Sound Transit briefed Bothell council on Stride BRT: electric buses, 10–15-minute service, openings in 2028 and 2029

What the records say

Sound Transit staff presented an update on the Stride Bus Rapid Transit project to the Bothell City Council at the May 13, 2025 meeting, under the City Manager Report. The briefing memo states Stride will connect Bothell to communities across the region with fast, frequent, and reliable bus service, using Sound Transit's first fully electric battery-operated fleet. Passengers would see 10–15-minute service all day, every day, with connections to four light rail stations across two counties. The memo says Sound Transit, in partnership with WSDOT and the City of Bothell, is approaching significant milestones, with the first construction contracts approved by the Sound Transit Board that month. Stride service is scheduled to open in three phases, with the two lines serving Bothell opening in 2028 and 2029. ¹

• The Stride briefing was scheduled as a staff briefing under the City Manager Report at the May 13, 2025 council meeting. ¹
• Stride will use Sound Transit's first fully electric battery-operated fleet, with 10–15-minute service all day, every day, connecting to four light rail stations across two counties. ¹
• The first construction contracts for the project were being approved by the Sound Transit Board in May 2025, and a bus base for the electric fleet was scheduled to break ground within a few months. ¹
• The S3 Line, which will serve Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, and Shoreline, was slated for a groundbreaking ceremony later that summer; the two lines serving Bothell are scheduled to open in 2028 and 2029. ¹

Why it matters

Stride would give Bothell residents frequent all-day bus service connecting to four light rail stations across two counties, a materially different transit option from today's local bus network. The briefing also flags near-term construction activity: a bus base to house the electric fleet is scheduled to break ground within a few months, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the S3 Line — serving Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, and Shoreline — was planned for later that summer. ¹

What changed / what's next

• The briefing memo newly confirms for residents that the two Stride lines serving Bothell are scheduled to open in 2028 and 2029, that the fleet will be fully electric with 10–15-minute all-day service, and that construction milestones — first contracts and groundbreakings — were imminent as of May 2025. ¹
• The May 13, 2025 packet establishes what was scheduled and briefed; the supplied records do not document what was said or decided at the meeting itself. ¹
• The bus base groundbreaking and S3 Line groundbreaking ceremonies described in the memo are stated as planned, not as completed events. ¹
• The available records do not establish the meeting's outcome.