Opinion: Orcas Needs Good Enough Public Transit Today
Context: Developing Solutions for Our Community
We believe residents should have choices—both in whether to raise additional taxes for enhanced service and in selecting among different implementation approaches.
In that regard, our transit planning groups need to develop and refine multiple transit plans, not settle on a single solution. These plans should be presented and considered by our community. As the Friends of Rural Public Transit, our initial proposal aimed to provide the county with an adequate transit pilot program that would not raise the local tax base ForPT.org Proposal
However, we don’t believe it’s the only path forward.
The Urgency is Real
Every year we delay implementing public transit is another year of:
Our community deserves transit solutions today, not just visions of what might work tomorrow.
Assessment: Evaluating a Proposed Solution for Public Transit on Orcas Island
For three years, I’ve advocated for public transit on Orcas Island that meets what I call the “AAA requirements”: Affordable, Accessible, and Available service for our community. Today, we have Climate Commitment Act gas tax funding that could have launched a transit pilot program . Yet we continue to wait, pursuing an electric vehicle vision that may delay real transit solutions for years.
What Effective Transit Requires
Any suggested public transit system plan for Orcas should analyze iteslf employing the AAA service requirements. As an example our plan translated the requirements into:
These aren’t wishful thinking—they’re the constraints any viable solution must address.
The Cost Reality: Understanding the True Constraints
Through preliminary analysis, we’ve identified that the most significant expenses in Public Transit are:
Staff salaries (drivers)
Infrastructure/vehicle purchase costs (capital expenditure)
Our proposed solution addressed these constraints through resource sharing with Public Schools, targeting one of the largest cost drivers while avoiding new taxes. The “bright idea” in that plan has potential to demonstrate a transit pilot quickly and affordably, using existing resources. This could give us valuable information in planning an ultimatly more catered approach when we understand how the system was utilized. Moreover, this partnership would benefit our schools by generating revenue from their underutilized resources turning idle assets into income that supports education.
Supporting, Not Replacing, Existing Services
Let me be clear: I fully support Island Rides’ vital door-to-door service for community members who need it most. I applaud them regarding that development. Their work is essential. But let’s recognize that Public transit would actually strengthen their mission by providing a complementary service network, helping them focus resources on those with the greatest mobility needs.
Why the Electric Vehicle Plan Falls Short
The plan being developed by Island Rides OPALCO Ruralite Magazine P.8 , Oct 2025 assumes electric vehicles will reduce maintenance and fuel costs. While this may be accurate for electric cars, these savings are today overshadowed by the underlying infrastructure requirements including charging stations and vehicle purchase costs.
Several factors make this approach impractical at this time ( although I welcome factual evidence to the contrary ):
Operational Limitations: Running electric buses and perhaps even vans continuously for 12 hours daily isn’t currently practical. The limited deployment of electric buses, shuttles, and vans in public transit systems elsewhere confirms this technology gap.
Local Experience: Multiple sources report that Orcas’s electric school bus has been a maintenance nightmare .
Increased Capital Requirements: Meeting our three-route requirement with electric vehicles would necessitate purchasing additional vehicles due to charging downtime, significantly increasing capital expenditure.
Affordability Crisis: The electric approach drives costs up, undermining what should be a core benefit—public transit that’s affordably attractive to residents. Without affordability, people will not use the service.
Sticker Shock: Electric buses, vans, and infrastructure carry a substantial price premium over conventional vehicles—a capital cost burden that may directly contradict our core mission of providing AAA transit.
A Pragmatic Path Forward
This isn’t about opposing electrification—it’s about not letting perfect become the enemy of good. We should:
Mobilizing Our Community: A Call for Creative Solutions
While our proposed partnership with Public Schools offered one path to resource sharing, we recognize this approach may not be feasible this coming year. That shouldn’t stop us. This is where our community’s creativity and collective resources can make the difference.
I’m calling on all groups and organizations that support public transit— transportation collectives, environmental groups, senior services, youth organizations, business associations, religious organizations, and concerned citizens—to come together and explore creative solutions. We need to pool our resources, share our expertise, and find innovative ways to launch a pilot program sooner rather than later.
The Climate Commitment Act funding provides a foundation, but community investment—whether through time, resources, or creative problem-solving—could be what gets us a viable solution. We don’t need to wait for a perfect government solution which never comes or idealized technology without a timeline. We need people in our community willing to step up and say, “How can we help make this happen now?”
Conclusion: Keep Exploring Options
The current electric vehicle plan appears to be an inadequate solution that fails on both accessibility and affordability. It will likely delay implementation of any adequate public transit system. Even if implemented, based on the information provided. It will likely not meet “good enough” AAA requirements creating a Transit Solution that our community needs. The technology simply isn’t mature enough to meet our requirements at a reasonable cost.
We need to continue developing alternative plans, and present them to our community. Plans with real choices—including tax-neutral options alongside proposals that might require voter-approved tax-based funding. But most importantly, we need people and community organizations to actively participate in creating solutions rather than waiting for them to appear.
The goal should be finding Public Transit solutions that work for Orcas, not waiting for and forcing premature technology adoption that serves neither accessibility nor affordability goals. With community support and creative resource sharing, we can launch a pilot transit program that serves our island’s needs today while building toward tomorrow’s possibilities.