Local transit agencies are about to begin their June service changes and there’s a lot of good news to report. The big four Puget Sound ground-based transit agencies are all rolling out their shakeups beginning this weekend. King County Metro, Community Transit, and Pierce Transit will start providing considerably higher service level with the deployment of 157,000 combined service hours. Sound Transit is mainly revising schedules and select trips. In this post, I’ll walk you through all the key changes.
King County Metro
Lots of new service is on the way for King County Metro thanks to Seattle voters who passed Proposition 1 back in November. This marks the first round of two that Metro will add service using Proposition 1 funds. This service change will begin deployment of 110,000 service hours. An additional 113,000 service hours funded by Seattle will be deployed later in September while suburban routes will see an increase of a further 69,000 service hours. Metro’s service change begins on June 6.
Seattle Service Changes
The Seattle service changes tackle all of the key areas that riders appreciate: reliability improvements, increased all-day and off-peak service, boosts in peak-hour services to manage overcrowding, and the reintroduction and addition of routes. New trips will be added to the all-day and off-peak periods to increase the span of service and increase frequencies where warranted. Metro will also boost peak-hour service and restore one route. Finally, reliability improvements will be made to a long list of routes by adjusting schedules.
All-Day and Off-Peak Service
C Line and D Line – The combined routing will be improved to 8-minute frequency at peak hours. Midday weekday and Saturday service will be improved to 12-minute frequency. Nighttime service will extend to 11.30pm with 15-minute frequency, seven days a week. Night Owl trips will be adjusted to be the same times seven days a week.
Route 5 – On weekday and Saturday evenings, service frequency will improve to every 15 minutes with the addition of seven southbound trips to Downtown Seattle and seven northbound trips to Shoreline Community College.
Route 5E – Four morning and four afternoon peak-hour trips added.
Route 8 – One peak-hour, peak-direction trip added.
Route 10 – On weekday evenings, service frequency will improve from 30 minutes to 15 minutes with the addition of 10 westbound trips to Downtown Seattle and 10 eastbound trips to Capitol Hill. On weekends, 2 morning and 9 evening roundtrips will be added.
Route 15E -Two morning and two afternoon peak-hour trips added, schedule adjustments to improve frequency
Route 16 – Two peak-hour afternoon northbound trips added, schedule adjustments to improve frequency.
Route 17E – One peak-hour morning trip added, schedule adjustments to improve frequency.
Route 18E – One peak-hour afternoon trip added, schedule adjustments to improve frequency.
Route 19 – Route restored with five morning peak-hour trips southbound and six afternoon peak-hour trips northbound.
Route 21 – On Saturday evenings, service frequency will improve to every 15 minutes to Downtown Seattle with the addition of 3 northbound trips.
Route 24 – Span of service will be extend from from 9pm to midnight everyday. Weekday trips will be revised to integrate with restored Route 19.
Route 27 – All-day service will be restored with the introduction of 30-minute frequencies weekday middays and hourly service on evenings and weekends.
Route 40 – Service will be improved to 15-minute frequency on weekday and Saturday evenings, 10-minute frequency during weekday peak periods, and 30-minute frequency at nighttime everyday.
Route 41 – Service will be improved to 15-minute frequency on weekday and Saturday middays. Early morning and evening service will improve to 30-minute frequency everyday.
Route 44 – Service will be improved from 15-minute to 12-minute frequency on weekday and Saturday middays.
Route 47 – Restored route operating seven days a week with 20-minute peak-hour frequency and 35-/40-minute midday frequency. This route will not operate after 7pm.
Route 48 – One morning southbound trip added to maintain 10-minute frequency during the peak hour.
Route 55 – Three peak-hour morning and three peak-hour afternoon trips added.
Route 60 – Service will be improved to 30-minute frequency and the span of service extended. Peak-hour service will improve to 15-minute frequency in the peak direction.
Route 73 – Added trips on weekdays and Sundays.
Route 74E – One peak-hour morning trip added.
Route 120 – Three peak-hour morning northbound trips added.
Route 125 – Service will be improved to 30-minute frequency on weekends from 6.30am to 6.30pm.
