Sound Transit will receive $166M in federal funds

SEATTLE — President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that Sound Transit will receive a federal grant of $166 million to help offset losses by the transit agency, which has reduced fares on some routes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his tweet, Trump said the federal funds will help shore up finances of the agency, which had stopped collecting fares weeks ago but is now poised to begin collecting them again now that Washington state is slowly restarting its economic engine.

Many Puget Sound businesses slashed ridership fares and curtailed some services to account for the loss of passengers and lost revenue.

Sound Transit officials announced Monday that effective June 1, it will resume collecting fares on some of its light rail and commuter train routes. The agency said it will introduce temporarily reduced Recovery Fares as it begins collecting money from riders again.

The agency said it also planned to increase its Link service, with trains operating every 20 minutes during the day until the afternoon commute.

In a second tweet, Trump announced that Portland's TriMet transit agency would also receive over $184 million in federal funds to " support continued operations of their transit system. This will keep workers on the job and help the economic recovery by ensuring reliable transportation!"