EVERETT — Community Transit proposed a $560 million biennial operating budget at a work session Thursday that would pay for increased service levels, more staff, and new construction over the next two years.

The Snohomish County transit agency’s first biennial budget would include $277 million for operating costs in 2026 and $283 million for operating costs in 2027. Over the next two years, the budget would fund an increase of about 130,000 service hours, hire 198 new staff and fund additional pilot areas for the Community Transit’s microtransit service, known as Zip . Fourteen of those new staff will be security officers, the budget reads.

Including capital costs, the proposed 2026-27 budget totals $851 million.

Capital dollars in the budget will pay for work on a planned extensi

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