BI Council reviews mobility report to address transportation gaps

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 24, 2026

The Bainbridge Island City Council reviewed a report March 17 that aims to improve mobility for islanders and provide recommendations to address transportation access gaps.

Greg Dronkert, director of Bainbridge-based nonprofit Mobility for All, provided the council with an overview of the report.

The report identified three gaps: after-hours and weekend public transportation, specifically focused on the ferry landing. The need for convenient, easily accessible public transportation outside of commuting hours connecting the Winslow business area, e.g., High School Road, Coppertop, and Winslow Way, and connectivity between downtown Winslow and Lynwood Center, per city documents.

“It’s important to remember that this study focused on just those three gaps, without trying to aim to solve all of the transportation needs on the island,” interim city manager Ellen Schroer said.

A recent American Communities Survey found that roughly 37.5% of islanders drive alone to work, 33.7% work from home, and 17.8% of commuters use public transit, noting the Seattle-Bainbridge ferry accounts for a lot of commuters, per agency documents.

“The biggest gap right now in transportation on Bainbridge is awareness. Folks don’t understand the services that already exist,” Dronkert said. He praised the extent of services offered by Kitsap Transit while acknowledging the limitations that they are working within, as routed buses only run during certain times of day and are spread countywide. “ We have an opportunity as a community to try to work to address those challenges. The difference, and what I’m hoping we can think about here, is an approach, as opposed to a specific plan. The approach is for us to engage in how we fill the gaps,” he said.

Dronkert said the most important goal of his presentation was to bring awareness to the topic of mobility. “A classic dilemma in transportation planning is serving density or area. And what we’ve chosen to do here is focus on density, which is our downtown,” he said.

The pilot program doesn’t intend to replace current services offered by KT, rather supplement service in the downtown core. “They’re already running their demand-responsive service, and this supplemental service could be added in the downtown core. We had to fix this so that we can model pricing, so you’ve got to fix your area, fix your schedule, understand your operating hours, and then when Kitsap Transit departs the area, then the service expands, and it fills the void that they’ve left,” Dronkert said.

Proposed service areas:

Area 1 – Downtown Core

Area 2 – Bainbridge Island Subarea (includes Area 1)

Area 3 – Area 2 (the Subarea) plus Lynwood Center and Coppertop Park

Area 4 – Existing Kitsap Transit BI Ride Service area

Area 5 – All roads on Bainbridge Island

The project would be broken into several phases, including phase one: pilot project, phase two: service expansion, and phase three: optimization. Dronkert said the proposal would have a six-month planning period, twelve months of operations, and a roughly three-month analysis period.

The estimated cost of two vehicles, such as a minivan or van in service with a third ready to flex into service, would initially cost between $1.3 to $1.6 million and $1.2 million on an annual basis, with a slight decrease following the study portion, Dronkert said.

“You would keep your schedule the same the entire time, because your schedule very much influences demand. If the vehicle is not there at a certain time, you won’t see whether people wanted to use it,” he said.

The study made several possible recommendations, including: Do nothing and wait for KT to improve service, COBI hires KT to run pilot, COBI hires KT – KT contracts out, COBI operates pilot (in house), and COBI contractors out.

Council unanimously passed a motion to accept the mobility islanders’ report and refer the topic to the Mobility Advisory Committee 2026 workplan to make recommendations on next steps. The MAC was created in December 2025 by an ordinance and aims to both advise City Council and assist city staff on issues involving mobility and transportation, including non-motorized and shared mobility, per the city website. As of March 18, applications are still open for seven positions, and no meetings are currently listed as scheduled.

Councilmembers took turns sharing their questions with Dronkert. Mike Nelson shared his support for bus service.

“Growing up, I always took city buses everywhere, and I’d love to see more at night and on the weekends. And it just seems to be a persistent gap. We talk about biking a lot, but we don’t talk about bus service,” he said.

Brenda Fantroy-Johnson said she appreciated the support of bringing transportation to the island and reducing the environmental impact. Kirsten Hytopoulos said she’d like to collaborate with KT and wanted council to be aware of possible funding issues and keep communication open with the mobility advisory committee about funding throughout the process.

Lara Lant said she’d like to see service incorporated with existing park and ride facilities on the island.