Summary

Transit demand continues to grow across King County, and to help improve service and connections, Metro is adding trips and expanding service to more than a dozen key routes starting Sept. 10.

Story

Sept. 10 changes include revisions in Southeast Seattle

Transit demand continues to grow across King County, and to help improve service and connections, Metro is adding trips and expanding service to more than a dozen key routes starting Sept. 10.

Metro’s website now shows full details for each route change, and orange rider alert brochures and new orange timetables will be on buses soon. Riders can now plan trips for dates after Sept. 10 using Metro’s Trip Planner.

The new trips and fine-tuned bus schedules help meet demand and also to respond to customer concerns. In particular, the changes in Northeast Seattle respond to customer feedback after the March service change, during which Metro restructured bus service so buses arrive more frequently and more directly serve two new Link light rail stations.

Preliminary ridership data shows significantly more transit riders using the improved network that now includes more frequent Metro service and extended Link light rail. Metro continues to monitor how riders are using the network.

Metro is able to add service and specific trips by drawing on increasing sales tax revenue, diesel fuel cost savings and partnerships with the City of Seattle and City of Redmond.

North Seattle

In North Seattle, trips will be added on weekdays on routes 26 Express, 48, 62, 63, 65, 67, 77 and 372. Route 73 will now operate on Sundays, providing buses every 30 minutes from 7:45 a.m. to 7:15 p.m.  Routes 65 and 67 will operate every 20 minutes on Sundays instead of every 30 minutes.

South Seattle

Metro is restructuring Southeast Seattle bus service, replacing Route 38 and revising routes 9 Express, 106, 107 and 124, so that diverse, low-income and non-English speaking communities from around the county can more conveniently access opportunities, particularly along the Martin Luther King Way Jr. corridor. Riders also will have new connections and service to Beacon Hill and Georgetown. Bus service will be available every 15 minutes on routes 106 and 124 most of the time. Detailed changes are available online for each route.

Seattle

Metro will add weekday bus trips to help address crowded conditions on more than a dozen routes, including trips funded in partnership with the City of Seattle on routes 8, 15, 18, 21, 40 and 120.

Vashon Island

Route 118 will provide islanders with new Sunday service for the first time in many years, mirroring Saturday schedules and helping riders connect with both ferry terminals and other destinations.

Eastside

Redmond LOOP: As part of its Alternative Services Demonstration program, Metro is partnering with the City of Redmond to pilot a new service called the Redmond LOOP. The Redmond LOOP will come every 45 minutes on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to meet the mid-day travel needs of Redmond residents, visitors and employees in the Redmond LOOP service area. The Redmond LOOP will travel from the Redmond Transit Center through Education Hill, along Avondale to Bear Creek Park & Ride and then along Redmond Way with a stop by Redmond Town Center before heading back to the Transit Center.

New Route 243 Express will offer weekday peak service – northbound mornings from Overlake Transit Center to Kenmore Park-and-Ride and southbound afternoons from Kenmore Park-and-Ride to Overlake Transit Center.