Established in 1996, passed by a state legislature to provide public transit services interconnecting between Snohomish County in the north, King County (Greater Seattle) and Pierce County in the south, Sound Transit is the dominant suburban transit agency providing transportation across the three largest counties in and around Seattle. Sound Transit owns a separate fleet of transit buses, but the operations and maintenance are contracted to Community Transit in Snohomish County, King County Metro around east and west Seattle, Pierce Transit in Pierce County. Sound Transit also operates the Sounder Train service between downtown Everett and downtown Seattle during rush hours, and the LINK light rail system between SeaTac Airport and downtown Seattle.