King County Metro’s big service changes go into effect today. Most of the talk is about the elimination of the Free Ride Zone downtown, but there are changes to bus service all over town, including the CD.
The biggest proposed changes in the neighborhood were largely rolled back during the community outreach process. The 27 was originally going to end before Colman and Leschi Parks. Those changes were scrapped, but there will be reduced service on the line:
Service frequency will be reduced to every 30 minutes during the afternoon peak period. Alternative service will be provided by routes 3 and 4 on James, East Jefferson and East Cherry streets and Route 14 on South Jackson St. Also, Route 27 will be separated from Route 17 and connected to Route 33.
A community group posted this poster in opposition to now-scrapped service changes
There were also big changes proposed for the 2. Originally, Metro was going to route the line down Madison instead of Seneca (and, therefore, Westlake Park). These changes were also scrapped after much public opposition.
Route 4 once appeared on the chopping block in exchange for boosted service on the much more heavily used Route 3. Instead, Route 4 will see some reductions in service. Details:
On Saturday in the early morning and late evening, and all day Sunday, Route 4 will not operate the West Raye St loop via Queen Anne Ave N, W Raye St, 2nd Ave W and W McGraw St.
Also on weekends, one southbound trip to Judkins Park via First Hill leaving 3rd Ave & Union St at 5:37 am will be added.
Our sister site Capitol Hill Seattle has more details on routes changes in the area:
How’s it going out there? We’ve been posting about this big round of Metro service changes all year — now they’re finally here:
Some transit service delays are expected in downtown Seattle as bus riders, transit operators and traffic adjust to route changes and the pay-on-entry system. Metro personnel will be available to answer rider questions Monday at key transit stops in downtown Seattle, Ballard, Burien, West Seattle and Northgate during the peak commute times 6:30-9:30 a.m. and 3:30-6:30 p.m. Some locations also will have personnel 12:30-3:30 p.m.
- All routes are now pay on entry
- The downtown Free Ride Area is gone
- Route 10: “Route 10 will be separated from Route 12. In downtown Seattle, it will operate on Pine St and Pike St, using 2nd Ave to loop between the two streets. It will no longer serve bus stops on 1st Ave.”
- Route 11 gets a major boost in weekday midday frequency: “Route 11 will be separated from Route 125. In downtown Seattle, it will operate on Pine St and Pike St, using 2nd Ave to loop between the two streets. It will no longer serve bus stops on 1st Ave.”
- Route 12: “Route 12 will be separated from Route 10. In downtown Seattle, it will operate on Madison St and Marion St, using 1st Ave to loop between the two streets. It will no longer serve bus stops on 1st Ave. “
- The 14 route serving Summit has been separated and is now route 47
- Routes 8, 43, 48, 49, and 60 remain unchanged on Capitol Hill
Around the rest of the city, there are
- New routes 32, 40, 50, 61 and 62
- Discontinued Routes 15, 17, 18, 23, 34, 35, 39, 45, 46, 51, 53, 54, 56, 81, 85, 133 and 134
- Details for all here
What are you seeing out there?
I still can’t believe Metro caved to the “save the 2” folks. A vast improvement in speed and reliability for hundreds of users going to downtown was lost thanks to a handful of people who didn’t want to give up their one-seat ride between Madrona/CD and Seattle Center. Ridiculous.
We should eliminate the things that are unwilling to change. Cancel the #2 entirely. The riders are dispicable.
Thank you Metro for listening.
So three people got to keep their ride to Seattle Center on the #2. But something definately got cut. Metro failed to save $300,000 on the #2 and cut it from _____ instead. A bunch of crusties in Madrona needed their special route more than ________?
More than just a few “crusties” from Madrona ride this bus, as anyone who actually rides the #2 on a regular basis would know. I ride this bus nearly every day to work and back and I have to walk several blocks to get to it. The #2 does more than just drive straight from Madrona to the Seattle Center. Along the way are at least three schools (Hamlin Robinson, Seattle U, and Northwest School, and SCCC), the Capitol Hill QFC hub, several medical clinics (including Virginia Mason and the Polyclinic), Therapeutic Health Services, and a number of low income housing units. Patients of medical clinics along this route are often elderly and/or disabled and moving them several blocks away is both inconvenient and a health hazard.
It’s easy to see things in black and white, but these issues often are more complex than some people’s minds can absorb.
ksh is correct in terms of the broad use of this route. In terms of productivity and all areas served this is a route that should never have been considered. In terms of productivity this route is a top performer. In response to the trade off argument, don’t we want all using Metro, crusties??, middle class, well-off, low income, employees, employers. I don’t believe that a more productive route than the #2 suffered and in fact the plan for the #2 really did not impact revenue or expenses for Metro and would have negatively impacted a large group of users.
Uh. We were looking at a very minor route shifts that would have significantly improved traffic flow. Thus saving time for riders and drivers. Reduced noise. Reduced conjestion. Reduced polution. And why assume that that would have cause disabled people to walk farther? Who says they would not have had a shorter walk? Don’t piss on my back and try to tell me it’s raining.