News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:  Jan. 12, 2007

Metro hosts sessions to review proposed transit changes in parts of the Eastside

King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit are finalizing a proposal to improve the bus network on the Eastside, particularly in the communities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Bothell, Woodinville, and Duvall.

Several open houses and information sessions will be held in the coming weeks to gather public input. There is also an online questionnaire, and comments can be submitted by mail and phone. All are due by Friday, Feb. 9. You can find all documents and a questionnaire on Metro Online.

This set of changes to Eastside bus routes are planned to take effect in September 2007 or February 2008. The goals are to: respond to specific requests identified by bus riders during recent public outreach efforts; provide better connections with major Eastside transit centers; improve service to growing areas; and make service more efficient.

Here is an overview of the proposal:

• Routes being considered for routing or schedule changes – Metro 222, 232, 233, 238, 249, 251, 266, 272, 311, 921, and Sound Transit 540 and 545;
• Routes that would be discontinued and replaced with other service – Metro 220 and 254;
• New routes – Route 221 traveling between Education Hill in Redmond and the Eastgate Park-and-Ride in Bellevue via 148th Avenue, and Route 248 connecting Avondale Road Northeast with Kirkland via the Redmond Transit Center and Redmond Town Center.

Funding provided by Transit Now — a program of expanded transit service funded by a dedicated 0.1 percent sales tax approved by voters in November 2006 – has allowed Metro to develop proposals that respond to public comments received over the past two years on ideas for changing bus service. Even with additional resources, Metro still needs to address services that are inefficient or have low ridership to make the best use of available resources and serve the most people. Several proposals are being made to adjust service levels and free up resources for reallocation to higher ridership areas of the Eastside.

“The nature of Eastside transit service is evolving from a commuter-only focus to an all-day network that also services passengers who live, work, shop and travel only on the Eastside,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “These proposals incorporate many suggestions we received from our regular riders, along with comments from folks who do not ride today, but would like to take the bus in the future.”

Desmond urges people to provide feedback on the proposal by filling out a questionnaire, sending in comments, or attending one of the upcoming informal meetings. The schedule for those are:

Tuesday, Jan. 23 – Drop-in open house from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Lake Washington School District Administration Building, Hughes Room, 16250 NE 74th St., Redmond (Redmond Town Center)

Thursday, Jan. 25 – Drop-in open house from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Kirkland Senior Center, 352 Kirkland Ave., Kirkland

Saturday, Jan. 27 – 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Information table at the Duvall Safeway, 14020 Main Street, Duvall

Saturday, Jan. 27 – Noon to 3 p.m.
Information table at Crossroads Mall, Market Stage, 15600 NE 8th St., Bellevue

The questionnaire is also being mailed to 136,000 households on the Eastside. Comments can be submitted by phone at (206) 684-1146, or mailed to:

King County Department of Transportation
Community Relations and Communications
201 S. Jackson St.
KSC-TR-0824
Seattle, WA  98104