Tag Archives: transit service

Bus service changes for Beacon Hill begin Saturday

Route 38 makes its way up South McClellan Street. But it won't be doing that before 9:00 am anymore. Photo by Oran Viriyincy.
King County Metro Transit will be making service changes to some of the routes serving Beacon Hill, starting on Saturday, October 2.

According to Metro, revisions include:

  • Route 36 will return to its regular routing between Beacon Avenue South and South Myrtle Street, and South Myrtle Street and 39th Avenue South. It will no longer operate on Beacon Avenue South between Myrtle Street and Othello Street. The Route 36 shuttle will be discontinued.
  • Route 38: All service before 9:00 am will be discontinued.
  • Route 39 will return to regular routing between South Othello Street and 38th Avenue South and South Myrtle Street. It will no longer operate on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and Renton Ave South between South Othello Street and South Henderson Street.
  • Route 60: On weekends, all trips will be extended from Georgetown to White Center, and service will be improved to a 30-minute frequency.

The online Trip Planner will help you see if your route’s schedule has changed. Be sure to input a date of October 2 or later when using the Trip Planner, or you won’t get the new schedule.

The new RapidRide “A Line” will debut on Saturday, replacing Route 174 and running between Federal Way and the Tukwila International Boulevard Link light rail station. If you’re interested in trying it, you might want to take Link from Beacon Hill down to Tukwila on Saturday or Sunday, because all trips will be free on the A Line for opening weekend.

Derailed train causing Link light rail delays

Closed doors to the southbound platform at Beacon Hill Station. Riders are currently directed to the northbound platform for all trips until the disabled train is cleared from the tracks in SoDo. Photo by Jesse Odam.
Closed doors to the southbound platform at Beacon Hill Station. Photo by Jesse Odam.
As Jason mentioned earlier, there was a derailment of a Link light rail train on the elevated section near the maintenance yard this afternoon. Sound Transit has been able to keep Link service running, though with notable delays, by using only the northbound track through Beacon Hill and Mount Baker stations. Trains are supposed to be running every 20 minutes for the rest of the day.

Reports from riders so far indicate that you should allow more than 20 minutes for the delay, though this may improve as the rush hour traffic dies down. Jesse Odam reports that his usual 15 minute Link trip from the International District to Beacon Hill just after 5:00 pm expanded to nearly an hour, including being passed by a jam-packed train, and then a half-hour wait at Stadium Station.

Sound Transit warns that Link service will be temporarily suspended later, during the removal of the disabled train, because both northbound and southbound tracks will be blocked. During that time there will be a shuttle bus (Route 97), which will operate between the Stadium and Mount Baker light rail stations. We aren’t sure yet when this will happen, but Sound Transit says they’ll update this rider alert page when they are ready to remove the disabled train.

Folks on Seattle Transit Blog are discussing the derailment, its possible causes, and Sound Transit’s handling of the situation, here.

Plan ahead: Metro on holiday schedule tomorrow

You might have to wait a bit longer for your bus tomorrow. Photo by Oran Viriyincy.
You might have to wait a bit longer for your bus tomorrow. Photo by Oran Viriyincy.
Do you have Veterans’ Day off tomorrow? Neither do we. Metro Transit, however, is operating on a “reduced weekday” schedule for tomorrow’s holiday, and most buses serving our area, including the 36 and 60 routes, are listed as “Routes operating a reduced weekday schedule with designated trips canceled.” Please note also that the 38 route is entirely canceled tomorrow.

The reduced weekday schedule will also be in effect on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Christmas Eve, and from December 28 through 31; buses will run on a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Check your schedule for trips identified with an “H” — those trips will be canceled tomorrow.

Link Light Rail will be running on the normal weekday schedule.

Thanks to Seattle Transit Blog.