Olympia Planning Commission Meeting – April 24, 2026

The Olympia Planning Commission met in City Hall Room 207 and online. The agenda, minutes, and transcript date the meeting as Monday, April 20, 2026, called to order at 6:31 p.m. and adjourned at 8:23 p.m.; the timestamp supplied for this summary is 2026-04-24 14:30:00 UTC. All nine commissioners were present: Chair Greg Quetin, Vice Chair Daniel Garcia, and Commissioners Elle Burger, Raphael Garcia, Jessica Grubb, Semir Ibrahimovic, Zainab Nejati, Aaron Sauerhoff, and Jason Taellious. The commission amended its agenda, received an Intercity Transit briefing, approved prior meeting minutes, heard staff announcements and reports, and discussed a future retreat.

Consent Calendar

• Agenda amendment: Commissioner Jason Taellious moved and Commissioner Jessica Grubb seconded to move approval of minutes and staff announcements to after business items; the motion passed by voice vote with no audible opposition or abstentions.
• Agenda approved by voice vote.
• Minutes of the April 6, 2026, Planning Commission meeting were approved. Commissioner Aaron Sauerhoff moved and Commissioner Jessica Grubb seconded; the motion carried, with Commissioners Raphael Garcia and Zainab Nejati abstaining.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were offered. One online attendee was noted, but no comment was made.

Staff Announcements

• Casey Schaufler, Associate Planner, announced a Washington State Department of Commerce short course on local planning on May 6, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Tumwater Council Chambers, with an online option; a quorum notice would be published if enough commissioners attend.
• Schaufler said he would email the City of Olympia vacancy study prepared by the economic development team; Economic Development Director Jenica Machado was presenting it to the Land Use and Environment Committee later that week, then to City Council in late May or early June, and would later be invited to the Planning Commission.
• He shared the annual Touch a Truck event on May 3, 2026, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Garfield Elementary School, with a sensory-friendly period from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m.

Discussion Items

• Intercity Transit Bus System Redesign Briefing (26-0294). Spencer Zeman of Intercity Transit presented the first full system redesign, which he said had been about 10 years in development and included community feedback, customer comments, sampling, and outreach.
• Zeman said Intercity Transit has a static budget and is maintaining 315,000 revenue service hours while redistributing service to add coverage in previously unserved areas and to focus on hospitals, schools, and residential growth. He described the service portfolio: fixed route, vanpool, Village Vans, Bus Buddies, community vans, and Walk and Roll.
• He said Intercity Transit is a municipal corporation funded by a 1.2% sales tax within a public transportation benefit area, and that ADA paratransit/dial-a-lift service operates within a three-quarter-mile boundary around the fixed-route network.
• Most core routes remain largely unchanged but are being renumbered; some use interlining, where a bus changes route number mid-trip. Route 41 is being replaced by Routes 32 and 34, adding west-side and South Tumwater connections rather than only a downtown run.
• The redesign launches May 3, 2026. The new Route 9X is the first express/BRT-light corridor, with limited stops, minimum four buses per hour (15-minute service), and 17 stops east-west. A new enhanced station at Fourth and Washington will be about 18 by 32 feet and is expected later in summer. Zeman said full BRT would require dedicated lanes, transit signal priority, and memorandums of understanding with jurisdictions.
• Zeman said an initial small ridership decline is expected after launch, followed by ridership growth of about 5–10%. Intercity Transit had about 5 million annual rides before COVID and returned to that level in the prior year. Data comes from automated passenger counters and boarding/alighting patterns, not individual or facial tracking; surveys and outreach provide context.
• He said the agency plans to reassess routes within 12–24 months, while major service changes typically take one to two years to plan and about three or four years in practice. About 3% of service is chronically delayed or has operational issues, and on-time performance compares well nationally.
• Zeman stated that Intercity Transit tries to remain apolitical and respond to observed demand rather than intentionally inducing demand. Vice Chair Daniel Garcia questioned the word political, said limited resources made sense, and raised concerns about BRT-light versus full BRT, transit-oriented development, and equity impacts. A commissioner who said they ride Route 94 objected to the loss of a direct Olympia Transit Center-to-Amtrak connection and said they needed it the following month; Zeman replied that ridership data showed very few people used Route 94 for that trip and service had been redistributed elsewhere with transfers.
• Zeman said West Bay is unlikely to receive fixed-route service because of the hill and lack of bus maneuvering; East Bay lacked sufficient demand in current data. Boston Harbor residents periodically request service, he said.
• Commissioner Raphael Garcia asked how state housing capacity law changes factor into demand modeling; Zeman said he monitors development requests and comprehensive plan updates and uses census block data. He also requests transit-supportive frontage, sidewalks, ADA pathways, and bus pads, citing a 12-duplex Tumwater project as an example. He discussed equity and Title VI requirements and FTA protections that make service reductions difficult in lower-income or minority areas.
• On safety and operations, Zeman said Intercity Transit has strengthened coordination with the Olympia Police Department, keeps an ambassador program with six full-time staff, and receives high safety ratings in satisfaction surveys.
• On the fleet, he said labor is the largest expense, fuel is not a major cost, buses average about five miles per gallon, and the agency is piloting five hydrogen buses and exploring battery-electric buses. The fleet has 88 buses, with peak pullout around 67–69 buses; FTA now sets a 20% spare-ratio requirement for the agency as a large urban operator.
• Outreach for the redesign includes tabling, social media, printed route maps, QR-code clings, and signage; Zeman said the first phase focuses on educating current riders before May 3, followed by efforts to reach new choice riders. He also mentioned planned future transit center placeholders and a system-wide stop inventory.

Reports

• Vice Chair Daniel Garcia reported that May is Bicycle Month, with events for safety, awareness, and bicycling as an alternative to vehicle transportation. Olympia's proclamation was noted as April 28, and a group bike ride with Intercity Transit was planned from Heritage Park Fountain to City Hall.

Other Topics

• Chair Greg Quetin discussed tentative planning-commission retreat plans for July or August 2026, with a Doodle poll to follow. Potential topics included the Plum Street corridor and the sidewalk conditions report; one commissioner suggested exploring a joint retreat with Lacey and Tumwater planning commissions.

Key Outcomes

• The Intercity Transit bus system redesign briefing was received as an information item; the commission took no formal recommendation or vote on it.
• The agenda and minutes approvals are recorded above; the minutes motion carried with two abstentions.
• Next steps and upcoming dates: the next regular Planning Commission meeting is May 4, 2026, and will include an update on the sidewalk conditions report; Intercity Transit's system redesign launches May 3, 2026; Touch a Truck is May 3, 2026; and the state planning short course is May 6, 2026.