Connection made: New Wheat Line bus route will boost regional mobility east of the Cascades

OLYMPIA - Travelers and commuters between Spokane and Tri-Cities will soon have another option for reaching their destinations thanks to a new regional, intercity bus route.

On Friday, May 1, Travel Washington Intercity Bus will launch the Wheat Line, connecting the cities of Pasco, Eltopia, Connell, Othello, Moses Lake, Ritzville and Spokane. The new line will make service more accessible, reliable and convenient in the region.

The Wheat Line will be operated by Central Washington Airporter (CWA) along US 395, State Route 17 and Interstate 90. This will be Travel Washington's fifth regional line, joining the Dungeness, Gold, Apple and Grape lines.

Wheat Line service will make two daily trips northbound and southbound. The new line was designed with better connectivity to the greater transportation network in mind, including connections with several local, regional and national transportation options:

• Pasco Intermodal Train Station (connecting to Amtrak, Greyhound, Ben Franklin Transit and Airporter)
• Tri-Cities Airport
• Moses Lake Multimodal Transit Center
• Eastern Washington University's campus in Cheney
• Spokane International Airport
• Spokane Intermodal Station (connecting to Amtrak, FlixBus, Greyhound, Trailways and Jefferson Lines)
• Local transit services (Ben Franklin Transit, Grant Transit and Spokane Transit)

"With the Wheat Line, people in central and eastern Washington cities and rural communities now have a vital link to connect them to essential services like education, healthcare, employment and other transportation options," said Travel Washington Intercity Bus Program Manager Nina Stocker. "Our partnership with Belair Charters and CWA will deliver dependability, adaptable scheduling and a reliable customer experience that truly reflects the needs of the communities we serve."

This is the first new Travel Washington-branded route since 2008. The Washington State Department of Transportation identified the Wheat Line's service region as a "priority corridor" in its 2024 Connecting Communities study. The study used extensive public input to find areas where potential service expansion would be most cost-effective. It also focused on linking rural areas to the existing intercity network, transportation hubs and urban centers.

About Travel Washington

WSDOT contracts with private bus operators to provide four Travel Washington bus routes serving some of the most rural parts of the state. Each route is uniquely branded to represent the local communities it serves. Those four routes-the Dungeness, Gold, Apple and Grape lines-are part of the state's overall intercity bus network (PDF 2.1MB). The Federal Transit Administration and WSDOT provide funding for the program.