Headways Newsletter: March 2026
Kitsap-based Seahawks fans flooded ferries across the county on their way to the celebration parade in downtown Seattle on Feb. 11, 2026.
Welcome back to Headways!
It’s been a busy start to 2026. Following the Seattle Seahawks incredible victory in Super Bowl LX, hundreds of thousands of people flooded downtown Seattle to celebrate. We were happy to help get many of those people to and from the city on our fast ferries, breaking several daily ridership records in the process!
ORCA, Puget Sound’s regional fare payment system, also rolled out an exciting new feature this month: Tap to Pay. Now, you can use a debit card, credit card, or digital wallet on your phone to pay your transit fare.
Also this month: Bus route numbers are changing on Bainbridge Island as part of our spring service change, tracking your bus via text, and celebrating our 2025 Drivers of the Year.
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Seahawks swarm Kitsap Fast Ferries for Seattle celebration
A Seahawks fan gives a thumbs-up while waiting to board the Bremerton Fast Ferry to Seattle.
Seattle Seahawks fans showed up in downtown Seattle in record numbers on Feb. 11 to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl LX victory. That meant ferry trips – a lot of ferry trips.
Kitsap Fast Ferries carried a record 2,474 passengers to Seattle in the morning and 1,856 passengers to Bremerton, Kingston, and Southworth in the afternoon, breaking daily ridership records on all three routes.
Tap to Pay launches across ORCA region; feature coming soon for Kitsap Ferries
A rider taps a credit card on an ORCA reader to pay their fare.
On Feb. 23, ORCA launched Tap to Pay across most of its system, including on Kitsap Transit buses. Tap to Pay lets riders pay their transit fare using physical credit and debit cards, or credit cards in digital wallets.
Tap to Pay is not yet available on Kitsap Transit fast ferries or foot ferries, but will be soon.
Spring service change: Bainbridge bus numbers to shift to three digits on March 15
Route 390 waits at the North Viking Transit Center. All Bainbridge Island bus route numbers will change to three digits starting March 15.
With our spring service change, Kitsap Transit is completing a project set in motion several years ago: updating our bus head sign numbers to three digits. Riders on Bainbridge Island will see the new numbers take effect on March 15.
Text for arrivals: How to get the next bus arrival time at your stop
One of Kitsap Transit’s new bus stop signs, which includes a phone number to text for the next bus arrival time.
Kitsap Transit riders may have noticed some new signage at our bus stops on a few routes across our system over the last few weeks. These new signs are part of a pilot program for our text-for-next-arrival software, which allows bus riders to text or call to receive an estimated arrival time for the next few buses at their stop.
Kitsap Transit’s 2025 Drivers of the Year
From left to right: ACCESS Driver of the Year Damien Sabado; Routed Driver of the Year Marvin Jackson; and Worker/Driver of the Year Lindsey Skelly.
We’re proud to honor our 2025 Drivers of the Year: Routed operator Marvin Jackson, ACCESS operator Damien Sabado, and Worker/Driver operator Lindsey Skelly. Between the three of them, they have driven buses for more than 46 years, helping countless riders get where they need to go.