ISLAND COUNTY: Bus drivers get big raises in new Island Transit contract
Jessie Stensland reports from the Island Transit board of directors meeting of Fri., Nov. 7, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
Summary by Perplexity.ai
Island Transit bus drivers and dispatchers won a contract with substantial wage hikes—a 17% wage adjustment plus annual 3% cost-of-living increases for three years—raising starting pay to $27.70-$29.35 per hour, with higher rates after eight years. Despite $13.6 million in planned capital projects and purchases, the agency is projected to maintain a healthy cash reserve, estimated at nearly $66 million by end of 2026. The agreement, aimed at improving labor relations, passed with just one dissenting board member, Commissioner Jill Johnson (R-Oak Harbor), who questioned fiscal stewardship. Board members didn’t publicly discuss contract details, but many see the raises as aligning wages with similar transit agencies.
They Said It
“Buying loyalty isn’t courageous, it’s transactional,” [Johnson] wrote [in a comment to the Whidbey News-Times]. “Courage is respecting your employees and the work they do, while still acknowledging that these are hard earned tax dollars and good stewardship of those dollars is a responsibility … and it doesn’t always make you popular.”
[Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley)], on the other hand, said in an interview that the wage increase merely puts the drivers and dispatchers on par with other transit agencies in the region.
Ed. Note: The Whidbey News-Times noted this about Island Transit: “The board of directors for the public transit agency is made up of elected officials from other governmental entities. The six members are all three county commissioners — Johnson, Melanie Bacon and Janet St. Clair — as well as Oak Harbor Councilmember James Marrow, Coupeville Town Councilmember Jenny Bright and Langley Councilmember Craig Cyr.“
