SHELTON, WA – Mason Transit Authority has reopened the Pear Orchard Park and Ride after recently completing renovations including an electric vehicle (EV) charging station. The park and ride is located off SR 3 near N. Front Street, near the Shelton Yacht Club.
Pear Orchard Park and Ride serves bus route 1 and worker/driver buses to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It has parking spaces for 32 vehicles. Upgrades include increased parking, shelter for waiting passengers, lights, security cameras, landscaping and Mason Transit’s first EV charging station.
“The improvements make our park and ride safer and more comfortable for commuters, especially as we go into winter,” explained Amy Asher, general manager of Mason Transit. “EV chargers are important because people use electric vehicles for short trips then jump on the bus for the long commute.”
Pear Orchard Park and Ride is part of a $10 million package funded through state grants to improve transit safety and encourage ridership. Later this summer and fall, four other renovated park and ride locations will open, including Shelton-Matlock, Cole Road, Pickering and Belfair. The new location in Belfair will include additional bus parking and will serve as a North Mason operations hub for Mason Transit. When complete, the renovated and new park and ride locations will more than triple parking for commuters.
