Community Post

Bus Changes Released

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Today King County released the list of proposed changes to bus service in anticipation of the light rail opening later in the summer. The biggest changes are that 3 of our neighborhood routes will now connect to the new Mount Baker light rail station.  Here’s the highlights:

 

  • Route 8 increases service to every 15 minutes during peak hours, and extends further south to MLK and the new Mount Baker light rail station at McClellan and then onwards to Rainier Beach.
  • Route 14 discontinues continues service to Hunter Blvd in Mount Baker, and instead terminates a also adds service to the new Mount Baker light rail station.
  • Route 48 will discontinue service to Rainier Beach (replaced by the extended 8), and instead stops at Mount Baker light rail station.  Service increases to every 15 minutes in the evenings.  However, it maintains all of its northern route to UW and Loyal Heights.

The proposals will be voted on at the King County Council later this month.  If approved, the changes would take place starting in September.

0 thoughts on “Bus Changes Released”

  1. The way I read the changes it means the #8 will run past 15th (Group Health) after 7p.m. Didn’t see any mentions of weekends. It never made sense to me why there isn’t any service from MLK valley/Rainier Beach to the Seattle Center on the weekends when there are lots of activities.

  3. I agree it’s unclear whether the ‘extending’ of the #8 includes weekends, but since the route it’s replacing does? I like running every 15 minutes at peak and until 1 AM. I figured it would be a major player with light rail besides going from one end of town to the other.

    I’ll email Larry Gossett, but also Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips since they presumably want my vote in August :-)

  4. The #8 was originally created by taking hours from a bunch of other routes – Mary Bass, our School Board rep, was involved in that effort – to give folks going to Queen Anne and the Center and Cap Hill a way to get there easier than going downtown and transferring (or just staying on the 2…but I digress).

    Because of that, and Metro’s 40/40/20 rule that punishes Seattleites who use transit far more frequently than our suburban neighbors, there were limits on how much service could be provided with the available hours. The light rail opening will free up service hours for things like an extended/expanded 8. Which rocks!

  5. that with Metro’s $100 million budget shortfall, any of the “February 2010” notes in the document linked in this post are far from guaranteed. I expect without some significant action in Olympia, or a tax increase, that a lot of those service improvements are…unlikely.

  6. Most of these service “improvements” are being paid for by cutting routes that the Central Link has made redundant.

    This expansion of the 8 is being paid for by massive cuts to the 48’s route.

  7. Still a slow dysfunctional route, but not as bad as 2,3,and 4. Those are the worst, always full of crazy folks and slow!!!
    I thought they are extending 8 to Renton at least, why terminating it so short of such a major hub?
    The routes need to be more direct and faster. If 8 stops at every block and only goes as far south as Rainier Beach, I don’t see any point of using it. If at least it went to Renton, I might give it a try since I work there. It’s 2009, more people want to use transit not just disabled and teenagers who need to travel a few blocks.