and already overburdened hospitals will be left to manage transportation on their own, placing additional strain on both vulnerable individuals and the healthcare infrastructure.

As noted above, lower-mode clients often rely on free bus rides, including transfers, to travel to and from medical appointments and to connect with other essential services. These connections are critical in preventing patients from quickly returning to the healthcare facility. Without access to Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT), these low-cost transportation options may no longer be available, making it more difficult for patients to reach care facilities and related services unless an alternative, affordable transit option is provided.

An immediate transportation impact of Medicaid cuts is that healthcare facilities lose the ability to leverage a vital service to get those formerly-Medicaid covered patients back home.

Medium-to-Long Term Impacts

Over the long term, this issue will escalate as clients who lose coverage may skip preventive care and rely solely on emergency rooms for treatment. This will increase demand for emergency room services, while simultaneously reducing the resources available to help patients return home after receiving care. While NEMT does not transport to emergency rooms, many NEMT trips are conducted to urgent care facilities. If Medicaid stops covering appointments, and therefore the associated transportation, some people may be forced to use an ambulance and go to the ER for issues that previously would have been addressed at a standard medical appointment. These cuts could reduce staffing levels or even cause some healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas, to close. This affects transportation for both those who lose coverage and those who don’t. With fewer staff, patients may face longer wait-times for return rides, especially later in the day when transportation services are limited. If rural facilities close, trips become longer and more expensive for those who are not NEMT clients. Even those who still have NEMT may face problems if brokers don't have enough drivers to handle the longer rural-to-urban trips. Transportation providers may also shrink in number, since their income depends on the volume of clients they transport. Fewer clients results in less funding to sustain their operations.

Summary:

Higher ER demand with fewer transportation solutions
Longer travel times and wait times
Less resources for NEMT transportation service providers

Beyond Hospitals: At Home Care and Nursing Homes

Another concern involves those receiving Medicaid covered at-home services . The risk for these people is two-fold: they may lose coverage entirely, but even if they do not, the reduced program funding may render certain at-home services financially unsustainable. Typically, these at-home services are being used precisely because travelling is impractical or even impossible. If they must now travel for those same services, clients must now find their own transportation where they had not before, even if they still have coverage. There is the danger too that these services may no longer be covered at all, whether at home or at a facility, in which case the clients may find themselves using more emergency services down the line.

Medicaid supports 3 in 5 Washingtonian nursing home residents . The downstream transportation impacts are significant, regardless of what alternative solutions are implemented. Clients living in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) are often extremely difficult to transport safely without compromising their health and well-being. While NEMT can be a suitable option for some residents, losing access to it may force the use of more specialized, and more expensive, transportation services. These clients are likely not compatible with a shift to modes of transportation other than door-to-door service. In some cases, emergency services may have to be used unnecessarily, despite NEMT being the more appropriate and cost-effective choice that they would have formerly qualified for.

Solutions

Mobility Management frameworks reduce mobility challenges, but in situations like this, a transportation option is being removed without an equivalent replacement. Individuals and their assistors need support to understand how their benefits will be impacted. A critical concern is thatpeople, who would otherwise be covered, lose their coverage due to lapses in paperwork or other administrative issues; this would still result in NEMT being unable to facilitate rides. The reason for the lapse in coverage does not determine whether NEMT can provide transportation services. Avoiding preventable reasons for a coverage lapse should be a critical concern.

There is not an easy 1:1 replacement for not being able to move folks with NEMT. If a coverage loss or lapse can be prevented, creating a plan for maintaining coverage is critical to ensuring continued access to NEMT.

The immediate option that many folks may seek out will be ADA Paratransit services. Their door-to-door services for those who cannot take the bus makes them a logical place for those who would be former higher-mode clients of NEMT. ADA Paratransit has a different eligibility process than NEMT higher-mode; there is no guarantee they will qualify for ADA Paratransit. If a client is fortunate enough to qualify for Paratransit, it can take up to 21 days after a completed application submittal to secure their first ride.

ADA Paratransit is an option people will turn to. ADA eligibility is a unique process that takes time, and their operations may not have the resources for a rapid increase in demand.

If a client cannot use NEMT and has not yet completed the ADA paratransit assessment, their transportation options diminish. While some local services may offer alternatives, same-day transportation is rarely available. Some clients will look at private pay/out-of-pocket solutions to transportation challenges. However, these options, especially for wheelchair accessible cabulances, can be too costly, especially for clients who were formerly beneficiaries of means-tested programs like Medicaid. As a result, more clients may have to rely on fixed-route buses due to their lower cost per ride and no per-mile charge for clients. This marks a significant change in how people will get around, especially for those used to door-to-door NEMT service. This transition, known as a mode shift in mobility management, can be challenging.

Support Our Communities

Helping clients access reduced fare programs such as ORCA LIFT , the Subsidized Annual Pass , and the Human Service Bus Ticket program can help reduce financial strain on both the clients and the facility.

To ease mode shift changes, facilities should work with local transit agencies to obtain educational materials like route maps and provide training for staff on how to assist clients.

While coverage is not universal, some alternatives exist locally that could mitigate the impact of this change. Services like the Sound Generations Hyde Shuttle , Beyond the Borders , and Homage’s Transportation Assistance Program are all examples of services that could offer vital connections for clients. Using service discovery tools can be helpful in determining if clients would be a good fit for these local solutions.

FindARide.org includes a service directory and trip planner for targeted and efficient travel planning. For those in Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties, FindARide.org offers a trip planner and list of resources that captures transportation solutions that include local options like volunteer driver programs, services for seniors, demand response vehicles for people who use wheelchairs, or who have other access needs, and more. If you are not sure what services exist, it is a great place to start. If you would like to connect with Find a Ride’s team about training opportunities, please reach out to FindARide@hopelink.org.

More folks will have to take fixed-route buses or delay care altogether.

Ongoing Situational Awareness

To keep up to date on transportation developments in the region, connect with King County Mobility Coalition (KCMC) , the Snohomish County Transportation Coalition (Snotrac) , or Pierce County Coordinated Transportation Coalition (PCCTC), depending on your geography. The KCMC hosts regular Access to Health and Wellbeing (AtHW) Workgroup meetings, which are regionally relevant and can be a good venue to discuss transportation barriers in healthcare with knowledgeable parties.

RARET will continue to monitor situational awareness on this subject. If you have information to share about transportation impacts of changes to Medicaid, reach out to Dean Sydnor, RARET Program Supervisor, at DSydnor@hopelink.org .

Find a Ride Phase 2 - Request for Information (RFI)

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 19:51:13 GMT

Hopelink's One-Call/One-Click Project Seeks Your Input by April 4, 2025.

Project Overview

The Mobility Management team at Hopelink, in collaboration with the King County Mobility Coalition , is developing a system to improve the new rider intake, eligibility determination, and enrollment verification processes for specialized transportation services in the Puget Sound Area. As they currently exist, these processes can be a significant barrier to riders seeking services for the first time, highly manual and labor-intensive for the agencies providing the transportation services, and difficult to coordinate at a regional level because processes are unique to each agency.

To improve these processes, Hopelink intends to implement a system that agencies in the region may use to:

Collect new rider intakes electronically via a secure web-based application, with easy collection of any needed documentation,
Carry out streamlined eligibility determinations, with straightforward and adaptable workflows for both riders and agency staff, and
Securely store eligibility information in a centralized database for use by riders, agency staff and Hopelink’s recently developed Find a Ride's trip planner . As the system matures, it could be made available to authorized systems used by healthcare providers, social services caseworkers, and information and referral specialists (e.g., 211) to enable closed-loop referrals for transportation services.

To reduce risk and cost, and to maximize the opportunity for integration with systems in adjacent domains such as healthcare, social services, and information and referral, Hopelink is placing a high priority on the final system using open standards, publicly documented application programming interfaces (APIs), and existing software tools that are in wide use outside the public transportation sector.

Additional information on this project is available at the project website , including our Phase 2 announcement .

Hopelink seeks information in the following areas:

Similar efforts: information and points of contact about other projects, past, present, or planned, that have similar designs or goals. This includes:

Examples of data or technology integrations between specialized transportation and healthcare, social services, information and referral entities, or sources of documentation (e.g., login.gov or the Veterans Administration).
Measures of success and return on investment for riders, providers of specialized transportation, and adjacent domains.

Approaches to data security: information about approaches and lessons learned regarding securely collecting and storing personally identifiable information (PII) about riders in a system that will be managed by Hopelink and used by riders and multiple small transportation providers. This includes information about vendor selection and oversight, identity management, code reviews, third party testing, and information security frameworks in a multi-organizational context.

Interested vendors: If you represent a technology vendor or know of a vendor with interest in responding to a forthcoming request for proposals, please reply with information about relevant solutions; experience with applying HIPAA- and HITRUST-level data security to design, development, and internal processes; and a point of contact.

Please respond to FindARide@hopelink.org by Friday, April 4, 2025 . Hopelink values your time and input. While comprehensive information is welcome, concise and direct answers are equally valued.

If you have any questions regarding this RFI or require the RFI in another format for improved accessibility please contact FindARide@hopelink.org .

Improving Access to Cross-County Transportation: How Comprehensive Resource Guides Can Break Down Transportation Barriers

mmendoza@hopelink.org (Manny Mendoza) — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 21:37:43 GMT

In Collaboration with the North King County Coalition & South King County Coalition

By Manny Mendoza and ʻOhu Kāne

In 2024, the South King County Mobility Coalition (SKCMC) and the North King County Mobility Coalition (NKCMC) partnered on the joint Cross-county Transportation Project to address transportation challenges between King and Pierce counties as well as King and Snohomish counties. This project was based on the findings from NKCMC’s 2023 Cross-county Transportation Needs Between King and Snohomish Counties report, which identified significant gaps in mobility and unmet transportation needs. In response to this report, the 2024 Cross-county Transportation Project aimed to improve access to cross-county transportation information, making it not only more accessible but also easier to navigate and understand.

Based on NKCMC’s 2023 Cross-county Transportation needs between King and Snohomish counties report, the project reveals that there are critical awareness gaps and a significant lack of centralized information that hinder effective mobility across the region. The report’s comprehensive data and interviews show that many community members and service providers are not fully aware of the diverse transit options available—from volunteer and paratransit services to fixed-route and on-demand rides—which ultimately creates confusion and limits access for those who need these services most. In addition, fragmented communication and inconsistent funding compound these issues, making it difficult for users to navigate a system where vital resources are scattered across multiple platforms. These findings drove our recommendation to create comprehensive resource guides—both physical and digital—that consolidate transportation information into a single, accessible hub. Such guides are designed to raise awareness, streamline communication, and ultimately empower communities with the knowledge to overcome cross-county travel barriers.

While the report provided valuable insight into cross-county transportation issues and barriers, our partners and clients’ input were equally instrumental in shaping our understanding of cross-county transportation challenges. Many of the report’s findings aligned closely with what we heard directly from community members and service providers. Clients frequently expressed the need for better streamlined transportation resources and improved awareness about services, ultimately validating our recommendation to develop comprehensive resource guides. By combining data-driven analysis with the feedback we were hearing from the community, we ensured that the content of our resource guides was both practical and reflective of the community’s actual needs.

As mentioned above, we developed two types of resource guides—physical and digital—because our previous work showed that community members face significant information gaps and have diverse access needs. Many users appreciate a tangible, paper-based guide they can reference offline, while others rely on flexibility and in-depth digital resource updates. It’s important to note that these guides are tools to help navigate current cross-county transportation challenges, not a permanent solution. Every six months, resource guides will be updated, as well as any service providers that reach with new updates. To ensure the information remains accurate and useful.

This project was truly a collaborative effort, made possible by SKCMC and NKCMC’s incredible partners, our dedicated regional service providers, and the fantastic Find a Ride team! Through bimonthly meetings and one-on-one conversations, our coalition partners shared their insights and constructive feedback that helped shape every part of this project. Their commitment to this project ensured that the community has access to clear, accurate, and user-friendly cross-county transportation information.

Our regional transportation service providers also played a crucial role, helping us verify details and ensure that the information we shared was both accurate and useful for all riders, regardless of their mobility needs. A special thank you to our Find a Ride team for their instrumental support—whether it was confirming service details, making key introductions, or refining the project’s scope, their contributions were essential to our project success.

This collaboration brought together a diverse group of partners with one shared goal: to make cross-county travel easier and more accessible for everyone. We are incredibly grateful for the teamwork and dedication that made this project possible!

As we reflect on the Cross-county Transportation Project, we are filled with gratitude for everyone who contributed to this effort. This project was more than just creating resource guides—it was a shared commitment to improving mobility, access, and independence for those who need it most. By bringing together coalition partners, service providers, and community voices, we were able to create a resource that truly reflects the needs of the people it serves.

While these resource guides are an important tool and step forward, we know that cross-county transportation challenges are ongoing. This work does not end here. We remain committed to updating and refining these guides, continuing with our partners, and advocating for solutions that make transportation more seamless and equitable.

On behalf of SKCMC and NKCMC, thank you to everyone that played a role in this project. Your voice, collaboration, and dedication have made a real impact, and we look forward to building on this momentum together. With continued partnership and community support, we can keep breaking down barriers and making ALL travel easier for all.

