‘Late 8’ slowdowns have ‘nothing to do with South Lake Union’: Rantz argues Denny Way bus-only lane misses why Route 8 is actually late

Several blocks of Denny Way eastbound in Seattle are now bus-only, extending from Seattle Center to I-5, but not everyone is happy with the change.

Seattle Red host Jason Rantz joined “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio to share why the bus-only lane still won’t address why Route 8 is actually late.

“We’ve since gotten rid of one lane for a bus-only lane, specifically for one route that they call the ‘Late 8,’ because it’s late all the time,” Rantz said. “The funny thing is the portion that is impacted here is not where the bus is late. It’s late because it goes into Capitol Hill, and there’s a lot of traffic and few lanes. It has nothing to do with South Lake Union, and yet the city decided to get rid of a lane that 20,000 cars use every single day, while also making it now harder to even turn right to get onto Denny Way.”

The project, part of Mayor Katie Wilson’s $4 million Denny Way Bus Reliability Project, aims to improve on-time performance for King County Metro’s Route 8. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) stated the route carries approximately 7,000 daily riders, while roughly 20,000 vehicles use the general traffic lanes on that stretch each day.

According to an SDOT March 2026 report, Route 8 improved to 77.8% on-time performance after an earlier, shorter bus lane phase was implemented. A senior policy advisor in Wilson’s office has said prior data showed separating buses from car traffic cut combined travel times by 15%.

Rantz, who described himself as a multimodal commuter who drives, takes Metro and rides light rail, said the city’s data doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

“They’ll tell you, ‘Oh no, we have data,'” Rantz said. “They pointed to research. They say we recently had some of this closed because of construction, and based on that it didn’t lead to any [problems]. That is a complete lie, because I live in this area, and I know the construction they’re talking about wasn’t matching what it is they’re currently doing. On top of that, they’ve also blocked another lane to get onto Denny. This is now two lanes that they’ve blocked to get onto Denny to get onto I-5.”

KIRO host Spike O’Neill pushed back, framing the change as part of a broader strategy to prepare for Seattle’s population growth.

“They know the city is growing. They know more people are moving here, and the vast majority of them are going to be in cars,” Spike said. “Let’s get as many cars as we can out of their way. You’ve got to invest in mass transit, light rail and bus lanes.”

Rantz argued that investment hasn’t translated into regional ridership gains.

“We’ve invested billions of dollars, and fewer people are taking mass transit in this region than ever,” Rantz said. “We’re going in the opposite direction while spending even more money. People are choosing not to do it because the service isn’t particularly good.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3