Underserved South County transit corridor receives investment of bus service hours

January 30, 2012

Summary

June service changes brings additional 11,000 service hours to Auburn, Kent, SeaTac and Burien

Story

Bus riders in south King County can expect to see more transit service this summer, as a result of action taken today by the Metropolitan King County Council. The Council adopted Metro Transit’s June 2012 transit service changes, bringing a heavily-travelled transit corridor in south King County an infusion of bus service hours.

“Those of us who live in South King County have known for years how lacking we are in transit service,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson who represents South King County. “Under Metro’s new strategic plan, I was pleased to vote for a policy which finally begins to deliver the bus service we so desperately need.”

Metro Transit Route 180 connects Burien, SeaTac, Kent and Auburn. Currently, after the evening commute, the route travels only between Kent and Auburn. With the adopted service changes, Route 180 will received 11,000 additional service hours so the route can continue to serve the whole corridor throughout the night. Metro expects the extension of service between Kent and Burien at night to increase ridership to approximately 4,800 passengers a day.

The increased hours for Route 180 are part of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Public Transportation 2011-2021 and King County Metro Service Guidelines, as well as the County’s Congestion Reduction Plan. The plans focus on the allocation of service hours to higher-performing bus routes to address overcrowding, schedule reliability, and adding service to underserved corridors with the goal of making the overall bus system more productive. These are the first service changes Metro will implement under the Strategic Plan.