Check out our resource guides here:

Winter 2025 Preparedness

DSydnor@hopelink.org (Dean Sydnor ) — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 00:49:37 GMT

Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET) recommendations for Puget Sound mobility management.

While our region has yet to have a widespread snow alert come our way, the mountain snow, cold temperatures, and frequent precipitation make it a good time for RARET to share our unofficial Winter 2025 Preparedness resource list with you.

As this blog post is on the early side, you may encounter a resource from last year. Subscribe to RARET emails to be provided with up-to-date information as it becomes available!

Critical Winter Resources

General Winter Preparedness: Ready.gov
Winter Driving: RARET & WSDOT
Snohomish County: Response , Shelters , and Alerts
King County: Resources , Shelters , and Alerts
Pierce County: Resources , Shelters , and Alerts

When it comes to transportation in winter weather, individual agencies will have their own responses.

Subscribe to transit alerts. During snow and ice conditions, a transit service may be among the first on the scene of hazardous conditions; accordingly, these alerts can be a valuable tool in building a picture of regional condition.
Consult the transportation provider's website or call their phone number for the latest updates.
Social media for transit agencies may also be helpful to bookmark, especially for larger agencies.

Transit Tools & Guides for Winter Conditions

King County MetroWinter.com

Keep an eye out for Snowflake icons on Metro's Service Advisories table ; this was rolled out last winter to provide a way for riders to quickly see when a bus switches to its snow route due to roadway conditions. Check back for a 2025 update to the King County Metro Winter Blog ( January 2024 ).

Pierce Transit Extreme Weather Page & Snow Brochure

Pierce Transit has recently launched a new website with improved navigation and expanded accessibility settings.

Community Transit Snow Service

The Community Transit Snow Service page notes that new Snow Routes are coming soon in the post- Sept 2024 service change environment. Riders should leverage the Find My Bus real-time tool so they can see if it is on a snow route and if there are stop closures.

Riders should also reference the following Community Transit guidance:

If your bus stop has a snowflake symbol on the bus stop sign and snow or ice on the ground impacts service, please wait at another stop. A Snow Schedule is when we've identified and "pre-cancelled" certain trips to help us continue providing consistent service. When a bus is on Snow Route, visit Find My Bus to see them on a map in real-time.

Everett Transit Snow Routes & Service

View Snow Routes

Do NOT use Everett Transit Arrivals during snow routes; it is inaccurate during changing conditions.

Instead, rely on Rider Alerts , updates on the Everett Transit Facebook page, and the customer service number 425-257-7777.

Snoqualmie Valley Transportation Closures

Those who rely on SVT in the Snoqualmie Valley should sign up for Rider Alerts to monitor their route status in winter conditions.

Riders are encouraged to call SVT at 425-888-7001 for updates.

On Fares

The agencies are responsible for setting fare policies during winter weather conditions. Some providers will post a notification on their website or social media feed when allowing zero-fare trips to cold weather shelters. Pierce Transit has done this in the past ( example ) and Everett Transit staff at a recent Snotrac meeting indicated they would be doing so again this year. Finding information on these policies can vary; the news feed on the Pierce Transit website is what we use to see any updates on their service, and the Everett Transit Facebook page is where we look for updates from them. If there is any confusion, reaching out to a service's customer service number is a good step. For those in King County, historically, King County Metro has articulated that fares during winter weather will not be a barrier to folks getting to places like cold weather shelters. Rider alerts, social media, agency websites, and customer service telephone lines are all methods of keeping up with fare policy changes as the winter progresses.

Community Transit has a policy of zero fare rides to cold weather shelters when those shelters are open. Riders need to declare those shelters as their intended destinations during cold weather events

How do I stay safe?

As listed earlier, Ready.gov is a useful stop for general preparedness information. For those who are drivers, also check out the RARET adverse weather driver training resource page . Stay informed by following the notifications from our local NWS office . Make sure you are prepared by building a kit for your home and, if applicable, your vehicle. For folks who utilize wheelchairs as an accessibility device, see the United Spinal Association's winter tips .

As a non-driver:

Situational awareness is doubly essential when planning your travel. You may find yourself outdoors in adverse conditions, so knowing what conditions are ahead of time, the status of your transportation resource and pick-up location, and how conditions could change throughout your travel are all essential to remaining safe. You may leave for a trip during daylight and return at night when conditions are colder and offer lower visibility for you and drivers alike. Living in a car-centric environment can be hazardous for non-drivers in standard conditions, winter's earlier darkness, low traction environments, and rain/snow showers that can further reduce driver visibility, all compounding danger for non-drivers. High visibility clothing, high traction footwear or other traction devices, appropriate layering, and informed trip planning are all helpful for improving your safety in these conditions.

RARET Additional Quick Tips

Postpone travel if possible. Snow and icy conditions in the lowland areas of central Puget Sound do not often last for extended periods. Check the forecasts and see the duration of the adverse weather. If conditions are hazardous for just a short period, consider what travel is non-essential and can be postponed.

Assess your eligibility. Your usual mode of travel may not be a good fit for winter conditions. If you are a person who might be eligible for paratransit services (example: Metro Access ) or Medicaid NEMT (example: providers contracted to Hopelink NEMT ), utilizing these resources could reduce the hazards one has to engage with in winter weather. Connect with the appropriate services BEFORE winter conditions are too hazardous to ensure you have options when the weather worsens.

Build a network of trusted individuals. Winter weather can throw out unforeseen circumstances, and the fastest way to get the help you need is those closest to you. An individual can prepare and connect to all the services in the world, but if there isn't a neighbor to clear their driveway or sidewalk it might not matter.

***

Learn more about RARET . RARET staff are happy to assist with coordination for non-lifesaving transportation needs during adverse weather.

Any lifesaving transportation requests should be directed to 911.

Find a Ride Advisory Celebration

lloe@hopelink.org (Laura Loe ) — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 18:25:40 GMT

Committee members gathered to reflect on our Phase 1 trip planner accomplishments.

On October 4, 2024, Find a Ride’s Advisory Committee gathered at Hopelink’s Redmond office to celebrate the launch of our trip planner. Since 2018, Hopelink has been working on enacting the vision of King County Mobility Coalition and many regional partners on a One-Call/One-Click system .

Thank you to our speakers:

Meghan Altimore, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Hopelink
Daeveene May, Pierce County Coordinated Transportation Coalition (PCCTC) & Find a Ride Advisory Committee Member
Dorene Cornwell, WA Council of the Blind, Advocacy Committee & Find a Ride Advisory Committee Member
Kevin Chambers, Full Path Transit Technology
Jana Lynott, Co-Author, Connecting Community Transportation: The Transactional Data Specification
Staci Sahoo, Director Mobility Management, Hopelink

The project has expanded our Find a Ride transportation service discovery site to include a trip planner. Throughout 2024, we have steadily moved forward on our multi-phase roadmap to increase mobility access across Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties. Our trip planner focuses on transportation options for older adults, people with disabilities, and rural transit riders. Visit www.FindARide.org for more information.

Throughout the last few years, we have engaged with over two dozen organizations that support travelers across Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties. Launching our trip planner gives travelers and assistor communities an improved experience for mobility and trip planning decisions. Since January 2022, we have held twelve advisory meetings with thirty-two organizations. We have also held dozens of user testing taskforce and technical advisor work group meetings. Learn more about our exciting Phase 2 news !

The trip planner was recently updated to include several enhancements and accessibility improvements. The Advisory Committee has made invaluable contributions towards developing a program prioritizing inclusion, accessibility, and equity. Our Find a Ride trip planner has benefited from our advisory committee members who are blind and have low vision. Championing accessibility through advocacy using a Nothing About Us Without Us framework ensures that people with lived experience shape policies that directly impact them. Learn about our multi-phase roadmap and project updates at https://www.kcmobility.org/ococ .

Hopelink awarded federal grant for Phase 2 of One-Call/One-Click

MCronister@hopelink.org (Meg Cronister) — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 22:54:02 GMT

Funding Will Support Find a Ride’s Trip Planner Experience

In June 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the award of funds for a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) supported program. Find a Ride is a multi-phase One-Call/One-Click project under the supervision of the King County Mobility Coalition and Hopelink’s Mobility Management program. Find a Ride was awarded $519,496 through the FTA's  Innovative Coordinated Access & Mobility (ICAM) Pilot Program , with the total funding for the second phase of the project close to $700,000 through regional match support.

Hopelink submitted the Find a Ride grant application with matching support from WSDOT, King County Metro, Sound Transit, and Seattle Department of Transportation . With this award, the program will be able to invest in software to significantly improve the user experience for riders. Using a multi-phased approach, the Find a Ride trip planner tool will connect riders to specialized transportation services all in one centralized service, just one click or one call away from their destination. The tool is being developed through an inclusive planning process with input from regional transit providers and advocates from communities most impacted by transportation barriers, such as older adults and people with disabilities.

Hopelink is very pleased to receive federal support for Find a Ride, our One-Call/One-Click project," said Susan Carter, Hopelink VP of Transportation "With the launch of our ground-breaking trip planner in March of 2024, we are excited to build on the momentum for Phase 2 of our project."

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announcement included $7.8 million for 17 projects  to improve public transportation for people with disabilities, older adults, and low-income individuals. The ICAM program supports the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to improving public health, including mental health. Find a Ride received support from the State of Washington Health Care Authority, Congresswoman Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Puget Sound Regional Council, Shared-Use Mobility Center, Connect Snohomish County, Snoqualmie Valley Transportation, Pierce Transit, The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, Volunteer Services – King County (A Program of Catholic Community Services), Aging and Disability Services, Arcadis, Center For Independence, City of Kirkland, Crisis Connections, Homage, Sound Generations, Indian American Community Services, King County Mobility Coalition, and Pierce County Human Services . Project administrators also received letters of support from dedicated project advisors, including several individuals with disabilities participating in the inclusive design of the project.

Learn more about Find a Ride’s roadmap and inclusive planning process on our project website . Learn about the software development of Find a Ride’s innovative trip planner .

Since 1971, the Hopelink has provided stability-building programs for people experiencing poverty, immigrants and refugees, and people with disabilities in north and east King County. The agency’s eleven programs work in tandem to fill gaps, supporting each family or individual’s unique needs. These include housing, food assistance, financial assistance, adult education, energy assistance, financial capabilities, family development, Dial-a-Ride Transit, non-emergency medical transportation, and mobility management.

***

Read the full FTA announcement for more information. The full text is provided below:

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $7.8 Million in Grants to Help Connect People to Health Care and Other Critical Services

Thursday, June 6, 2024
The President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law adds significant funding to transit pilot program

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced  $7.8 million for 17 projects  that will improve public transportation for people with disabilities, older adults, and low-income individuals. The grants support organizations that coordinate public transportation for underserved groups, allowing them to access healthcare, community services, education, and jobs by building partnerships among health, transportation, and human services providers.

FTA's  Innovative Coordinated Access & Mobility (ICAM) Pilot Program  – supported by more than $24 million in funding over five years from the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – increases access for Americans all over the country, with a focus on health and wellness. Today's announcement supports transportation improvements, from designing new trip scheduling technology to buying transit vans, in 15 states.  

"Transportation is a lifeline that connects Americans to essential services, like health care, and today we're supporting innovative projects to help more people connect to the help they need" said  U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg . "These transportation projects, made possible by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help people with disabilities, older adults, and low-income individuals access the health services they need."  
 
By improving the coordination of transportation to critical services for people who have been underserved in the past, the ICAM program supports the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to improving public health, including mental health. The program provides an opportunity for older adults and people with disabilities and in low-income communities. 
 
"This program supports statewide and regional strategies to help ensure people who are especially challenged in accessing healthcare can reach those critical services,” said  FTA Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool . "We are pleased to provide resources that help reach into the sometimes-overlooked areas of our nation to ensure no one is left behind."

Some of the selected projects include:

The Illinois Department of Transportation will receive $1.8 million to design and implement an integrated technology system for trip scheduling and fare collection that will facilitate non-emergency medical transportation trips and interagency passenger transfers. The program will integrate technology enhancements to improve mobility for people in 20 rural counties in southern Illinois through Shawnee Mass Transit, Rides Mass Transit, South Central Mass Transit, and Monroe Randolph Mass Transit.
 
The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority (EMBARK) will receive $415,900 to support the expansion of the existing coordinated transportation services through the purchase of two vehicles and associated vehicle technology systems. This project will meet the growing transportation demand for older adults, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and transit-dependent populations with improved access to social services, education programs, workforce development programs, non-emergency medical treatment, and wellness and nutrition services throughout Oklahoma City.
 
The West River Transit Authority (Prairie Hills Transit) in South Dakota will receive $269,280 to buy a contactless payment technology system that will enhance safety, improve reliability and the rider experience, and make transit more accessible to residents in the Black Hills region. A trip planning mobile app and website will help facilitate intercounty connections and regional service by linking riders with providers for trips across multiple service areas. The platform will improve coordination of services for veteran service organizations, education institutions, healthcare facilities, women’s and homeless shelters, home healthcare organizations, and workforce centers.

In response to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), FTA received 24 eligible proposals. Projects were selected based on criteria described in the  NOFO .

