The Whatcom Transportation Authority plans to change bus schedules and routes around Western Washington University to improve timeliness and efficiency, with student feedback shaping the final design.
The transit agency rolled out new bus routes and schedule changes this year, with more planned for summer 2026, focusing on the routes around Western.
WTA operates buses throughout Whatcom County and is often relied on by students who can’t depend on limited campus parking or don’t own cars. According to Western’s transportation office, 86% of students ride the bus at least twice a week.
The changes this year were made to increase service for priority populations and areas with new development, and to realign service on low-performing routes to allow for those changes. The proposed 2026 changes will focus on improving the timeliness and efficiency of the routes around Western.
Whatcom County Executive Satpal Singh Sidhu, who serves on the WTA Board of Directors, said route changes are based on ridership data and community feedback.
“The staff at WTA collect a lot of data per bus, per route, per season, and at different stops — how many people are getting on and getting off. Based on that, they decide where changes are needed,” he said.
The proposed 2026 changes would align bus schedules with Western class times, when heavy ridership often overcrowds buses.
Andrea Reiter, the associate director of active transportation at Western, said the university’s transportation office has been involved in planning these service changes with WTA for the past year.
“What they noticed was they’re having lots of delayed times, they’ll get buses compressing together … and they wanted to work on fixing that,” Reiter said.
The changes focus not only on efficiency but also on ensuring areas with high student populations have service, such as the Happy Valley and Samish neighborhoods.
Western student and active transportation coordinator Emily Holzhauer said she and other students have started noticing potential impacts.
“There’s been a couple of concerns about how the 90 (bus) is going to work compared to our student shuttles right now, because they’re going to be completely replacing them … there’s a little bit of downtown that the 90 misses … and then also the reduced frequency on the 14 (bus) for those who live in Fairhaven,” she said.
WTA has been conducting outreach through rider surveys, online comments, public meetings and campus events to gather feedback on service changes. Reiter said that WTA pushed back the timeline of the changes to ensure students could get involved once fall quarter started.
“This public process right now is really important for students to pay attention to,” Reiter said. “WTA has said these are the last changes they’re going to be doing for a pretty long time, so the impacts are going to last for several years, if not decades.”
“This is WTA’s long-term goal for the campus area. This is going to define your college experience if you’re younger,” Holzhauer said. “If you want these changes, it’s even more important to go out and argue for them because more people who are happy tend to stay home, and it can get good changes thrown out.”
A detailed explanation of the proposed changes and a feedback form can be found at engage.ridewta.com/changes.
Ellie Wright is a second-year at Western studying News/Editorial Journalism and Political Science. As a reporter for The Front, she writes about campus news. When she’s not chasing stories, she enjoys reading, hiking, and taking care of her houseplants. You can reach her at ellie.thefront@gmail.com.
