Thank Amazon for more bus service in Seattle
Jul 25, 2018, 10:33 AM | Updated: 10:47 am
(MyNorthwest)
(MyNorthwest)
If getting a brown box on your doorstep excites you, maybe more bus service — courtesy of Amazon — will blow your mind.
Amazon will invest $1.5 million to fund more bus service in Seattle, according to King County Metro. It will provide 22 more weekday trips for two years on routes that serve West Seattle, Shoreline, Ballard, and Capitol Hill.
“The additional service provides room for roughly 1,700 weekday boardings, and includes the RapidRide E Line and C Line, and Routes 8, 40, 62, and 63,” Metro said in a news release.
You won’t see the differences until September when Metro plans to roll out service changes that will add “88,000 service hours annually on more than 50 bus routes.”
This isn’t the first time Amazon has invested in the county’s bus service. It’s paid at least $60 million since 2014 by providing ORCA passes to employees.
“Adding 12,000 hours of additional bus service across the county and city’s busiest routes will benefit all King County and Seattle residents,” said John Schoettler, Vice President of Global Real Estate and Facilities at Amazon. “More than half of our employees get to work in ways other than a single occupant vehicle – including more than 20 percent that take the bus. We are excited to see the increased capacity, and will continue to work with Metro and the City of Seattle to find innovative solutions that provide long-term transit options for the region.”
The greatest impact might be to the Rapid Ride E Line, which services more than 17,000 weekday riders along Aurora from downtown Seattle to Shoreline. The additional 2,500 service hours each from Amazon and the City of Seattle will add:
–9 additional southbound trips, including 3 morning peak trips
–5 additional northbound trips, including 2 afternoon peak trips
–Schedule improvements to reflect current traffic conditions
Amazon isn’t the only private-sector partnership for King County Metro. Microsoft provide about 9,000 hours of bus service each year, according to Metro. And the University of Washington’s football program pays for 4,500 hours of shuttle service for Husky home games.