Find a Ride’s Trip Planner Helps Set New Data Standard

lloe@hopelink.org (Laura Loe ) — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:07:05 GMT

We Help You Get Where You Need To Go

Hopelink’s Mobility Management team empowers people by increasing access to resources and community participation through transportation. This is addressed through providing travel education and resources to existing transportation options; supporting the coordination of specialized transportation by collaborating across sectors and gathering data and needs assessment to both recommend and implement improved services. Collaborations include building coalitions across cities, transportation providers, human services agencies, advocates, riders, healthcare providers, and mobility managers.

Since 2018, Hopelink has been enacting the vision of King County Mobility Coalition, and many regional partners, through a One-Call/One-Click system .

The project expanded our Find a Ride transportation service discovery site to include a ground-breaking trip planner. This is a critical step forward for our multi-phase roadmap to increase mobility access across Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties. Our new trip planner focuses on services essential for older adults, people with disabilities, and rural transit riders. Another important project focus is ensuring accessibility for blind and low-vision travelers.

Throughout 2023, the trip planner went through two accessibility audits and several rounds of community testing. Our community testing outreach and engagement benefited from materials developed as part of a grant for the Every Ride Counts pilot project of the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center. The trip planner became available for the public in March 2024. Hopelink Mobility Management’s commitment to inclusive planning is matched by the strong participation of people with disabilities in the Coalition’s advisory committee.

Recently, the Hopelink-based project helped make history. Throughout the last two years, Hopelink staff helped the Washington State Department of Transportation create almost two dozen new data feeds. Our work helped set a new data standard called GTFS-Flex . “Flex” is an extension project for GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification). The new data standard can tell the story of volunteer transportation, Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT), Dial-A-Ride, Door-to-Door, and other critical services.

Here’s what community partners are saying about this innovative work:

Justin Deno, Sound Transit Program Manager - Passenger Facing Technology at Sound Transit

“Hopelink’s work on GTFS Flex in our region means that critical data feeds developed for Find a Ride will now be available to all trip planning tools. This aids in the discoverability of those services and allows riders to make sense of all the transit options available to them. This work could not have been accomplished without the tireless effort from the team at Hopelink and WSDOT. What started off as a local initiative to better tell the story (through data) about human services transportation has influenced the GTFS-Flex standard which will have a global impact on how trip planners make sense of non-fixed route services.”

Dr. Anat Caspi, Director of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology

“Bringing GTFS-Flex into transit feed mainstreams allows transit agencies to elevate and broadcast their focus and priority on mobility equity. The acceptance of a standard schema is a great impetus and gateway for agencies to get their data aligned with industry standards, and their services aligned with travelers who need their services most.”

Thomas Craig, Data Analyst, WSDOT

"Hopelink’s work has been instrumental in moving forward to a new stage in a community development process more than a decade in the making. Human services transportation needs to be more visible to riders and partners, and there’s more work yet to be done, but Find a Ride has set a new bar for demand responsive transportation technology.”

Sara Sisco, Senior Manager, Education & Outreach, Hopelink Mobility

“The work that Hopelink has done to help establish the GTFS-Flex feeds will forever shape the landscape of how resilient communities access transit. The work that is being done will make it simpler for Hopelink clients to gain transportation resources and better engage with the community.”

Other projects around the country have also celebrated this historic moment. Elliot McFadden of Greater Minnesota Shared Mobility Program Coordinator at Minnesota Department of Transportation wrote: "Sometimes you have moments when you really get to see the impact of your work. As part of the MnDOT Mobility-as-a-Service project that I lead, we have implemented GTFS-Flex as a data spec to allow trip planning for flexible services like demand response, deviated route, and ADA paratransit to show up in trip planners, like our partner Transit app. GTFS-Flex has been a provisional spec until now, only used on demonstration projects and not widely adopted. As a result of our project as a demonstration of GTFS-Flex, MobilityData, the steward of GTFS, moved forward on calling a vote to adopt GTFS-Flex as an official part of the spec. Today that motion passed.” He continued “This is a big deal for the public transit industry and for rural public transit and ADA paratransit providers, giving them a pathway to finally be presented alongside fixed route transit in trip planners”.

Find a Ride's trip planner is now available to the public for our soft launch, Phase 1a. This phase focuses on educating assistor communities and organizations in King County about our new mobility tool. We encourage you to arrange a demonstration and presentation of Find a Ride for your organization. Please contact Laura Loe (she/her), Program Manager, by email or call 425-943-6760 and press 3.

Hopelink’s Mobility Management’s focus over the coming months is engaging with organizations supporting King County travelers in their mobility planning decisions. Community members are encouraged to try the new trip planner and provide feedback to support continuous improvements.

Find a Ride's service discovery website and trip planner contain transportation services across Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties. We are not currently able to book rides for travelers.

We are grateful for the companies supporting our complex software project: Trillium - An Optibus Company, Arcadis | IBI Group, Cambridge Systematics, Anthro-Tech, and Full Path Transit Technology. We are grateful for the funding support from Hopelink, Sound Transit, King County Metro, WSDOT, and the Climate Commitment Act. We appreciate the commitment to excellence and inclusive planning from our Advisory Committee Members.

Visit www.FindARide.org for more information.

Learn about Find a Ride's multi-phase roadmap and project updates .

Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition's Mobility Update

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 21:38:41 GMT

2024 SVMC Mobility Resolution

Last week, the Snoqualmie City Council, led by Mayor Katherine Ross and Community Development Director Emily Arteche, passed a Resolution from the Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition (SVMC) to show support for mobility, equity, and transportation accessibility for all residents. This Resolution underscores the city's dedication to providing safe, flexible, convenient, reliable, and affordable transportation options, aligning with its Comprehensive Plans to strengthen community connectivity and mobility. The decision has garnered widespread praise from stakeholders across the valley. The resolution’s passing represents progress by committing to prioritizing community accessibility and mobility.

Additionally, Deputy Mayor Adair Hawkins and Mayor Jim Rabail from the City of Carnation have already officially passed this resolution, demonstrating their commitment to these fundamental principles. Our aim with the Resolution is to showcase cohesion in establishing a unified voice and vision throughout the region, ensuring accessible, affordable, convenient, coordinated, reliable, and safe mobility options and opportunities for everyone.

Looking ahead, the Coalition aims to collaborate with the cities of North Bend and Duvall to establish the framework for city council members to guide city-wide policies and projects through a mobility-centric approach. The Coalition will highlight the importance of considering all transportation modes, including public transit, biking, rolling, and walking, to ensure multiple and appropriate options for residents, businesses, and visitors.

We look forward to advancing our efforts this year and welcome those interested to join us by contacting Tracie Jones, the Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coordinator.

Together, let's propel transportation forward.

The Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition (SVMC) respects, values, and welcomes all people at all times.

SVMC believes affordable, equitable, and collaborative transportation is vital for comprehensive regional prosperity. Our Coalition connects communities with progressive transportation options and opportunities for all.

For more information on Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition, email Tracie Jones , visit the SVMC Subregional Webpage, and join the SVMC Distribution List for weekly updates.

50 Years of the Rehabilitation Act

lloe@hopelink.org (Laura Loe ) — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 22:06:26 GMT

Celebrating Inclusion in Community!

On January 20, 2024, the community came together to celebrate 50 years of the Rehabilitation Act at Magnuson Park’s Hanger 30. The event was organized by the City of Seattle, ARC, University of Washington, The Seattle Public Library, Studio Pacifica, Age Friendly Seattle, Northwest ADA Center, and the National Federation of the Blind Washington. The keynote speaker was Dr. Anjali J. Forber- Pratt, Activist, Paralympic Medalist, Director of the National Institute of Disability, and Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research.

The event included a performance by Fantasy A, a lecture on the history of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by Sushil Oswal, Ph.D., University of Washington, and ASL Story Telling by Loni Friedman.

“ The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 , as Amended (Rehab Act) prohibits discrimination based on disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, receiving federal financial aid, federal employment, and employment practices of federal contractors. Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehab Act are well known in education settings for supporting students with disabilities. Additionally, there are broad applications of the Rehab Act for labor standards programs that receive federal funding.”

In attendance were several staff members from UW’s The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology . According to their website, “Sidewalks are the primary connecting fabric of our communities and the connection between all other travel options, and yet, for many of us, traveling on sidewalks can present many unanticipated challenges. AccessMap.app closes some of those gaps by incorporating detailed information about pedestrian ways and transit stations for instance, by displaying elevation changes, curb ramps and publicly accessible elevators. Additionally, users can specify information about their own mobility and trip preferences, and the automated routing service presents the best route for the profile".

Find a Ride , a program administered by Hopelink, was invited to recruit community testers for our new trip planner at the 50th Anniversary Celebration. Find a Ride is being developed in partnership with King County Mobility Coalition and Advisory Committee oversight. The program focuses on the transportation and access needs of older adults and people with disabilities. Hopelink’s trip planner works towards WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and section 508 conformances (section 508 is part of the Rehab Act). Find a Ride now includes nearly two dozen specialized transportation services for Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties that have never been coordinated in a trip planner. Read our roadmap and business plan to learn more.

Find a Ride’s trip planner is currently recruiting community testers. Visit FindARide.org to sign up and provide feedback. This feedback will create a unified program that delivers accessible trip-planning experiences. For more information, call 425-943-6760 and press 3.

Below are additional photos from the fantastic event!

Seattle's 2023 White Cane Day

lloe@hopelink.org (Laura Loe ) — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 21:51:07 GMT

A Celebration of Opportunity, Equality, and Independence!

White Cane Day took place in Seattle on Saturday, October 14, 2023, celebrating the achievements of people who are blind or visually impaired and the important tool of independence, the white cane.

The White Cane Day Walk began at the Pike Place Market and concluded with a reception at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL). WTBBL, a program of the Office of the Secretary of State , provides access to information and reading materials for people who cannot read standard print.

Representatives from multiple organizations attended, including the Department of Services for the Blind, Northwest Association of Blind Athletes, Washington Council of the Blind, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and more!

Hopelink's Find a Ride program appreciates our advisors, including Jeff Abrams, who invited Laura Loe, Program Manager, to participate in White C a ne Day.

And, thanks to Find a Ride Advisor, Dorene Cornwell, who provided an impromptu explanation about Find a Ride's trip planner to several attendees.

Find a Ride’s trip planner is recruiting for user testing this fall. Visit FindARide.org to sign up to provide feedback and the chance to win prizes. Your feedback will help create a program that delivers an accessible trip-planning experience. For more information, call 425-943-6760 and press 3.

Enhancing Cross-County Travel: Addressing Barriers and Fostering Mobility Freedom

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 22:21:40 GMT

Cross-County Transportation Needs Between King and Snohomish Counties

Cross-county travel restrictions present a significant challenge for transportation service providers and community end-users, leaving unmet needs and hindered mobility freedom. Recognizing this issue, the North King County Mobility Coalition and Hopelink’s Mobility Management department, partnered with University of Washington Evans School Consultants to address this issue. We embarked on a five-month research study to identify the limitations faced by community end-users and the barriers that prevent transportation service providers from addressing these cross-border needs. Through a literature review, interviews, and careful analysis, they have shed light on the challenges and devised priority recommendations to alleviate these barriers.

To gain a holistic understanding of the cross-county travel issue, the Evans School Consultants conducted a literature review and engaged in interviews with various providers and community members. The findings revealed a range of barriers faced by both transportation service providers and community end-users.

Challenges for Transportation Service Providers:

Not Enough or Inconsistent Funding
Reduced Staffing and Program Capacity
Lack of Program Sustainability
Incompatible Technology
Lack of Cross-Coordination of Policies and Procedures

Challenges for Community End-Users:

Mistreatment by Transportation Drivers
Long Transfer Wait Times
Not Qualifying for Paratransit Services
Lack of Accessible Infrastructure
Lack of Communication from Transportation Providers

In response to these challenges, the Evans School Consultants have outlined priority recommendations aimed at reducing the barriers and improving cross-county travel for both transportation service providers and community end-users. These recommendations include:

Improve Training and Driver Education
Create Interlocal Agreements for Cross-border Services and Aggregated Resources
Create an Official Structure in Cross-Border Travel
Engage in State Legislative Activities
Improve Disability Certification Process
Population- or Trip-Specific Funding
Collaboration for Ridership Equity

To read the full report click here .

Next Steps

Next, take an active role in supporting and promoting our mission. Whether it's advocating for our cause, championing our services, or endorsing our efforts in the public domain, your voice carries significant weight and can drive positive change.

By prioritizing the findings from our research report, we can pave the way for a more successful, sustainable, and impactful future. Together, let's seize this opportunity and drive positive change that will shape mobility freedom in North King County for the years to come. Contact the North King County Mobility Coordinator (see below for contact info) to get involved.

To stay current on our work in North King County, sign up for our weekly newsletter and attend one of our bimonthly meetings via Zoom .

For questions or comments, please contact Julio Perez, North King County Mobility Coordinator, at ( 425) 943-6730 or Jperez@hopelink.org .

Open the Paths 2023: An Open Data & Transportation Equity Conference

lloe@hopelink.org (Laura Loe ) — Wed, 10 May 2023 00:01:07 GMT

The Open the Paths 2023: An Open Data & Transportation Equity Conference brought together data professionals and academics with community members, transportation professionals, and organizations working to increase community mobility. There was a palatable and shared passion among every attendee and speaker around simplifying transportation in our communities. The technical focus on data specification standards was particularly relevant for a multi-year project Hopelink is working on, a One-Call/One-Click system , which will begin with the launch of a beta trip planner website in 2023.

