Uber too expensive? New faster buses to Tri-Cities Airport, Richland and more

Good news for anyone tired of paying $30 for an Uber or Lyft to the Tri-Cities airport, Ben Franklin Transit will begin offering a new Express route next week that adds airport stops.

It’s one of two Express routes designed to have limited stops to help riders move quickly across the Tri-Cities area.

Whether you need to get from east Kennewick or Pasco to Richland, these new routes will help you get there without having to sit through dozens of stops along the way.

Drivers will pick up at just a few places in the route’s origination area before hopping on the highway and heading straight across town.

The transit agency estimates these changes will cut city to city travel time in half, according to a route preview video.

These new routes could save a huge amount of time for WSU students and PNNL area workers, with just a quick connection from the Knight Street transit center.

There are a number of other changes coming to streamline service for riders, including route and pickup interval adjustments. All changes go into effect on Sunday, June 15.

The only route completely discontinued is Route 268, which was an inter-city route from Pasco to Richland. It’s largely covered by the new Express 2X route with other buses picking up in-city stops between.

Ben Franklin Transit also still offers Rideshare, formerly called Vanpool, to the Hanford site and other major area employers from Park and Ride locations around the Tri-Cities. For more information about your employer’s Rideshare program, visit BFT’s website.

New express routes

These routes are designed to offer faster service with fewer routes, to help riders get across the Tri-Cities. They launch on Monday, June 16.

If you live in Pasco and need to get to Richland, you can catch the Express 2X, which has a handful of stops near Columbia Basin College and the Tri-Cities Airport before hitting the highway and going up George Washington Way into Richland near Kadlec and the Knight Street station.

You can then catch a connecting bus, Route 26, all the way to PNNL. Other connections can take riders to Queensgate, West Richland or even Prosser.

These routes are on 30-minute schedules during peak hours Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. In August, this route will move to a 15-minute schedule during peak times.

The Express 240X route will go from stops near the Dayton Street transfer station in Kennewick before heading down Aaron Drive in Richland, over to Wellsian Way to the Knight Street station where you can catch connections. This route runs Monday through Saturday on a 60-minute interval from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Extended service

These routes are adding more buses, longer hours or more pickup times.

• Route 10 – Every 30 minutes; ends at 7 p.m. Saturdays
• Route 40 – Extended to 10 p.m. Saturdays
• Route 47 – Redesigned to replace Route 41 coverage; Canyon Lakes stops removed
• Route 65 – Improved connection to Pasco High School
• Routes 67 – New extension to Burns Road & Chiawana High School
• Route 68 – 30-minute weekday service: Chiawana High School to CBC (Weekdays, 6 a.m.–8 p.m.)
• Route 225 – Now serving New Sageview High School (Weekdays, 6 a.m.–8 p.m.). After 8 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends, current routing remains in effect

New Interlines Routes

Interlined means the bus keeps going, but it changes its number or name.

• Routes 10 & 20 interline at Flat Top Park
  • Route 10 interlines at Flat Top Park. If you stay on board, it becomes the 20 and goes to Knight Street Transit Center; to get to Queensgate Transit Center, transfer to the 10
  • Route 20 interlines at Flat Top Park. If you stay on board, it becomes the 10 and goes to Queensgate Transit Center; to get to Knight Street Transit Center, transfer to the 20

• Routes 67 & 68 interline at Chiawana High School
  • Route 67 interlines at Chiawana and becomes the 68, which goes to Argent Road and CBC
  • Route 68 interlines at Chiawana and becomes the 67, which goes to Burns and Road 68
    
    

Discontinued or reduced service

• Routes 10, 26, 42, 48, 50, 65, 67, 170: Ending at 7 p.m. on Saturdays
• Route 20 – Hourly after 7 p.m. Saturdays
• Route 41 – Weekday and clockwise-only loop every 30 minutes; no longer serves Hood Ave/Columbia Drive/45th
• Route 268 – Route 268 – Discontinued; use new Routes 67 & 68 for Pasco service or take Express 2X to go between Richland and Pasco

Cory McCoy

Tri-City Herald

Cory is an award-winning investigative reporter. He joined the Tri-City Herald in Dec. 2021 as an Editor/Reporter covering social accountability issues. His past work can be found in the Tyler Morning Telegraph and other Texas newspapers. He was a 2019-20 Education Writers Association Fellow, and has been featured on The Murder Tapes, Grave Mysteries and Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen.