New Grant Transit center to open next week

EPHRATA — The new Grant Transit Authority transit center in Ephrata should be ready for bus passengers Monday. Transit Authority General Manager Eric Loomis said next week’s opening is the first phase of a longer-term plan.  

“The construction, hopefully, will finish up by Saturday, and then first thing Monday, it will be ready to use,” Loomis said. “It will be (open) for the next six to 12 months, while we’re working through a property master plan to fully realize the potential of that property for GTA.” 

Along with the new transit center, some bus routes are being reconfigured and others added to improve service in Moses Lake and other Grant County towns. JoBeth Carlson, GTA operations manager, said all routes are getting some changes and in some cases they’re major changes. 

“We’re combining our two most popular routes, Route 10 and Route 20. Route 10 is a large circular serving Moses Lake, and Route 20 goes between Ephrata and Moses Lake, and they met at (Big Bend Community College). Now that’s all one route,” Carlson said. “It speeds up the service. People coming from Ephrata to Moses Lake or vice versa are traveling for 45 minutes instead of 60 minutes.” 

Route 20 still stops at BBCC, but passengers no longer have to wait for a different bus, she said.  

Other routes have been added or extended, including the route along Valley Road. 

“(The GTA is adding) more service to the Cascade Valley area that we haven’t served before, extending down the peninsula into Cascade Valley,” Carlson said.  

The Quincy-George area will also get expanded service. Previously, GTA ran buses between Quincy, Ephrata and Moses Lake, but not in the city of Quincy.  

“Quincy was a commuter route prior to this, and we are trying to capture some local areas in Quincy,” she said. “We’re serving the areas of (Quincy Middle School and Quincy High School). There’s a whole newer neighborhood in that area we are serving, as well as more to the south, in the Quincy medical center area of town.” 

George had one bus stop, but that will change. 

“We used to connect in George at the truck stop. Now we’re making a circular (route) through town, so people commuting between George and Quincy now have options,” Carlson said. 

The route from Moses Lake to Quincy will have one transfer, at the new station in Ephrata, she said.  

The GTA provides service to middle schools and high schools in Moses Lake, Warden, Ephrata and Soap Lake, Carlson said. There’s also service to private middle schools and high schools.  

“We have been seeing an increase in ridership,” Carlson said, up about 3% when August 2025 is compared to August 2024. 

Officials will be trying out a new all-electric bus in Moses Lake for the next two to three weeks, Loomis said. Transit authority officials want to see how well it will work on routes in towns. It has a range of about 130 miles, Loomis said, so it’s not suited for long trips, but it’s got potential in town.   

“Some of the routes in Moses Lake and Ephrata, or between here and Ephrata, this certainly could meet those needs,” Loomis said.  

Transit authority board members approved a pilot program in August that will provide service by appointment for people who live in parts of Moses Lake that don’t have a regular route. People would call to schedule an appointment, be picked up and delivered back home.  

The start date will be announced.  

“If that’s a success over a couple of years, we would certainly expand that to Ephrata and other communities,” Loomis said. 

    Grant Transit Authority General Manager Eric Loomis talks about an all-electric bus the GTA will be testing for the next few weeks.