The TDEI (transportation data equity initiative) is a project led by the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology and Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC), sponsored by the ITS4US Program, US Department of Transportation.

Led by Anat Caspi Ph D, the mini-conference had wide-ranging implications for mobility and accessibility in our communities. People with limited options make agonizing decisions for both necessary and joyful trips around their communities. The barriers for non-drivers include geographic, language, financial, cultural, time of day, lengthy planning ahead, and many other factors.

Open the Paths 2023, located at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science building, focused on refining relevant data standards to improve mobility for people with disabilities and an analysis of other barriers to transit. Data quality and continuity ensures more comprehensive information in transit planning tools. Better data standards can help transit agencies and policymakers to identify and address gaps in our systems.

Keynote speaker, Karen Braitmayer, FAIA, architect, and wheelchair user, emphasized that working towards better data standards is both “an art and a science.” The conference also made connections to community mental health. Braitmayer explained how barriers like tree routes, steep hills, and bumps on sidewalks may make people afraid to leave their homes. Crafting data standards which help tell the story of our built environments is an urgent problem to address.

During Day 2, the conference focused on evaluation criteria for equity and access. Anat Caspi Ph D emphasized a need for less “squishy” criteria so transportation data can accurately reflect the experiences of multiply marginalized community members. The day ended with a synergetic community visioning conversation towards best practices in tagging community collected sidewalk data.

Over the two days, April 21 and 22, attendees pondered thorny questions like:

Are wheelchair users pedestrians?
What is meant by ‘good’ and ‘bad’ data?
How might researchers assess when community members feel left out due to a lack of abundant transit options?
How reliable are crowd-sourced data?
How might lack of maintenance of existing data sources undermine the data integrity of existing data sets?
What are collectible data?

Neuropsychologist Taylor Kuhn, Ph.D., presented on the Human Connectome Project and their work at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. This project “aims to provide an unparalleled compilation of neural data, an interface to graphically navigate this data, and the opportunity to achieve never before realized conclusions about the living human brain.” Learn more . Kuhn’s presentation demonstrated how Connectome modeling may predict future mode shift from single occupancy car travel due to congestion pricing.

Community volunteers are often co-creators in the data for sidewalks. This creates unique challenges for creating data standards. For example, Braitmayer described significant challenges translating concepts like “sidewalk bumps” into a data description standard. Several attendees mentioned how disruptive it can be when a paratransit trip that is supposed to be door-to-door takes extra time due to inefficiencies. The conference highlighted projects in Minnesota, Chicago, and Seattle tackling mobility options that currently are not included in Google or Apple Maps.

The collaboration fostered in the mini-conference ensures a more coordinated approach at the federal, state, and local levels. It reinforces the need for organizations rooted in the local community, like Hopelink, to be engaged in data creation and long-term continuous maintenance. At Hopelink, in connection with our partners in Pierce, King and Snohomish, we are helping set best practices for mobility management data projects in the Puget Sound Region that prioritize the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. Hopelink’s One-Call/One-Click system, Find a Ride, will begin a multi-year roadmap with the launch of a trip planner website in 2023. This work arose from an inclusive planning process with King County Mobility Coalition and other partners.

Hopelink’s guiding principles for Find a Ride include eventual integration with Access Map sidewalk data which focuses on understanding and improving the pedestrian experience through better data collection. At first, Find a Ride will be trip planner with “call ahead” and “right now” service. Longer-term plans include integration with mobility options like taxi services, micro-mobility, and more. As of April 2023, there are twenty-six services complete and twenty-six services in progress in Find a Ride. We appreciate the thoughtful data feed creation with our partners at WSDOT. Our project is shaping an emerging data standard for specialized transportation providers.

Find a Ride Program Manager, Laura Loe, reflected on the event:

“Open the Paths 2023 demonstrated the need for lived experts to be involved from the beginning, and at every aspect of mobility management, something Hopelink has ensured with support from our Advisory Committee. Hopelink’s engagement and outreach, new community navigator program, and transportation resources phone line are all rooted in listening to non-drivers and connecting them to choices to increase their independence and community connection.”

At Hopelink, our mobility programs benefit from robust community connections. Find a Ride’s trip planner will lead to gap assessments, a theme woven throughout Open the Paths 2023. Our project will help the Puget Sound Region right away while also leading to long-term improvements for those who have been left stranded by current systems. Analogous to the work on sidewalk data, it will take on-the-ground feedback to increase accuracy and meaning to our One-Call/ One-Click program.

Hopelink’s Director of Mobility Management and the Program Manager for Find a Ride were in attendance. Members of the Find a Ride project team from the King County Mobility Coalition, Cambridge Systematics, Arcadis IBI, SDOT, PSRC, WSDOT were also in attendance.

A special thank you to Dr. Anat Caspi for hosting this fantastic event.

Anat Caspi, PhD, is Principal Scientist at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. She is Director of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, whose mission is to develop, translate and deploy open source universally accessible technologies, with a focus on benefiting individuals with motor limitations or speech impairment. Dr. Caspi is a technical advisor for Hopelink’s Find a Ride, One-Call/One-Click program.

Research Project Updates: Cross-County Transportation

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 20:28:06 GMT

Consultants from the University of Washington will present recommendations to reduce barriers for cross-country travel.

Coordinating transportation services to be more efficient, flexible, and borderless is a challenge that transit agencies, non-profits, and local/regional providers have grappled with for years. Trying to cross county lines with the current transit and paratransit system is overly burdensome, with long waiting periods, multiple transfers, and requires advanced notice and coordination with numerous providers.

Addressing the current challenges facing cross-county transportation services will help support an aging population and empower people with disabilities and seniors to have greater independence.

For several months, the North King County Mobility Coalition staff has worked with three Master of Public Administration students from the  University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance consulting lab.

The North King County Mobility Coalition is excited to announce that the University of Washington consultants have finished interviewing transportation service providers and community members and the first draft of the final report. We will be sharing project updates at the bimonthly NKCMC meeting. See below for meeting details.

This project aims to allow people to move freely across county lines with ease by conducting an environmental scan identifying and advocating for improvements in travel between King and Snohomish Counties. This includes a SWOT analysis, a final report, and a presentation of our findings at the May 16 King County Mobility Coalition meeting via Zoom .

To learn more about the work completed to date, read the Cross-County Transportation Project one-pager .

If you have any questions, please contact Julio Perez at jperez@hopelink.org or (425) 943-6730.

North King County Meeting Details

When: Thursday, April 27, from 10:15 am – 12:00 pm. (first 15 minutes are optional)

Where: Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82339571719?pwd=OU16Zks2Sk9lY2Zac1VqNGora0psQT09

North King County Mobility Coalition encourages everyone to participate, regardless of ability. For accommodations or accessibility information, we request you please contact Julio Perez (425) 943-6730 or jperez@hopelink.org at least 1 week prior to the meeting. A sincere effort will be made to schedule any accessibility requests made within a week of the meeting.

We hope to see you there!

Latest News from the One-Call/One-Click Team

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 18:54:00 GMT

Major updates from the Hopelink and King County Mobility Coalition (KCMC) project that aims to simplify and streamline the way community connects to specialized transportation options.

It’s a new year and the One-Call/One-Click system Find a Ride is really coming together. With this multi-modal trip planner and referral platform service, you will be able to avail yourself of many transportation options through a centralized trip planning and ride requesting service that is, literally, one call or one click away.

In early 2021 we were happy to announce that the Hopelink Mobility team had secured funding from WSDOT to build the first phase of a transformative transportation tool. This article aims to update you on what we have achieved so far.

First – we have a brand name! The Central Puget Sound one-call/one-click system will be known as Find a Ride. We aim to do just that, help all community members of all abilities find a ride that will get them to where they need to go. Easy.

Second – we have a software team to help us build Find a Ride. We have contracted with two well-known vendors in the transportation field; Cambridge Systematics and Arcadis IBI . Cambridge Systematics has been working on transportation issues for over 50 years, and Arcadis was originally founded in 1888! Together, Cambridge and Arcadis IBI have put their expertise to work on building the foundations of Find a Ride.

And what are those foundations? The first piece of Find a Ride is a robust multi-modal trip planner. This trip planner aims to include all transportation options in Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties – including specialized services like neighborhood shuttles and rural programs. These types of services have historically been difficult to include in a trip planner because of the difficulty of creating the proper data structures and formats. Thanks to meaningful technological advancements, the expertise of our two vendors, and the support of the Washington State Department of Transportation, we are tackling this technical difficulty! Once launched, our vendors will continue to shape, streamline, and simplify the software tool to help fit the needs of the community.

In addition to this complete trip planner, Find a Ride will be a streamlined, accessible, and user-friendly tool. Users will be able to filter their results, receive detailed itineraries, and learn about new programs.

Which brings us to our next step. The all-important stage of user testing. This is where the rubber meets the road (if you’ll excuse the transportation pun). We need your help. We need you to help us build this system. The feedback we gather from user testing will affect and influence the look, feel, and functionality of the Find a Ride site and software. We expect to begin this testing in the coming weeks and months. If you are interested in being part of this project, we’d love to hear from you.

Volunteer to be a Software Tester.

Welcome the first cohort of Community Transportation Navigators

bgilbert@hopelink.org (B Gilbert) — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 16:29:41 GMT

Program Overview

To long-time partners of the King County Mobility Coalition, the story of the Community Transportation Navigator pilot will sound familiar. In 2018, Hopelink, on behalf of the King County Mobility Coalition, was awarded an inclusive planning grant to evaluate how people find and secure non-cost barrier transportation.

From this process two major solutions emerged, Community Transportation Navigators and Central Puget Sound One-Call/One-Click . Two innovative and transformative projects which will connect community members to mobility options that work best for them.

In the five years that have passed since the Inclusive Planning grant the Hopelink Mobility team has continued to work with community partners to refine and design this peer-to-peer approach to outreach so that people learn directly from trusted transportation champions in their community.

In August of this year Hopelink and King County Metro launched the Community Transportation Navigator pilot to connect community members to travel options introduced to them by trusted sources. These community leaders have shared experiences, languages, cultures, and geography.

This pilot will primarily serve community members who have lower usage rates of transportation resources. This includes low-to-moderate income community members, people with limited English proficiency, older adults, and immigrant and refugee populations.

Program Goals & Aims

This pilot project aims to reach the "hardest-to-reach" communities and improve communities' mobility, confidence level, and equitable access to opportunity and independence. Individuals benefiting from the program will receive information in a culturally inclusive manner. The program will provide:

Education , access to navigation tools
Program Enrollment , support in enrolling in reduced fare options & eligibility-restricted programs
Training Sessions , creating trust and relationship building with other community avenues
Incentive Distribution and opportunities for continuous engagement.

Next Steps

We are incredibly excited to share that we have recruited and onboarded our first cohort of Community Transportation Navigators that are part of the Filipino community!

Navigators learn vital information about the transportation layout and resources throughout King County during the onboarding process. With this knowledge, Navigators can perform outreach in culturally appropriate strategies to educate and engage with community members. Navigators will have the experience and skills to provide nuanced support and creative solutions to meet the needs of the communities they represent.

Contact Information

For more information or to serve on the project team, contact:

Sandy Phan

Program Coordinator, South King County Mobility Coalition

sphan@hopelink.org

425-457-3940

Regional Alliance to Host Provider Network Kick-off Event

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:09:06 GMT

On June 24th RARET partners will gather to plan and structure the long anticipated Emergency Transportation Provider Network

Since the start of the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation, RARET has had the goal of creating a network of dedicated partners who band together in emergencies to maintain access and mobility for all community members, especially folks with unique access and functional needs.

Over the years, RARET, has made strides toward this vision. The Coordinated Vaccine Helpline piloted many of the key concepts which will be the foundations of the Emergency Transportation Provider Network. The latest step forward will come on June 24th during the ETPN Summit.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET) is launching the Emergency Transportation Provider Network (ETPN) at a summit co-facilitated by the Community Transportation Association of America.

Free lunch will be provided and transportation reimbursement is available. Click here to register today!

Who : Transportation providers, emergency managers, mobility managers, and other interested stakeholders serving Snohomish, King, and Pierce Counties

What : we will present the current plans for formalizing ETPN, assess needs of stakeholders, and discuss next steps for formalizing the network

Where : South Bellevue Community Center, Community Room: 14509 SE Newport Way, Bellevue, WA, 98006 – transportation reimbursement available

When : Friday, June 24 ^th from 10:00am to 3:00pm

The goal of the ETPN is to increase the availability of transportation for special needs populations during adverse weather or emergencies including but not limited to snow events, earthquakes, wildfires, heatwaves, flooding, and pandemics. By having a collective regional ETPN, stakeholders will have greater predictability in which providers are operating during heightened conditions. Join the conversation today!

RARET encourages everyone to participate, regardless of ability. For accommodations or accessibility information, we request you please contact Dean Sydnor at DSydnor@hopelink.org or 425-429-5995.

