With ridership nearly 7 percent higher than this time last year, Metro Transit is adding two new bus routes and more service on 20 routes throughout King County, as it kicks off its September service change beginning Saturday, Sept. 20. This includes a new route and more service for the Kent area.
“We’ve listened to riders, cities, and businesses and are pleased to have these improvements hit the road as ridership continues to climb and more service is needed,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “So many more people are taking the bus here in King County that Metro is among the fastest growing large transit agencies in the nation.”
Metro’s ridership has recently climbed to about 400,000 boardings each weekday, and is expected to increase this fall. Most of the additional service for the September service change is funded through the voter-approved Transit Now initiative, and includes several partnerships with local cities and businesses.
For local bus riders, the changes include:
• The cities of Kent and Renton have partnered with Metro to increase service on Route 153 to every 30 minutes during the mid-day hours on weekdays;
New Route 157 offers weekday peak-commute service to neighborhoods east of Kent. The service connects the Lake Meridian Park-and-Ride and downtown Seattle with stops at Kent East Hill, Glencarin, South 212th Street, and Interstate 5;
• There will be routing changes for routes 158 and 159 in downtown Seattle;
Route 161 will have routing changes in East Kent due to new service provided by Route 157, and will be extended to serve Lake Meridian Park-and-Ride
Route 164 will now have hourly service on Saturdays from about 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Also, in response to requests from the cycling community, Metro will launch a demonstration project that allows bicycles to be loaded and unloaded on buses at any stop in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel – not just the first and last tunnel stations.
For information about all the services Metro provides, visit www.kingcounty.gov/metro, or call Metro Rider Information at 206-553-3000.
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