Week of May 28, 2007

Bus service changes start Saturday

Starting Saturday, June 2, King County Metro Transit will make several bus route changes to update service, including adding service on three routes in South King County with funding from the Transit Now initiative.

Metro adjusts its routes and scheduling three times a year in February, June and September to improve service and keep up with the changing needs of transit passengers.

Since voters approved the Transit Now initiative last fall, Metro is working to add service to popular routes, including more frequent service and longer hours of operation. Three routes serving South King County have been targeted for improvements in this service change.

Route 166 will have a new weekday trip from Kent to Des Moines, leaving the Kent Station/Transit Center at 5:45 a.m. This trip will fill a gap in the schedule and aid transfers at the Kent/Des Moines Park-and-Ride.

More Route 180 trips will be extended to serve Sea-Tac International Airport and the Burien Transit Center during midday hours on weekdays and all day on weekends until about 6:15 p.m.

Evening service on Route 181 will be improved to run every 30 minutes until approximately 9 p.m. weekdays, and with 60-minute service extended until 11 p.m.

On Saturdays, 60-minute service will extend until 11 p.m. On Sundays, service frequency will be improved to every 30 minutes from about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. In other areas of the county, bus service changes include:

• After a year of construction, the Fremont Bridge in Seattle has reopened to traffic. Metro bus routes will resume traveling over the bridge with the June 2 service change. This affects routes 26, 28, 28 Shuttle, 31 and 74.

• Route 111 will no longer travel on Northeast Seventh Street and Kirkland Avenue Northeast in the Renton Highlands, but will instead operate on Monroe Ave Northeast and Northeast 10th Street in both directions.

• Route 202 shuttle trips that were added during the reconstruction and expansion of the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride are being reduced to three morning and three evening trips. The opening of the rebuilt park-and-ride has been delayed.

• Route 291 will no longer travel on Northeast 90th Street between 161st Avenue Northeast and 154th Avenue Northeast in downtown Redmond, but will instead operate on Northeast 85th Street and 154th Avenue Northeast.

• On Route 644 between Kenmore and Kingsgate, the first trip in the morning and the last two trips in the afternoon are discontinued.

All of the changes are detailed in new green Metro timetables and a special Rider Alert brochure. Look for them on buses in the racks near the front of the coach. The brochures and timetables are also available at Metro information racks, libraries, and work sites.

The new schedule information is now available in Metro’s online TripPlanner. Be sure to enter a travel date of June 2 or after to access the new information. The revised timetables will be available on Metro Online on Friday, June 1. Or, call Metro Rider Information at (206) 553-3000.

Sometimes people need more than just bus service. That’s where Rideshare Services can help by providing resources for carpooling, vanpooling or vansharing. Carpooling and vanpooling match people traveling to common destinations. VanShare helps those who need to make a connection to or from bus service. You can VanShare from home and connect to your bus, or use VanShare from the bus stop or park-and-ride lot to complete a trip to work.

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