Update: Central Puget Sound One-Call/One-Click Phase 1A Request for Proposals

bgilbert@hopelink.org (B Gilbert) — Fri, 20 May 2022 22:10:18 GMT

Proposal Overview

Hopelink is seeking proposals from vendors to initiate Phase 1A of the Central Puget Sound One-Call/One-Click system. This technology will minimize the burden placed on riders by creating a multimodal trip-planner as the foundational starting point to finding and securing a ride. Phase 1A launches an inclusive trip planner and rider profiles, focusing on demand response and/or eligibility restricted services. This system will advance as we build out the other essential components outlined in Appendix A: Principal Components of the One-Call/One-Click System.

Links:

Request for Proposals (New 5/20)
Appendices
Appendix A: One-Call/One-Click Principal Components
Appendix B: Cost Sheet Template
Appendix C: User Stories
Appendix D: Definitions and Glossary
Appendix E: Project’s Key Performance Indicators
Appendix F: Subcontractor Requirements
Appendix G: Full Terms and Conditions
Appendix H: Functional and Technical Requirements (New 5/20; changes in green)

Submission Deadline

Proposals shall not be considered if received after 4:00 PM PDT on Friday, June 3, 2022

More Information

Hopelink hosted a Q&A Zoom webinar on Wednesday, April 13 ^th at 9:00 AM PDT.

Written questions regarding the contents of this RFP may be submitted to: Staci Sahoo, Director of Mobility Management, at ssahoo@hopelink.org . Questions must be submitted electronically and received by 4:00 PM PDT, on Thursday, May26, 2022.

One-Call/One-Click RFP Q&A Presentation (4/19)
One-Call/One-Click RFP Q&A Document (4/19)
Q&A Document (5/26)

What’s Next for Transportation Coordination After a Year of COVID-19 Vaccine Access Work.

bgilbert@hopelink.org (B Gilbert) — Tue, 03 May 2022 15:59:06 GMT

In coordination with the King County COVID Vaccine Mobility Task Force and the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation, Hopelink has recently put together The COVID-19 Pandemic Response Summary Report detailing action taken by our team and partners to reduce transportation barriers and provide access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The report is available for all to review. It details the Task Force, the Transportation Provider Network (TPN) pilot, and the Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline. This includes data regarding Helpline callers and vaccine trips.

With the close of this year-long project, we wanted to make sure that we took the time to document and digest all the lessons we learned together with our partners. These lessons are:

Mobility and Transportation Advocates need to connect with decision-makers early in the planning process. Transportation is often an invisible barrier, an invisible resource. The advocacy for reducing barriers and elevating accessible options needs to happen as soon as possible.
Transportation providers want clarity and to meet the needs of community members. Coordination efforts such as the TPN need to have clear definitions for participants. Partners need to know what they are saying yes to, and the appropriate point-of-contact for each program needs to be bought into the project and its vision.
There is a strong desire from community members for same-day services. Many of the callers who connected with the Helpline gave less than 36-hour notice and wanted assurance of a ride quickly. The desire for same-day and the quick turnaround limited options and often removed many otherwise well-fitting programs from consideration. The need for long advance notice and strict jurisdictional boundaries frequently presented barriers to connecting a caller to a specialized transportation provider. As the pandemic continued and labor shortages increased, there was a particular constraint on specialized and volunteer transportation providers. Fewer drivers led to a greater reliance on for-profit options.
All mobilization efforts detailed in this report and their successes were predicated on the existence of strong communication networks. This is perhaps the truest for the situational awareness updates. The King County Task Force was a possibility because of the groundwork laid out by the years of coordination done by King County Mobility Coalition membership and the three-county Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation. In emergency scenarios such as this pandemic, consistent communication is key.

As a next step for this coordination work, project team members will be presenting at the May RARET Workgroup meeting. We will review ridership data and opportunities for future collaboration.

Many of these lessons feed directly into current and future projects, like the Central Puget Sound One-Call/One-Click and RARET’s Emergency Transportation Provider Network, and the continued coordination offered by the King County Mobility Coalition network. These projects, and our coalition, are rooted in coordination and collaboration. While our direct COVID-19 vaccine work is over for now, the work towards a community where people can move freely throughout the region continues.

After a year of serving the community, Hopelink Mobility sunsets the Vaccine Transportation Helpline

bgilbert@hopelink.org (B Gilbert) — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 16:30:44 GMT

After a year of service to the community, Hopelink’s last day of the King County Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline will be March 8th, 2022. After March 8th, individuals needing transportation to and from vaccine appointments, or other destinations, are encouraged to call the Transportation Resources Line (TRL): (425) 943-6760. The TRL is open Monday-Friday 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM. You can also visit www.FindARide.org .

The helpline partnered with many transportation providers across King County to serve over 150 clients who received their COVID-19 vaccines.

First, we must say a massive Thank You to the team and the people who made this Helpline happen. We start by saying Thank You to the excellent Hopelink staff responsible for taking all of the clients' phone calls and online submissions to ensure rides were fulfilled. Thank you, Catalina Gomez, Bebhinn Gilbert, and Julio Perez. Each of the three worked tirelessly to ensure all clients' requests were answered and had the support they needed to get to their vaccines. Kudos to the three of them!

Next, we must thank our COVID-19 Vaccine Mobility Task Force. Each person on that task force showed up weekly for many months to make sure that we could connect anyone who needed resources to the resources that they needed. This includes folks from King County Public Health, Aging and Disability Services, King County Metro, Sound Transit, City of Seattle, Seattle Department of Transportation, Sound Generations, Volunteer Services of CCS, City of Kirkland, and many others!

The crux of our success was the support we received from Transportation Providers across King County. We are incredibly grateful to each and every one of the following providers: Sound Generations, Volunteer Services of CCS, Snoqualmie Valley Transportation, Northshore Senior Center, King County Metro Access and Community Van, Hopelink Non-Emergency Medical Transportation, Lyft, and Uber.

Finally, we must say thank you to the Hopelink Mobility Management team! Under the guidance of our Director, Staci Sahoo, we were able to work with so many of you to make this Helpline happen. This fantastic work was supported by the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation staff, Bree Boyce & Dean Sydnor. Each of our team members contributed to the success of this Helpline!

Hopelink's Mobility Management team remains committed to helping people access the COVID-19 vaccine. We can no longer guarantee free transportation to and from vaccine appointments; however, we are still here to connect community members to transportation resources.

If you, or someone you know, needs transportation to and from a vaccine appointment – or any other destination, please call the Transportation Resources Line at 425-943-6760. Callers will receive information about available options that meet their needs.

Hopelink hosts Open House Event to Discuss Phase 3 of Eastlink Connections Extension Project

bgilbert@hopelink.org (B Gilbert) — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 00:27:24 GMT

Join this virtual event to learn more about Phase 3 of this regional project

Hopelink is hosting a virtual open house on March 4 ^th , 2022 from 10:30 to 11:30am, aimed at fostering communication between Eastlink planners, community-based organizations, and riders.

Eastlink Connections is a project jointly led by Sound Transit and King County Metro which aims to improve transit connections on the Eastside in preparation for Link Light Rail expansions which are planned for 2023 and 2024. These extension projects will bring 12 new Light Rail Stations, and 29 bus routes to the Eastside. These projects will impact Bellevue, Bothell, Clyde Hill, Duvall, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Medina, Mercer Island, Newcastle, Redmond, Renton, Sammamish, Shoreline, Seattle Judkins Park/Center District, Woodinville, Yarrow Point.

We are currently in the third phase of public engagement, but it may be helpful to review the first two phases. In the first phase of engagement, April 5 – 25, 2021, Metro and Sound Transit sought to identify the needs and priorities of the Eastside, including important connection points, availability, frequency, reliability, overcrowding, safety, barriers to transit use, as well as improvements that would encourage more transit use. Metro and Sound Transit identified the following needs and priorities through conversations with community-based organizations, local employers, local mobility groups and a public survey:

· Make transfers easier by being safe, frequent, and accessible, especially for seniors and riders with disabilities

· Provide faster travel times

· Minimize transfers for long-distance travelers who may already have multiple transfers

· Provide more connections to new locations such as UW, Sea-Tac Airport, Northgate, and downtown Seattle

· Improve and add local connections

· More service outside of peak periods and more service on weekends

In the second phase of engagement, they presented a set of service concepts based on the identified needs and priorities of Eastside community stakeholders. They asked Eastside stakeholders and community organizations for feedback on these service concepts, which they incorporated into their refined service change concepts.

We are now entering the third phase of engagement. Sound transit and Metro are looking for public feedback to fine tune their service change proposal to ensure they meet the transit needs of Eastside communities. They will use this final round of community feedback to adjust their service proposal. They will then present to the King County Council and Sound Transit Board later in 2022. Upon approval, these service changes will be implemented ahead of the opening of the Link light rail 2 Line in 2023.

This is an opportunity to shape public transportation on the eastside and ensure it meets our specific needs. Join us in the conversation by registering for the Open House here on March 4 ^th from 10:30-11:30.

Additionally, you can participate in the Eastlink Connections survey , open until March 7 ^th and join an information session Saturday, February 26 ^th from 10:00 to 11:00am by registering here .

Sno-Valley transportation options to get a boost from new campaign

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 23:39:06 GMT

Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition coordinates to promote transportation choices

Redmond, WA – (Dec. 13, 2021)

Transportation services in the Snoqualmie Valley aren’t limited to a traditional bus, and riders may not even recognize smaller shuttles, vans and even personal cars as an option to get from place to place.

The Coordinated Awareness Campaign from the Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition (SVMC) aims to change that, by increasing awareness and understanding of existing travel options for valley residents, employees and visitors.

Residents can now look to their local city websites to find a comprehensive list of services available – categorized for general use, specific age groups, special needs and trip types. In addition, utility bills will include flyers, and social media campaigns will share resources such as FindARide.org – which recently expanded coverage to the Snoqualmie Valley region.

With increased awareness, the goal is to get non-drivers and those interested in driving less where they need to go. Ultimately, greater awareness will hopefully result in increased ridership of existing services, as well as improved and expanded services within, to and from the Snoqualmie Valley.

The Coordinated Awareness Campaign is the result of a partnership between the Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition, valley cities and organizations. SVMC is led by Hopelink Mobility Management, which convened in 2017 as a distinct subregional coalition to address the unique needs of the Snoqualmie Valley. The Coordinated Awareness Campaign is one of several projects that SVMC is working on to improve transportation in the valley.

In addition, in 2021, Hopelink received a grant to create the “One-Call/One-Click” system that will ease the process of getting from place to place not only in the Snoqualmie Valley but the Central Puget Sound. With user testing expected to begin next summer, the system will make it possible for anyone who needs to get from one location to another in the Central Puget Sound area to connect directly with travel options through a number of different platforms – including a call center, website and apps.

About Hopelink

In 2020 Hopelink served nearly 65,000 people in King and Snohomish Counties. Our services are designed to help individuals and families find stability in crisis by meeting basic needs for food, shelter, heat and transportation. In addition, we support people working hard to build a path out of poverty through adult education, financial capabilities classes, help finding a job and family development support through comprehensive case management. Our organization also provides services through a trauma-informed lens, recognizing that the violence of poverty leaves scars, both mental and physical, that have long-term effects on how people perceive the world and choices they make.

Media contact:

Salwa Raphael, Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coordinator

sraphael@hopelink.org

t 425.943.6753 | c 425.466.3442

Continued Service and Increased Access: King County Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 20:50:26 GMT

Story Update (October 8, 2021)

Transportation remains a critical element to access the COVID-19 vaccine. As boosters become available, we want to remind you and your clients that the Hopelink Mobility team is here to assist with transportation to and from Vaccine appointments.

While some services have changed through the summer and early fall, the Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline (The Helpline) remains available to assist in gaining access to these critical vaccines. Hopelink Mobility Staff can be available to assist with Pop-up clinics either by scheduling rides in advance or attending the event and helping individuals get home.

This service is available to anyone who calls . However, for vaccine trips, we often refer to specialized transportation providers who may have specific eligibility requirements. Our staff will listen to your needs and find a solution that fits.

• Current Hours of Operation : Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm

• Phone Number : 425-943-6706

• Language Assistance : Please state your language in English and staff will connect an interpreter

• Online Intake Form : https://bit.ly/3rcuoIK

If no one answers, please leave a voicemail, and we will call you back as soon as we can. If you call outside of business hours, we will return your call the next business day.

Promotion and resources are available for you to download and distribute in many languages! Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline Flyers:

• English

• Amharic

• Arabic

• Chinese Simplified

• Dari

• French

• Korean

• Lingala

• Portuguese

• Russian

• Somali

• Spanish

• Swahili

• Tagalog

• Vietnamese

Continue reading below the dashes for the original post detailing this resource.

___

Redmond, Wash. – (May 6, 2021) – Hopelink has launched the Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline (425-943-6706) as a one-stop-shop for finding and securing transportation to and from vaccination sites in and around King County.

For many communities across King County, transportation is a constant barrier to getting to their doctor’s appointments, grocery stores and social gatherings. This barrier was made even more complex by the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals – especially older adults, people with disabilities, people with limited English and members of the BIPOC community – faced some of the most significant barriers. As the COVID-19 vaccine began to roll out in January, it was clear that transportation continued to be an obstacle. Many of the populations most in need of the vaccine were unable to safely and reliably get to their vaccine appointment.

