Getting Around

Proposed Metro service revisions released

6 Comments

Metro has released their proposed service revisions. These changes will be discussed at the special joint meeting of the King County Council’s Physical Environment Committee and the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee meeting April 28th.

Update: West Seattle Blog and The West Seattle Herald point out something missing: the Route 50 linking Beacon Hill to West Seattle.

Some relevant highlights from the revisions listed:

    Route 39:

  • Revise routing to end at 38th Avenue S and S Myrtle Street, near Othello light rail station.
  • Discontinue service between Seward Park Avenue S/S Myrtle Street and Rainier Avenue S/S Henderson Street.
  • Adjust Monday-Saturday off-peak service frequency to operate every 45 minutes instead of every 30 minutes.
  • Improve Sunday frequency on Route 39 to operate every 45 minutes instead of every 60 minutes.
    Route 36:

  • Revise routing so that all trips end at 38th Avenue S and S Myrtle Street, near Othello light rail station.
  • Replace service between Rainier Beach and Beacon Avenue S/S Myrtle Street with revised Route 106.
  • Discontinue evening and night service to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
  • Improve Saturday service to every 10 minutes between approximately 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. (Beginning February 2010)
    Route 38:

  • Revise routing to operate between Beacon Hill Station and the Mount Baker bus facility.
  • Discontinue service between Beacon Hill and SODO and in Mount Baker north of McClellan.
  • Operate every 20 minutes instead of every 30 minutes Monday-Saturday between approximately 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
  • Discontinue service on Sundays and on other days before 8:30 a.m. and after 4 p.m.
    Route 60:

  • Improve weekday peak frequency from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes.

6 thoughts on “Proposed Metro service revisions released”

  1. So, exactly what purpose does the remaining 38 route serve? I admittedly haven’t paid much attention to this route since I won’t need to take it down to the busway to avoid the dreaded 36 once light rail is running, but I would think that if they kept it running at all it would be during the commute hours for the tweeners on the east side of the hill. I just don’t see who it serves under the proposed plan.

  2. It’s true that it entirely duplicates light rail service, which is odd. However, it’s probably useful for the elderly and disabled who have difficulty with the steepness of the hill.

  3. And I just realized, rereading Jason’s post — we aren’t getting the #50 to West Seattle?!

    Metro is blaming it on the Southeast Seattle people who didn’t want service changes to the #39. See the West Seattle Herald article, linked above.

    I think the #50 would have been more valuable than an unchanged #39, but then again, I don’t go to the VA. Still, there is currently NO service to West Seattle from here.

  4. Since I live off 15th, I have to say i’m at least happy about the increased frequency of the 60 during peak hours. That will make it a more viable option for getting to, say, Red Apple or the Light Rail.

    Does anyone know if you will be able to get a transfer if your commute involves riding a bus AND the light rail? Because, the two together might make getting into downtown Seattle easier… but if I have to pay for both, it would probably be too expensive.

  5. For what it’s worth, Los Angeles residents joined together and filed a legal cause of action (lawsuit) against the transit provider for the service cutbacks in the low-income part of town.

    The service cuts were called-for, according to elected leaders, because of the new light rail (“Blue Line”). The light rail was touted as a huge improvement in public transportation which would allow for scaling back of regular transit service in the heavily transit-dependent part of town.

    In fact, the bus transit cuts were too deep. The court sided with the community. Light rail doesn’t replace bus transit and the cuts were deemed a hardship on the public. Bus service was restored.

    Food for thought.

  6. Tyler, I am pretty sure you can transfer IF you are using the ORCA card. I don’t think you can transfer otherwise, but don’t take this as gospel — I might be wrong. 🙂

    Anyway, they are trying to encourage everyone to get an ORCA card and use that.

    Though if the train costs more than the bus, I’m not sure how that works — maybe they debit your card for the bus fare, then if you enter the train within two hours, they might debit it for the difference between bus and train fare, but nothing else? I’m just guessing here.

Comments are closed.