Route 312 – Two peak-hour morning and three peak-hour afternoon trips added.
Reliability Improvements
These routes will see schedule adjustments to improve reliability:
C Line, D Line, 1, 2, 7, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 37, 40, 41, 43, 44, 48, 49, 55,
56, 57, 64, 66, 70, 71, 72, 74, 76, 83, and 99
Temporary Service Reductions
The following routes will see the suspension of certain trips when the University of Washington and Shoreline Community College are not in session:
31, 32, 48, 65, 67, 68, 75, 167, 197, 271, 277, 331, 372, and 373
These suspensions will be in effect from June 15 through September 25.
Community Shuttles
Metro will launch new Community Shuttles thanks to partnerships with the City of Mercer Island and the City of Burien. These shuttles will be operated by HopeLink using DART vans.
New Route 630 will operate five weekday peak-hour trips in one direction between mid-Mercer Island and First Hill via Downtown Seattle. This is route is funded for two years by a partnership of Seattle and Mercer Island.
New Route 631 will operate on weekdays during the daytime on a nearly half-hourly basis. The route will connect Downtown Burien to its surrounding neighborhoods and circulate in one direction. Riders can call ahead for off-route pickups.
For a full list of the revisions, long-term detours, and other oddball changes, visit Metro’s comprehensive service change page.
Sound Transit
Sound Transit will see a host of service changes for ST Express routes beginning on June 6 and 7:
Route 545 – Minor schedule changes.
Route 550 – Minor schedule changes.
Route 560 – Substantial schedule changes and one trip is deleted.
Route 566 – Substantial schedule changes and six trips are deleted.
Route 567 – Substantial schedule changes.
Route 577 – Substantial schedule changes.
Route 578 – Substantial schedule changes and one trip is deleted.
Route 586 – UW Seattle and Tacoma go into summer session; the route will begin its reduced Summer schedule on June 12.
Route 590 – Three trips are deleted.
For full details on the changes, see the Sound Transit service booklet.
Community Transit
Community Transit will see a significant boost in service thanks to increasing tax revenues and a 25 cent fare increase that goes into effect on July 1. The agency will deploy 27,000 new service hours across the network. 18,000 service hours will be focused on restoring Sunday and holiday service to select routes with the remainder improving weekday and Saturday services. Community Transit will also alter Route 280, add two commuter trips to/from Downtown Seattle and the UW.
Sunday and Holiday Service Restoration
16 routes will operate on Sunday and holidays*, which largely mirrors the Saturday network (Routes 115 and 201 being the exception). The span of service is route dependent, but the overall network will operate from 6.45am to 9.30pm. The for routes fall into three categories:
- Every 20 minutes: Swift
- Every hour: Routes 101, 105, 112, 113,116, 119, 120, 130, 196, 202, and 220
- Every two hours: Routes 222, 240, 271, and 280
DART service will also be added and cover the same areas as fixed routes and schedules.
*Community Transit will operate on the following holidays: Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Weekday and Saturday Service Improvements
The following routes will see weekday and Saturday service frequent and span of service improvements as noted:
Route 105 – Weekday and Saturday service improvements.
Route 112 – Weekday service improvements.
Route 113 – Weekday and Saturday service improvements.
Route 115 – Weekday and Saturday service improvements.
Route 116 – Weekday and Saturday service improvements.
Route 119 – Weekday service improvements.
Route 120 – Weekday service improvements.
Route 130 – Saturday service improvements.
Route 196 – Weekday service improvements.
Route 201 – Saturday service improvements.
Route 202 – Saturday service improvements.
Route 222 – Saturday service improvements.
Route 271 – Saturday service improvements.
Route 280 – Saturday service improvements.
Route 418 – Additional weekday peak-hour trips.
Route 860 – Additional weekday peak-hour trips.
Route Changes
Community Transit will restructure service based on Highway 2 in the eastern part of Snohomish County. Route 270 will be revised to operate as an “express” service on weekdays from Gold Bar to Everett in the peak direction, morning and afternoon. A new Route 271 would be added to provide better coverage to Monroe. New Route 271 will operate with limited stops from Gold Bar to Monroe and local service from Monroe to Everett. This service would operate seven days a week. As a result of this restructure, Route 275 will be deleted.