This need prompted Hopelink to think creatively on how to be part of the solution. In addition to launching the King County COVID Vaccine Mobility Task Force, Hopelink created the Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline . This Helpline is a one-stop-shop for finding and securing transportation support to and from vaccine appointments in and around King County. Individuals, caregivers, caseworkers, medical professionals, vaccine schedulers and others can receive individualized support for themselves or the rider they are helping through either an online intake form or by calling 425-943-6706 (press 5 for language assistance). There is no eligibility criteria, and the ride is free in most circumstances.

This program aims to support communities that are the most vulnerable and need access to the vaccine sites; this includes BIPOC communities, seniors, immigrants, refugees and individuals with disabilities.

“We want to ensure transportation is not the barrier to accessing the vaccine in our community,” says Staci Sahoo, Director of Mobility Management at Hopelink.

The Helpline was launched in late February and is staffed by Hopelink team members who are bilingual in English/Spanish, and staff also have access to interpretation services at the time of the call. The Helpline reservation line is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can also leave a voicemail and get a callback.

The success of this Helpline is because of the incredible partnerships that were created. This includes Sound Generations (Hyde Shuttle & Volunteer Driver Program), Catholic Community Services of Western Washington (King County Volunteer Services), King County Metro (Access, Community Van, Crossroads Connect, Via to Transit), Snoqualmie Valley Transportation , Northshore Senior Center , Puget Sound Educational Service District , Hopelink’s Non-Emergency Medical Transportation , Lyft , and Uber . These partners have stepped up to provide access to transportation to vaccine appointments and provided them at no cost.

The success of this program is highlighted by an older Hispanic couple who called for a next-day trip. English was not their primary language, and they were nervous about riding public transit. They were afraid they would get lost, but they also feared being harassed for being immigrants. Traveling from Kirkland to Seattle with such short notice, options were limited; however, this ride was able to be fulfilled in partnership with King County Metro’s Community Van. In addition, they were able to ride again to receive their second shot.

“No one should second-guess how they will get to their vaccine appointment,” said Sahoo. “We want to put their mind at ease by giving them one less thing to worry about.”

Hopelink is proud to partner with Public Health – Seattle & King County and many other organizations across King County to provide transportation for this critical resource. The Helpline will continue to support the community as long as there is a need, thanks to generous grant partners, including Washington State Department of Transportation, Aging and Disability Services' Community Living Connections, and All in WA’s Vaccine Equity Initiative.

For additional transportation resources, visit: https://www.findaride.org/covid or call 425-943-6706. A flyer about the Vaccine Transportation Helpline is available in English , Arabic , Chinese , Farsi , Khmer , Korean , Luganda , Portuguese , Russian , Somali , Spanish , Swahili , Tagalog , Wolof , and Vietnamese . For information on the COVID vaccine in King County, visit www.kingcounty.gov/vaccine .

###

About Hopelink

Media Contact:

Staci Sahoo

SSahoo@Hopelink.org

425-625-6856

One-Call/One-Click Phase 1

bgilbert@hopelink.org (B Gilbert) — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 16:14:27 GMT

One-Call/One-Click project will make it easier to find, reserve travel in Central Puget Sound region

One step in the process of getting from place to place in Central Puget Sound may get a little easier soon, thanks to a new project being spearheaded by Hopelink.

With user testing expected to begin next summer, the One-Call/One-Click system will make it possible for anyone who needs to get from one location to another in the Central Puget Sound area to connect directly with travel options through a number of different platforms – including a call center, website and apps.

And unlike current options, the project will not only help users identify a potential mode of travel, but actually reserve the ride, if the method of travel allows. Currently, using the Internet to look up options for getting from one location to another produces a sometimes dizzying list of webpages, links and options; requiring the researcher to not only sort through information and eligibility requirements, but take another, separate step to book a ride. One-Call/One-Click will simplify that process.

The project – described as a “multi-modal trip planner and referral platform” – will serve those who are planning their own rides, as well as caregivers, social workers, family members and others who will be able to schedule travel on behalf of someone else.

In May, Hopelink was awarded $230,000 from the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Consolidated Grant Program to complete phase one of the project. Project implementation began July 1, with next steps to include identifying a software vendor by early 2022, user testing beginning next summer and full launch of phase one by the end of 2022.

For more information about the project: www.kcmobility.org/ococ .

Volunteer Driving during COVID-19

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 20:39:05 GMT

Before there were vaccines, there were drivers... and there's a need for volunteer drivers now more than ever.

Without volunteer drivers, thousands of people in our region would be left without adequate transportation options. We are thankful for the time and energy they contribute every day, especially in times of crisis when their services become even more critical.

Take the time to thank a volunteer driver today – and read on to learn about the volunteer experience from their own perspective! If you're interested in becoming a volunteer driver, view resources at the bottom of this post or visit www.findaride.org/volunteer to find out where to start!

Mobility and transit are the tangible and intangible connectors we use in life to access services, community, and make essential trips. Yet, in our daily lives, managing transportation is a commonly underrated factor in our interactions with the outside world. And for some, community programs fulfill this transportation need in places where they'd otherwise go unmet.

While transportation programs, such as public transit and the volunteer-driver programs discussed here, are ingrained into the fabric of our communities constantly – the value of connection becomes even more emphasized in times of crisis. More than ever, we recognize that a supportive mobility network plays a vital role in keeping society functioning. We're seeing that mobility connects essential workers to employment. Mobility connects people who are experiencing illness to recovery. And amongst the heightened needs, mobility connects us to our friends, family, and communities. Past, present, and future, we rely on transportation services to get us to where we need to go.

COVID-19 has reminded us how impactful our transportation system is; it has reminded us who is connected, how they connect. Moreover, this crisis has shown how necessary mobility is to access. And in this realization, we've been hearing an appreciation echo from various transportation programs -- not just about the services they provide to others as lifelines when mass transit scales down, but about the people providing a service to them: volunteer drivers.

Volunteer drivers are how many smaller community-based transportation providers sustain their services. Volunteer drivers lend their time and energy to getting people where they need to go, developing personal relationships along the way, and filling the transit gaps in our community. Their clientele tends to be individuals who require unique support and are dependent on their services. For many volunteer drivers, continuing to work during this time was a decision as natural as the desire that initially prompted them to serve.

To better understand their roles and insights on driving others during COVID-19, I talked to five volunteer drivers in the Central Puget Sound region. Each of them represented a variety of programs that meet the mobility needs of diverse clients. These five drivers all expressed different reasons for getting involved with mobility, and yet their stories shared significant undertones about giving back and being involved in community work. All authentically answered with an innate will to provide service. Some mentioned an intentional desire to support elders, while others appreciated the flexibility of this style of service. Then others mentioned their personal experience needing transportation options that prompted their involvement. Whatever their reason for driving, the choice to be good-hearted and give back seemed simple and obvious to all of them.

I spoke to these drivers specifically about their work during COVID-19. They shared with me some trends that they noticed in both their service and clients. For example, one driver talked to me about the shift from transporting people to delivering food. This was a transition he lobbied for himself, quickly realizing the need to connect the people he serves with food during COVID-19 when driving them to and from the food bank was no longer an option. He also noted that this might even be a more accessible option for higher-risk community members or riders with disabilities, who would typically carry their grocery bags themselves. In describing this to me, I recognized this volunteer driver's commitment to his role and his automatic aptitude for problem-solving. It was evident that it was the will to serve behind his volunteering, and he was dedicated to using his efforts as a volunteer driver to meet the needs of those he interacts with.

Interestingly, a few drivers shared that COVID-19 was not always the most pressing thing on the minds of their clients when it comes to prioritizing safety. Around half of the volunteer drivers noticed elevated anxiety in their riders concerning Covid safety; the other half of volunteers noted relative calm in their riders. All drivers mentioned that the key to feeling secure and safe was the support they received from their host driver programs. Their programs provided them with personal protective equipment and strict safety protocols to follow before, during, and after their rides. This support was crucial in cultivating a good experience for the riders and those driving. Many of the drivers commented on the policy of riders having to sit in the backseat as opposed to the front for distancing -- stating that this makes it harder to connect with them, but they understand the value in it. One driver said he tried not to mention the virus because it's always on everyone's mind anyway.

Still, adjustments are hard. One driver told me about a rider that had trouble talking to her through the mask. She noted that they had to pull over and write instructions on a piece of paper due to mask requirements. It was difficult not to chat with him during the ride, she stated, but necessary. Another driver believes the people relying on their rides have become even more dependent on them, as their pre-COVID support networks are sheltering in place. This same driver shared a story with me about a woman who needed to quarantine in her room for two weeks after a doctor's appointment, sharing that the resident sounded lonely and sad without opportunities to socialize through things like communal dining. The value of interaction is something volunteer drivers put a lot of emphasis on when it comes to serving their priority clientele.

Before finishing my conversations with the volunteer drivers, I asked if there was anything else they might wish to share with readers of this article. The motivation each driver had in contributing to their community and investing in the lives of the people they serve coalesced in their responses. Almost everyone I talked to paused before conveying a version of the following: If you can get out and drive, do it. The overwhelming gratitude and positivity you receive on behalf of those you are driving for is extraordinary. Some drivers shared the same thought process: I'm healthy, I have the time, and these people need the help. If I'm not doing it, will it get done?

Many people feel drawn to give back during the pandemic. Volunteer driving is a way to support access to vital services and, nowadays, bring vital services to people in need. As many of the drivers mentioned, driving for these programs provides flexibility and agency in designing your schedule as you get to accept or decline trips. And as reflected in each of the conversations I had with drivers, getting people around facilitates a connection that goes far beyond the already critical nature of providing a trip to someone who needs it. Relationships are built, trust is gained, stories are told, and people are heard.

Don't know where to start? Lucky for you, resources exist! Check out FindARide.org's Volunteer Driver Programs page , where you can check out tools like the Driver Guide to Volunteer Transportation in King County . Until August 31st, 2021 , simply fill out this Volunteer Driver Interest Form , which acts as a first step in requesting a Mobility Manager who can help you decide which program best meets your volunteer interests.

King County Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Helpline

Thu, 06 May 2021 15:02:40 GMT

“We want to ensure transportation is not the barrier to accessing the vaccine in our community,” says Staci Sahoo, Director of Mobility Management at Hopelink.

“No one should second-guess how they will get to their vaccine appointment,” said Sahoo. “We want to put their mind at ease by giving them one less thing to worry about.”

###

About Hopelink

Media Contact:

Staci Sahoo

SSahoo@Hopelink.org

425-625-6856

Transportation to Vaccines Memo

Wed, 03 Mar 2021 16:08:14 GMT

King County COVID-19 Vaccine Mobility Task Force has published a memo on transportation needs to vaccine sites.

The King County Mobility Coalition’s Access to Healthcare Committee and the King County COVID-19 Vaccine Mobility Task Force have published a memo on transportation to vaccine appointments. This memo compiles the Committee and Task Force’s understanding of transportation barriers to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine for both individuals and transportation providers as of February 2021. After reviewing these existing needs, the memo encourages improvement areas to reduce transportation needs.

The King County COVID-19 Vaccine Mobility Task Force regularly convenes to problem-solve and advance solutions that can be progressed within the Task Force’s partnerships. This includes piloting a Transportation Provider Network and the Coordinated Vaccine Transportation Hub (intake phone line and online form) for key community-based organizations to leverage. These efforts are being piloted to help ensure transportation is not a barrier in accessing the COVID vaccine.

However, the memo puts forth recommendations that require the support of decision-making agencies to implement, including:

Improving transportation planning for large scale vaccination sites;
Acknowledging transportation insecurity in the vaccine appointment process;
Vaccinations for drivers; and
Keeping transportation providers informed.

By assembling and tracking needs, the Task Force and its partners are well-positioned to collaborate with Public Health and other agencies to develop solutions that will make vaccine access more equitable.

Read the memo now to better understand how transportation is a critical factor in vaccine access and how transportation challenges can be mitigated through coordination and planning.

If you have questions about the memo, transportation to vaccines, or want to get involved in these discussions, contact Cassidy Giampetro of Hopelink Mobility Management at CGiampetro@hopelink.org .

North King County Mobility Coalition Publishes 2020 Gaps Analysis

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 21:38:05 GMT

After nearly a year of surveying members of the community, reaching out to transportation providers, and analyzing data, the North King County Mobility Coalition is pleased to announce the publication of the 2020 Gaps Analysis . The NKCMC is staffed by Hopelink and receives funding from the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The report looks at multi-modal transportation across all six North King County cities, which include Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Seattle north of the ship canal, Kenmore, Bothell, and Woodinville. It is a compilation of a community needs survey, regional needs assessments, data analysis, and interviews with service providers and city staff from North King County.

As a result of this analysis, the NKCMC has identified several prioritized projects and actions for the region. First and foremost, the analysis calls for direct engagement with city staff and officials around the transportation gaps highlighted, as well as the implementation of actions that will address key issues.

Beyond that, the primary needs identified include: an increase in outreach to limited English proficient populations; low barrier intake for alternative transportation services; an increase in coordination between cross-county transportation providers; better access to several geographic areas in North King County; and improved sidewalk and bicycle infrastructure. For more detailed explanations of the needs, please read the full report.

Whether you’re a resident, a human service provider, a city official, or a private business, the North King County Mobility Coalition encourages you to join in on these conversations.

To request the report in alternative formats or get involved with the Coalition, please reach out to Maggie Harger, Mobility Coordinator, at mharger@hopelink.org or 425-943-6730.

