PORT ANGELES — Residents can leave their cars behind to attend Veterans Day events this Nov. 11 and take the bus instead.
For the first time since 2010, Clallam Transit will run a regular schedule of buses on the holiday that honors those who have served in the U.S. military, said Wendy Clark-Getzin, general manager of the transit system.
“This will help veterans to engage in Veterans Day events wherever Clallam Transit goes,” she said.
Paratransit operations also will restart for the holiday.
In 2010, four holidays were cut from the bus route schedule to meet a shrinking budget affected by the recession that began in 2008: the day after Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day, Clark-Getzin said.
Day after Thanksgiving restored
Service on the day after Thanksgiving was restored last year, as sales tax revenues began to recover, and this year, it was time to bring back Veterans Day, she said.
Clark-Getzin said restoring the other two holidays will be considered in November, when consideration for the new six-year budget cycle begins.
The holidays were selected according to historic ridership, with the highest-ridership days being the first to be returned and the lowest-ridership days the last, she said.
Before 2010, Transit records show there were 2,375 riders on Veterans Day.
Restoring Veterans Day operations is expected to cost $21,528.
“It will cost $40,000 to $45,0000 to bring back the last two holidays,” Clark-Getzin said.
Other options for bringing back those holidays include partial holiday or Saturday schedules, she said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.