Route 280 is a local, all-day route running from Granite Falls to Everett. Community Transit will extend the route to Boeing’s Paine Field plant for two morning and two afternoon trips. For these trips, one morning trip would begin in Granite Falls while the other would start in Lake Stevens. In the afternoon, the return trip pattern mimics the morning: one would terminate in Lake Stevens while the other would end in Granite Falls.
Pierce Transit
Pierce Transit is set to unleash 16,000 new service hours beginning on June 7. This service change will boost weekday frequency on select routes, restore some evening and weekend service, and deploy new Route 4. Like Community Transit, these service hours are brought to you buy rising tides of good sales tax revenue and other sources. 16 of the 40 Pierce Transit routes will see weekend service increases. Weekday frequency increases will be focused on Route 1, 402, and 500.
Service Changes
The following routes will see service changes:
Route 1 – Reroute due to bridge closure and no service to Parkland Transit Center, but service remains on Pacific Avenue. Adjustments to Saturday and Sunday schedules.
Route 2 – Adjustments to Saturday and Sunday schedules.
Route 3 – Adjustments to Saturday schedules.
Route 10 – On Sundays, two new evening trips from Tacoma Community College, one new evening trip from Point Defiance.
Route 11 – Adjustments to Saturday and Sunday schedules; on Sundays, one new evening trip from Downtown Tacoma.
Route 13 – On Saturdays, one new evening trip from Tacoma Dome Station.
Route 14 – On Saturdays, one new evening trip from the Proctor District.
Route 41 – Adjustments to Saturday and Sunday schedules; on Saturdays, one new morning trip from Tacoma Dome Station; on Sundays, one new morning trip from Tacoma Dome Station and one evening trip from Downtown Tacoma.
Route 42 – On Sundays, two new trips (one morning, one evening) from the 72nd St Transit Center and one new evening trip from Downtown Tacoma.
Route 45 – Sunday service is restored to the route with hourly service mid-morning to early evening.
Route 51 – On Saturdays, one new evening trip from the Proctor District.
Route 52 – On Sundays, one new evening roundtrip.
Route 53 – Reroute due to bridge closure and schedule adjustments. On Saturdays, one new evening roundtrip. On Sundays, two new trips (one morning, one evening) from Tacoma Community College.
Route 55 – On Sundays, one new evening trip from Parkland Transit Center.
Route 56 – On Sundays, one new evening trip from the Tacoma Mall and two new trips (one morning, one evening) from the 72nd St Transit Center).
Route 57 – On Sundays, one new evening trip from the Tacoma Mall and one new trip from Downtown.
Route 101 – The Gig Harbor Trolley route returns for service from June 5 through September 7 with a new routing.
Route 202 – Adjustments to Saturday schedule and three new trips (one mid-morning and two evening) from Lakewood. On Sundays, one new evening roundtrip.
Route 206 – Adjustments to Sunday schedule with routing modifications; one new evening roundtrip.
Route 212 – On Saturdays, frequency is upgraded between Lakewood and Pierce College, and a new roundtrip is added to serve Steilacoom.
Route 300 – On Sunday, one new evening roundtrip.
Route 402 – 5 new weekday roundtrips.
Route 409 – Adjustments to Saturday and Sunday schedules; on Sundays, one new trip.
Route 425 – On Thursdays, evening roundtrips are added; on Saturdays, one new morning roundtrip.
Route 500 – 6 new weekday roundtrips.
Route 501 – 5 new weekday roundtrips; 4 new trips from Downtown Tacoma and 6 new trips from Federal Way on Sundays.
Route Changes
New Route 4 will consist of the combination of the corridors served by Routes 204 and 410. New Route 4 will run along E 112th St from the Lakewood Transit Center to Pierce College. The route will not deviate to the Parkland Transit Center where Routes 204 and 410 currently terminate. The combination of Routes 204 and 410 means that they will be deleted individually from the network. Riders who previously rode to the Parkland Transit Center will still be able to make transfers to Routes 45 and 55.
For full details on the changes, visit Pierce Transit’s website.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.