Hopelink Mobility Coalitions 2020 Accomplishments

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 22:56:39 GMT

2020 was a year for the history books...

For transportation in King County, 2020 began with the contention over Initiative I-976 and vehicle tabs, saw drastic ridership changes due to COVID-19, forced transportation providers to reckon with codes of equity and enforcement, and ended with the recognition that we will continue to deal with the consequences of these variables in the future. Amongst the institutional struggles, people needed to get around. Intentionality about access and services meant that mobility worked to support the most meaningful of trips throughout 2020. During this time, collaboration, coordination, and advocacy were the guiding strategies that keeping our mobility networks working for all, now and in the future.

Luckily, Hopelink’s Mobility Management team spent the year adapting to these changes. The Mobility Coalitions housed at Hopelink have wrapped up a busy, innovative 2020. From switching to virtual engagement and outreach to evolving the accessibility and equity pursuits of projects in creative ways, our Mobility Coalitions have kept pace with the hectic year.

Hopelink Mobility Management’s Coalitions are made up of the King County Mobility Coalition , the Eastside Easy Rider Collaborative , the North King County Mobility Coalition , the South King County Mobility Coalition , the Snoqualmie Valley Transportation Coalition , and the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation . Working across the region, our Coalitions hosted a total of 34 meetings in 2020. During these meetings, each Coalition welcomed a suite of presentations, discussions, and information sharing opportunities to keep our partners engaged and informed about the rapidly changing mobility scene.

The North King County Mobility Coalition concluded a Gaps Analysis Project to understand the mobility challenges of special needs populations in their region, while the Eastside Easy Rider Collaborative began conversations to strengthen Volunteer Driver Transportation Program recruitment. The King County Mobility Coalition ’s Access to Healthcare Group and South King County Mobility Coalition wrapped up the innovative Care Mobility Rewards Program Pilot. The Snoqualmie Valley Transportation Coalition produced the first-of-its-kind 5-Year Transportation Plan! As the organizer for emergency transportation management for vulnerable populations in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation initiated new calls, partnerships, and information distribution to act quickly and proactively in the ever-changing mobility operations space. These are just a few of the great things our Coalitions worked on in 2020!

To learn more about each Coalition’s 2020 achievements, find them here:

We’re looking forward to bringing what we learned in 2020 with us into 2021, with hopefully some more positive developments in the mobility space coming our way.

Transportation Choices Coalition Interactive Storytelling Workshop

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 20:08:23 GMT

Learn how to tell your transit story!

Transportation Choices Coalition is hosting a free storytelling workshop on September 30th, 2020 from 9am to 10:30am !

This workshop will teach transit advocates how to craft an effective story and communicate this story through writing and filming. These kinds of efforts can support public transit now and in the future by adding to a bank of advocacy stories needed to elevate human-centered concerns to those who need to hear it!

The event will be hosted by the Transportation Choices Coalition and is co-sponsored by Asian Counseling and Referral Services, Disability Rights Washington, Hopelink, the King County Mobility Coalition, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, and the Transit Riders Union.

View this event on Facebook and Twitter .

Hopelink Mobility partners with King County Library System to host multiple Getting Around Puget Sound events

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 20:59:30 GMT

The King County Library System is partnering with Hopelink Mobility to provide online presentations about transportation in King County.

This series of presentations will be a total of four stand-alone installments, each offering the opportunity to focus on mobility in region areas throughout King County. Depending on the region focus, a respective Hopelink Mobility Coordinator will facilitate a discussion on how to stay mobile throughout the region as well as provide transportation resources, trip planning solutions, money saving tips, and much more. At the close of the conversation, join the presenters for an opportunity to have your transportation questions answered! Participate in these hour-long virtual gatherings to learn more about transportation in our area and get feedback on some of your mobility experiences.

Dates and times for the events are as follows:

East King County - Wednesday, 8/12, 2pm - 3pm
Far East King County - Thursday, 8/13, 11am - 12pm
North King County - Tuesday, 8/18, 6pm - 7pm
South King County - Thursday, 8/20, 2pm - 3pm

Attendance is encouraged at whatever time and date works for your schedule, regardless of regional focus.

For more context, view this event flyer ! And if you're looking to attend, register to receive the presentation link through this sign-up page .

Contact Sara Sisco at SSisco@hopelink.org for any additional questions regarding these events and partnership.

Hopelink Mobility Focuses on Transportation Needs in North King County

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 16:28:25 GMT

North King County Mobility Coalition to survey the community to discover unmet mobility needs.

The North King County Mobility Coalition (NKCMC) is working with transportation agencies, community-based organizations, cities, and residents to examine the factors that impact the use of public transit and community operated transportation options in the North King County region. The project, known as the North King County Gaps Analysis, will draw on several sources to inform the report. One element is a community survey , which has been distributed to many of our partners in the northern region. You are encouraged to distribute the survey if you serve people located in the cities of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, Woodinville, and Seattle north of the ship canal. Additionally, if you are a resident of one of the cities listed above, you are encouraged to take the survey. It only takes about five to ten minutes, responses are anonymous, and if you wish you can enter your name in a raffle for a gift card !

Check out the survey, currently available in English and Spanish .

Please let us know if you would like to request that this survey be translated into a language besides English or Spanish, or if you need other accessibility accomodations for completing this survey.

If you are affiliated with an organization and wish to get templates to post on social media, or if you have additional questions or concerns, please contact Maggie Harger at MHarger@hopelink.org .

The North King County Mobility Coalition meets bi-monthly on the 4th Thursday from 10:30am-12:00pm. For more information or to join these meetings, please reach out to Maggie Harger at MHarger@hopelink.org .

Hopelink Travel Programs Partners with City of Tukwila to host "Tukwila Transit: Commute Options in South King County" Webinars

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 17:18:54 GMT

Hopelink Mobility will work alongside the City of Tukwila to discuss transit options in two webinars.

Hopelink Travel Programs will partner with the City of Tukwila to host two webinars that review commute options in South King County with a lens on the recent events shaping our mobility. The webinars will discuss Tukwila's SKC Trips transit demand management initiative, King County Metro's COVID-19 safety measures, and general commute options and trip planning tools available for those traveling in South King County.. This presentation hopes to connect travelers with information and equip them with resources to reduce drive-alone trips.

The webinars will be held on June 19th and June 26th from 10:30am to 12pm .

View the webinar flyer and register now !

For questions and concerns, please contact Janie Walzer at GWalzer@hopelink.org .

Hopelink Travel Programs to Co-Host "Redmond Rebound: A Discussion about Streets, Transit, and Trails" Panel

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 17:11:20 GMT

Hopelink Mobility will support GRTMA to co-host a transit discussion panel on July 30th!

Hopelink Travel Programs and Greater Redmond Transportation Management Association (GRTMA) are partnering to host a panel of speakers representing Redmond leaders, businesses, nonprofits, and transportation stakeholders to encourage an open dialogue about returning to transit. The panel, called Remond Rebound: A Discussion about Streets, Transit, & Trails, will discuss transportation access during and after COVID-19, the impacts of various sectors, city responses, and more. The event will be hosted remotely via Zoom on July 30th at 11am .

Join the webinar by registering now ! And view the event flyer for more details.

For questions and concerns, contact Camille Heatherly at CHeatherly@hopelink.org .

COVID-19 Response: King County Metro and Sound Transit Reduce Services

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 22:07:50 GMT

As coronavirus continues to impact King County, King County Metro and Sound Transit modify services to adapt.

King County Metro and Sound Transit are making changes to their services in response to COVID-19. Both agencies cite sharp declines in ridership and staff shortages as being a motivator behind the changes.

King County Metro and Sound Transit are not collecting fares during this time. The agencies encourage riders to board and exit buses using the rear doors whenever possible.

King County Metro announced that buses will begin a reduced schedule starting March 23, 2020. Metro shared that these reductions mean that "buses run less frequently throughout the day. Some bus service may also start later in the morning and end earlier in the evening. Some routes will not operate and nearly all routes have individual trip cancellations." View this post to learn more about the exact routes and rides changed by this decision. These service changes also mean that trip planning applications may not provide accurate information. Instead, riders can use Metro text departures to stay updated on running services by texting a bus stop ID to 62550.

Sound Transit also announced the reduction of services on Link light rail, Sounder trains, and some ST Express routes. Click here or here to learn more about the specific service changes each mode will undergo. Sound Transit similarly states that trip planning applications may not be synced, and suggests riders sign up for rider alerts .

Both changes come alongside previously scheduled service changes that either agencies were implementing.

To learn more about the way transportation and mobility services are adapting to coronavirus concerns, contact Nathan Emory, Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transit ( RARET ) Workgroup Coordinator, at NEmory@hopelink.org . You can also subscribe to RARET weekly updates on service changes.

Care Mobility Rewards Pilot Launches!

Mon, 24 Feb 2020 23:12:23 GMT

The pilot is underway from February 18th - May 8th!

The Care Mobility Rewards Pilot launched on Tuesday, February 18th , 2020! The Care Mobility Rewards program is an incentivized transportation pilot that provides free transportation for post-discharge appointments to Medicare patients who have been recently discharged from Valley Medical Center. This program is a partnership between Valley Medical Center and Hopelink’s Medicaid Brokerage and Mobility Management departments.

The pilot runs from February 18th until May 8th and is available for Valley Medical patients who have been recently discharged and have Medicare and a higher risk of re-admission (LACE+ score 60 and above). Under this limited 3-month pilot, the patients will receive free transportation for their discharge, medical appointments, and up to 5 roundtrip trip for their wellness visits. Some sample wellness visits include, but are not limited to: senior center lunches, pharmacy visits, grocery shopping, smoking cessation class, exercise classes etc. This pilot is meant to deliver a number of valuable qualitative and quantitative data to be evaluated.

To learn more about the Care Mobility Rewards Pilot, reach out to Hopelink Mobility Management at mobility@hopelink.org , or attend the next South King County Mobility Coalition meeting on Thursday, March 12th from 10:30am to 12:00pm at Element 79, 5506 6th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108.

Universal Design and Pedestrian Wayfinding Forum on February 27th

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:51:32 GMT

KCMC partners with NWUDC and Age Friendly Seattle to host Wayfinding Forum!

The King County Mobility Coalition is partnering with the Northwest Universal Design Council and Age Friendly Seattle to sponsor their first event of 2020, a Forum on Universal Design and Pedestrian Wayfinding, on Thursday, February 27th from 1:00pm-3:00pm . This event will host a panel of experts to discuss best practices and lessons learned from recent wayfinding projects, the wayfinding needs of people with disabilities, and the ways in which wayfinding can be improved through Universal Design. The forum is free and open to all. Registration is encouraged but not required.

Date & Time: February 27th, 2020 from 1:00pm-3:00pm

Location: Seattle City Hall, Bertha Knight Landes Room

Learn more about speakers, event information, and logistics by viewing the event flyer or Northwest Unviersal Design Council's website announcement . You can also register to attend now!

For accommodations or accessibility information and requests, contact Jon Morrison Winters at job.winters@seattle.gov as soon as possible.

Find Your Freedom Ridership Results!

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 22:56:42 GMT

King County Metro + Hopelink Mobility Management's Find Your Freedom Campaign shares impressive data!

From June 2018 to June 2019, King County Metro worked with Hopelink Mobility Management and the King County Mobility Coalition's Access to Work and School Committee to distribute 6,000 $10 pre-loaded ORCA Youth cards and transit education materials to high school students in King County. This project arose from a State of Washington ORCA Youth Transportation Demand Management grant that sought to improve teen ridership on ORCA participating transit agencies and to increase the number of teens using ORCA Youth cards. ORCA Youth cards provide teens with a near 50% subsidy to a traditional adult fare.

The project reached 11 school districts, 35 high schools, and 35 youth-serving organizations. Many valuable lessons were learned during outreach with youth, including recommendations to transit agencies on how to better serve and engage teens.

Now, new ridership data reports that of the 6,000 cards distributed, 54% were used on transit and 11% were reloaded. The total value reloaded is estimated at almost $37,000! Data trends show that ridership was peak in summer months and that most card holders used King County Metro buses. To view more data, see the ridership data summary .

To learn more about the Find Your Freedom project, read the 2018 - 2019 ORCA Youth Transportation Demand Management Grant Final Report or view this presentation .

2019 Coalition Achievements

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 19:28:38 GMT

2019 Achievements for our Coalitions!

While we are looking into 2020 excited at all the new projects our Coalitions are working on, it is important to use the new year to reflect on the amazing things our groups were able to accomplish in 2019. Our partnerships reached so many goals to continuously contribute to fostering a more productive and connected mobility network in our region. Every stakeholder, partner, and member of our various Coalitions should feel responsible for and proud of the outcomes we produce annually. To further this point, each Coalition has put together a 2019 Achievements summary for your viewing!

Find your respective Coalition's 2019 Achievements or review the work done across the county this year below!

King County Mobility Coalition 2019 Achievements

North King County Mobility Coalition 2019 Achievements

Eastside Easy Rider Collaborative 2019 Achievements

South King County Mobility Coalition 2019 Achievements

Snoqualmie Valley Transportation Coalition 2019 Achievements

Regional Alliance for Equitable and Reliable Transportation (RARET) 2019 Achievements

Feel free to use these resources to reference your participation or share with others!

Hopelink Mobility Management's staff support is eager to continue our 2019 work into 2020, always thankful for the partners who share our vision of more accessible mobility and transportation services for all.

RARET Adverse Weather Driving Resource Tool Webpage Launch!

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 18:19:46 GMT

RARET launches new webpage!

The Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET) workgroup has recently launched a new online Adverse Weather Driver Training webpage. This webpage serves to assist regional transportation providers with developing and facilitating trainings for drivers and critical staff and to ensure they are prepared to operate during an adverse weather emergency.

Visit the page now!

This webpage also allows transportation partners to request an emergency preparedness training from the RARET workgroup, provide feedback on the webpage, and suggest additional topics to feature.

Feel free to share this tool with relevant parties, as well as use as a resource for future use!

If you have any questions or feedback relating to this new tool, please contact Bree Boyce, RARET Program Manager, at BBoyce@hopelink.org or 425-943-6751.

Connect 2020

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 18:18:03 GMT

Sound Transit's Connect 2020 Service Changes are here for 10 weeks!

Beginning on January 4th, 2020, Sound Transit's Link light rail will be undergoing 10 weeks of construction as new light rail tracks are being built to connect Seattle to the Eastside. This project, called Connect 2020, will result in a reduction of Link light rail services and on-the-ground changes. Staff will be available at impacted stations to guide users in the right direction and answer questions!

Service changes mean that four-car trains will be arriving at a slower rate of 14 minute intervals, but this interval will be maintained during all service hours. Real-time arrival information will not be available.

The on-the-ground adjustments are that light rail users must transfer trains at the Pioneer Square station before traveling either north or south. This entails exiting the current car, transferring onto a temporary center platform, and entering a parallel train. During Connect 2020, bicycles will not be allowed at Pioneer Square Station.

Link shuttle buses will replace trains between Capitol Hill and SODO on the weekends of January 4-5, February 8-9, and March 14-15, although these dates are subject to change. Link light rail and Link shuttle buses will be free during weekend closures.

To learn more about Connect 2020, visit their Connect 2020 website . You can also subscribe to email or text alerts to stay up to date about weekend closures!

Care Mobility Rewards Program

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 19:05:49 GMT

The SKCMC and Access to Healthcare Committee are planning the innovative Care Mobility Rewards Program

In August 2019, Hopelink Mobility Management was awarded a grant by the National Center for Mobility Management to launch a pilot program that provides transportation for Medicare-eligible older adults in South King County. The South King County Mobility Coalition and the King County Mobility Coalition’s Access to Healthcare Committee are partnering to produce a pilot designed to reduce barriers for patients to access post-discharge health care appointments and to help them avoid readmission to hospitals. At the time of their initial discharge, Medicare patients identified as being at a higher risk for re-hospitalization will be enrolled in the Care Mobility Rewards Program. Clients will be given credits that can be redeemed for round-trip transportation to qualifying follow-up care needs, such as doctor appointments, pharmacy trips, or physical therapy.

In 2015-2016, Hopelink partnered with coalition members and advocates to create a business plan for a program that ensures transportation access is not the reason for hospital readmission. This 2019-2020 grant will test elements of the plan and launch a 3-month pilot from February 2020 to until April 2020. The grant runs through May 15th, 2020.

For more information on the program, please see the Care Mobility Rewards one-pager or contact Eda Dedebas Dundar at EDedebas@hopelink.org . Please reach out if you would like to offer insight or be involved in the Planning Team.

Visit the Redmond Transit Fair on Dec. 12

Wed, 27 Nov 2019 17:49:52 GMT

Hopelink Mobility Management and partners are hosting a transit fair in Redmond on December 12th!

Hopelink Mobility Management is hosting a transit fair to provide information and resources on mobility options in the Redmond area. Different regional providers -- like Sound Generations, Lime, the City of Redmond, and more -- will be there to answer questions and share about their services. This event aims to increase awareness of transportation services in Redmond. Light refreshments and booth prizes will be provided, as well as gift cards for riding transit to the first 15 attendees! View the flyer for more information.

Date & Time: Thursday, December 12th from 3-5pm

Location: Redmond Regional Library ( 15990 NE 85th St, Redmond, WA 98052 )

This location is accessible via bus routes 545, 542, and the B Line.

To get involved with hosting, learn more information on the event, or to request transportation or accessibility accommodations, contact Camille Heatherly at CHeatherly@hopelink.org .

To stay informed on other happenings on the Eastside, visit the Eastside Easy Rider Collaborative (EERC) webpage on this site.

ORCA To-Go is now Neighborhood Pop-Up!

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 20:09:03 GMT

King County Metro's ORCA To-Go services are now Neighborhood Pop-Up!

King County Metro has been realigning their agency to fit with their new equity-focused Mobility Framework , and one of the many decisions informed by this mission improvement is the expansion and rebranding of their mobile ORCA sales and reloading unit. Effective November 6, 2019, ORCA To-Go became King County Metro’s Neighborhood Pop-Up!

In addition to offering the same services like ORCA purchasing, acquiring Senior and Disabled Regional Reduced Fare Permits, and ORCA, LIFT, Youth and RRFP reloading, Neighborhood Pop-Up staff will be able to provide Riders with the most up-to-date knowledge on trip planning, transit schedules, and upcoming cutting-edge Metro mobility pilots, projects, and system expansions!

If you want to learn more, you can visit Neighborhood Pop-Up at their webpage ( www.kingcounty.gov/metro/pop-up ), email them at NeighborhoodPopUp@kingcounty.gov , or view their December event schedule .

Come ride with us for December's Education and Outreach field trip!

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 20:09:01 GMT

The King County Mobility Coalition's Education and Outreach Committee is holding their December Field Trip

Once per season, the King County Mobility Coalition’s Education and Outreach committee holds events for non-profit, civic, and community leaders and stakeholders to take deep dives into new or improved transportation options. Our series of Field Trips provide attendees with the opportunity to:

• Network with fellow professionals and citizens interested in mobility,

• Delve deep into the newest mobility topics and programs, and

• Take tours of the vehicles and facilities central to each service’s operations.

The final event in our 2019/2020 series will focus on the North Eastside Mobility Project , King County Metro’s upcoming regional plan to add new routes, reduce select service, and improve mobility options in Bothell, Kenmore, Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, and Seattle. This field trip will be a mobile field trip on a King County Metro Bus. On this trip you will be able to view some of the affected bus stops and transit centers. All attendees must meet on Friday, December 13th, 2019, at Kirkland City Hall (123 5th Ave, Kirkland, WA 98033) at 1:00pm to depart on time. From 1:00pm to 3:00pm, Metro staff will conduct presentations on the bus as we travel throughout Kirkland and the surrounding area. There will be time for you to ask questions while we are on the bus. Since space is limited, we encourage you to RSVP by December 6th .

Please help spread the word by sharing our flyer with any of your partners and stakeholders who would be interested in attending. We also want to encourage professionals whose organizations, clients, and/or constituents will be affected by this huge restructure to come ask questions about impacts and improvements to the region. To request any accessibility accommodations, please email Ben Tibbetts ( mobility@hopelink.org ) by December 2nd .

All are welcome. We are so excited to see you next month!

King County Metro’s Ride2 Eastgate Shuttle Service Transitions to New App and Operator Starting February 25th, 2019

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:33:17 GMT

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King County Metro’s Ride2 Eastgate, an on-demand shuttle to and from the Eastgate Park and Ride, will shift its operator from Chariot to Hopelink as of Monday, Feb. 25. Also beginning on Monday, riders will need to begin using a new app, “Ride2 Transit,” in order to request rides from the service. Riders can download the new app now and get registered in preparation for the change. Standard Metro fares are also going into effect as of Feb. 25, after approximately three months of free trial.

Read the full story on the Metro Matters blog.

Visit the Ride2 pilot project web page to learn about service details and download the app.

North Kirkland Community Pilot Program Seeks Volunteer Drivers!

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 14:38:43 GMT

The City of Kirkland is one of just seven communities invited by King County Metro to participate in a new rideshare program that offers a flexible alternative to transit service in the north Kirkland neighborhoods of Juanita and Finn Hill. The North Kirkland Community Van rideshare program is a two-year pilot program aimed at providing one-time and recurring transportation services to residents who find that regular bus service doesn’t meet their needs. The van will be stationed at the North Kirkland Community Center (12421 103rd Avenue N.E.), is fully ADA-accessible, and can accommodate a driver and up to five passengers.

Scheduled to launch on Friday, February 22, the program relies on volunteers to drive the van and requires a minimum of two riders per trip. Volunteers interested in driving the van must pass through a two-part screening process which includes DMV check and online and hands-on driver orientation, and upon completion, you would become a King County-Metro volunteer driver. The City hopes to build a network of volunteer drivers with varying levels of availability, to provide comprehensive, seven-day-a-week trip coverage. Drivers ride for free, while passengers pay a Metro one-zone fare per round trip. Existing transit customers may use their ORCA cards to pay the fare, provided that the card is loaded with a monthly pass. Riders without ORCA cards may pay the fare by downloading the Transit GO Ticket app, a mobile application which allows customers to purchase tickets using their smart phones.

For more information about Kirkland’s community van, please visit the City website.

The North Kirkland Community Center does not operate the community van. For inquiries about the community van or to find out how to become a volunteer driver, please contact Armaghan Baghoori at commvan@kirklandwa.gov or 425-587-3924.

King County Mobility News

Find a Ride's Trip Planner - 2026 Improvements

Moving forward on our roadmap

Find a Ride Trip Planner Version 1.4.7

Why did we make these changes? We listened to you!

Learn more

Detailed Release Notes

We are grateful to our Phase 1 and Phase 2 funding partners:

﻿ We are grateful to our "One-Call" providers:

We are grateful to our the transportation providers who are represented in our trip planner:

Join us! Rural Transportation Advocacy 101 Workshop

Thursday, May 21st 5:00-8:00pm, North Bend City Hall

Share Your Transportation Story- Help Shape a More Inclusive King County

Your Story Matters

RARET Flooding 2025 Transportation Report

Read the full 10-page report here: RARET Flooding 2025 Transportation Report

Help Promote Find a Ride's Trip Planner

Find a Ride's Trip Planner will help you discover mobility services across Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties!

We have created a communications toolkit.

Help us promote Find a Ride.

Download Find a Ride flyers to share with your community, or email FindARide@hopelink.org if you would like flyers mailed to your organization.

Social Media Post –Translated

Download the complete Find a Ride Communications Toolkit

Find a Ride Phase 2 Readiness

Next Steps in Advancing Equitable Mobility Through Easy On-Boarding ﻿

Acknowledgments

Introduction to One-Call/One-Click

The Problem

Proposed Solution

Current Conditions In the Region

RFI Responses

Built Solutions

Technical Expertise to Build and Manage a Project

Next Steps And How the Coalition Can Ensure Success

Conclusion

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Rural Transportation Advocacy 101 Workshop

SVMC hosted a Rural Transporation Advocacy 101 Workshop on June 13th, 2025

Downstream Transportation Impacts of Medicaid Cuts & Changes

Situational Awareness from the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET)

Find a Ride Phase 2 - Request for Information (RFI)

Hopelink's One-Call/One-Click Project Seeks Your Input by April 4, 2025.

Project Overview

Hopelink seeks information in the following areas:

Improving Access to Cross-County Transportation: How Comprehensive Resource Guides Can Break Down Transportation Barriers

In Collaboration with the North King County Coalition & South King County Coalition

By Manny Mendoza and ʻOhu Kāne

Check out our resource guides here:

Winter 2025 Preparedness

Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET) recommendations for Puget Sound mobility management.

Critical Winter Resources

Transit Tools & Guides for Winter Conditions

On Fares

How do I stay safe?

RARET Additional Quick Tips

Recommended Reading: Healthcare Matters from My Edmonds News

“Without transportation, local residents may skip health care” .

Find a Ride Advisory Celebration

Committee members gathered to reflect on our Phase 1 trip planner accomplishments.

Hopelink awarded federal grant for Phase 2 of One-Call/One-Click

Funding Will Support Find a Ride’s Trip Planner Experience

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $7.8 Million in Grants to Help Connect People to Health Care and Other Critical Services

Find a Ride’s Trip Planner Helps Set New Data Standard

We Help You Get Where You Need To Go

Here’s what community partners are saying about this innovative work:

Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition's Mobility Update

2024 SVMC Mobility Resolution

50 Years of the Rehabilitation Act

Celebrating Inclusion in Community!

Seattle's 2023 White Cane Day

A Celebration of Opportunity, Equality, and Independence!

Enhancing Cross-County Travel: Addressing Barriers and Fostering Mobility Freedom

Cross-County Transportation Needs Between King and Snohomish Counties

Open the Paths 2023: An Open Data & Transportation Equity Conference

Research Project Updates: Cross-County Transportation

Consultants from the University of Washington will present recommendations to reduce barriers for cross-country travel.

Latest News from the One-Call/One-Click Team

Major updates from the Hopelink and King County Mobility Coalition (KCMC) project that aims to simplify and streamline the way community connects to specialized transportation options.

Welcome the first cohort of Community Transportation Navigators

Regional Alliance to Host Provider Network Kick-off Event

We are grateful to our "One-Call" providers:

Next Steps in Advancing Equitable Mobility Through Easy On-Boarding