CHOKEPOINTS
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray celebrates expanded Metro bus service
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray celebrated the first day of expanded weekday Metro bus service in neighborhoods across Seattle.
The mayor thanked voters in his remarks before jumping on a bus himself.
“Thanks to the voters, today more than 70 percent of Seattle residents live within a short walk of frequent bus service,” Murray said. “Taking the bus has never been more reliable and convenient. Improved RapidRide service to Ballard and West Seattle, as well as bus-only lanes through South Lake Union, are transforming the commute for thousands of workers.”
Celebrating the 3rd round of bus service expansion aboard the RapidRide C Line today → https://t.co/DYmn5lhCYf pic.twitter.com/9K4hCuaZgm
— Ed Murray (@MayorEdMurray) March 28, 2016
Seattle voters approved Transit Proposition 1 in November 2014 and provided the City of Seattle with approximately $45 million annually for the next six years to improve and expand in-city bus service.
Related: King County Metro is preparing for a major ‘tweak’
Bus lines seeing more frequent and reliable service in this expansion will see improved connections and frequencies on many routes that serve the new light rail stations at the University of Washington and Capitol Hill.
Improvements include: More reliable service on Route 8 to Capitol Hill and Mt. Baker; Route 38 to Martin Luther King Jr. Way South; Route 45 to Loyal Heights; and Route 48 from 23rd Avenue to the U-District.
New east-west connections are on Route 62 from Sandpoint to Fremont; and new connections from Northeast Seattle to South Lake Union and First Hill on Route 63.
“South Lake Union is one of the fastest growing parts of our city,” said SDOT Director Scott Kubly. “In the Center City, 31 percent of commuters travel alone by car, while in South Lake Union almost half of commuters do so.”
The city’s Transit Proposition 1 also funded the splitting of the RapidRide C and D lines, extending the RapidRide C Line to South Lake Union and the RapidRide D Line to Pioneer Square.
New RapidRide C Line service will run every seven to 12 minutes from West Seattle via Downtown.
More service on Route 40 will run every nine to 15 minutes from Northgate via Ballard/Fremont to Downtown seven days a week.
Other changes include:
• A shifted Route 40 to Westlake Avenue for ease of access and use.
• More peak-time service for Route 70 from the University District to downtown.
• More service with a reliable, shortened route for Route 8 from Seattle Center to Capitol Hill/Rainier Valley.
• More service on routes 26, 28, 62, and the E line.
• Dedicated transit lanes on Westlake Avenue North.
• Transit stop upgrades such as real-time transit information signs, shelters and wider sidewalks.
