New Everett Transit director Mike Schmieder inside Everett Transit.
Photo courtesy Everett Transit
EVERETT — The new boss of the city’s bus service is a familiar face there.
Mike Schmieder started out as a driver. Last week, he stepped up from being its operations director to being the agency’s director to take over for longtime director Tom Hingson, who retired at the end of September.
Hingson’s colleagues celebrated him with song at a recent farewell lunch.
Schmieder became a driver in 2008 after more than 15 years in pastoral ministry. He rose in those 16 years working in training and then in operations responsible for service planning and routing. Ridership has grown back to pre-COVID levels.
The bus service said Schmieder is known to hold “Mocha Mondays” where he’ll set aside a driver to take a relaxing break and drive their bus as a thank you.
“The people I work with are some of the most caring and dedicated people you will find anywhere! Transit is so critical to our quality of life. It’s an honor to lead an amazing team and to serve this truly special community. We are excited to continue improving service and to make transit work for more people,” Schmieder said.
Hingson, too, began as a driver, in 1983 as a part-time bus driver with King County Metro. He spent time in operations at Community Transit and more, and spent 25 years at Everett Transit. In 2006, he was appointed as the Everett Transit’s director.
Under Hingson, Everett Transit obtained electric buses and is on track to be an all-electric fleet in 2028. He also worked to bring Community Transit’s Swift line into Everett, the agency said.
