By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – Clallam Transit is beginning what promises to be a popular new service Thursday. A new shuttle will be going up to Hurricane Ridge and back 3 times daily, and the cost is only one dollar each way. Even better, the service is free to anyone aged 18 and under, and free to everyone for the month of June.
The first shuttle leaves Thursday morning at 9:30 after a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the Gateway Transit Center with folks from the Chamber of Commerce and Clallam Transit.
Transit General Manager Kevin Gallacci says it took some doing to get the shuttle rolling, but they’re ready for their inaugural run on Thursday.
“I think the biggest challenge we had was getting enough staff to add the extra service. Other than that, the operations team put together a great schedule that actually allowed folks to go up in the morning, come back midday, or stay all day, or choose the midday run and then come back in the evening. So we just finalized our agreement with the Park yesterday, which, we were kind of trying to fast-track that to get it done before the June 1st deadline, and we did that. And so, yeah, things have been going great.”
There are a lot of wins with this new shuttle. The National Park has more visitor capacity up on the Ridge than the parking lot can generally hold, so this opens up a lot of those parking spaces. Canadian visitors can take the Black Ball Ferry into town and visit the Ridge without the need for a car. And the shuttle also will be able skip by the lineup of vehicles waiting to go past the ranger station while reducing congestion at the same time.
“We have an agreement with the Park. If the traffic’s completely stopped, we can actually bypass and go through. We’re not going to abuse that. We’re going to just try… as the line is moving, we’re going to continue to move through that. But if it does get to the point where the parking lot is full, we’re supposed to be getting priority through the gate. So, we will see how that works.”
Shuttles leave the Gateway at 9:30, 12:30 and 2:45 each day. Must have a proof of a paid park admission to board the bus if you’re 16 or older. Learn more at clallamtransit.com