Swift Orange Line
Orange Line bus at the Highway 99 station
Overview
System	Swift
Operator	Community Transit
Status	In service
Began service	March 30, 2024
Route
Route type	Bus rapid transit
Locale	Snohomish County, Washington, U.S.
Communities served	Lynnwood,Mill Creek
Start	Edmonds College
End	McCollum Park
Length	11 miles (18 km)
Stations	16
Service
Frequency	10–12 minutes
Weekend frequency	15–20 minutes
Route map Edmonds College Highway 99 Lynnwood City Center station 1 Line toAngle Lake 188th Street SW Maple Road Swamp Creek P&R Ash Way P&R I-5 Larch Way North Road Mill Creek Blvd. Green Line toCanyon Park 164th Street SE 153rd Street SE Trillium Blvd. Green Line toSeaway TC McCollum Park This diagram: view talk edit ← Green Line  Swift  Gold Line →

TheSwift Orange Line is abus rapid transit line inSnohomish County, Washington, United States. It is the third line of theSwift Bus Rapid Transit system operated byCommunity Transit and opened in March 2024. The 11-mile (18 km) line runs fromEdmonds College toMcCollum Park, generally serving the cities ofLynnwood andMill Creek with 16 stations. The Orange Line provides connections between the existing SwiftBlue andGreen lines, Edmonds College,Alderwood Mall, andLynnwood City Center station—the terminus of theLink light rail system.

Early planning for a third Swift line was funded by a 0.3 percentsales tax increase that was approved by voters in November 2015, which also funded construction of theSwift Green Line.^[1][2]Community Transit designated the 196th Street and 164th Street corridors betweenEdmonds andMill Creek as potential routes for the new line, which was later named the Orange Line.^[3] Both streets had been identified as potential bus rapid transit corridors in an earlier long-range plan that was published in 2011.^[4]

The preferred route for the Orange Line was approved by Community Transit in October 2018.^[5] It would travel fromEdmonds College toLynnwood andMill Creek with connections to existing Swift lines as well asLink light rail, which was set to be extended toLynnwood Transit Center (now Lynnwood City Center station) by the time the Orange Line opened in 2023.^[2][6] The project had a budget of $79.4 million, with the majority of funds from aFederal Transit Administration grant and other non-local sources.^[6] Agroundbreaking ceremony for the Orange Line was held at Lynnwood Transit Center on April 19, 2022.^[7]

The new line required the construction of new transit centers at Edmonds College and McCollum Park to replace existing facilities. Work at Edmonds College began in May 2022.^[8] During work on the relocated McCollum Park bus loop, contractors pierced the cap and liner of a formerlandfill at the site when constructing stormwater drain. The excavation resulted in fines for Community Transit and its contractor from theWashington State Department of Ecology for potential water contamination by runoff from the landfill.^[9] The Orange Line began service on March 30, 2024, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Lynnwood City Center station andblock party hosted by Edmonds College that drew hundreds of people in attendance. For the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Sound Transit parked an empty light rail train that had been used for testing;^[10] Link light rail service to Lynnwood is scheduled to begin in late 2024.^[11]

In April 2024, the first full month of service on the Orange Line, the route had 50,355 boardings and an average of 1,943 per weekday.^[12] The westbound station at Mill Creek Boulevard and full bus loop at McCollum Park opened in July 2024.^[13]

The Orange Line travels for 11 miles (18 km) between termini at twotransit centers:Edmonds College in the west andMcCollum Park in the east. The line uses 196th Street and intersects with theBlue Line onState Route 99; from there, buses continue toLynnwood City Center station, a major regional transit center that will have light rail service in late 2024. The line then turns north onto Alderwood Mall Boulevard to serve theAlderwood Mall, continuing on 36th Avenue West and 164th Street; buses then divert to serve Ash Way Park and Ride, another regional transit center. In Mill Creek, the Orange Line turns north ontoState Route 527 and shares stations with theGreen Line until it reaches McCollum Park.^[7][14]

The line has 16 station pairs that are mainly on streets in Lynnwood and Mill Creek. Swift stations include a highercurb for level boarding, larger shelters,ticket vending machines, andORCA card readers.^[14]

Buses on the Orange Line arrive every 10 to 12 minutes during daytime hours on weekdays and every 15 to 20 minutes at other times, including weekends.^[11] A set of 15articulated buses manufactured byNew Flyer was ordered to accommodate the increase in Swift service; each bus can carry 70 passengers and have three interiorbicycle racks.^[7]

• Official website
• Media related toSwift Orange Line at Wikimedia Commons

• 2024 in transport
• Bus rapid transit in Washington (state)
• Transportation in Snohomish County, Washington
• Bus routes in Washington (state)

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from February 2025
• Commons category link from Wikidata