Puget Sound transit agencies are gearing up for their spring service changes. The first changes will start on Saturday, March 29 with King County Metro and Sound Transit. With most of the remainder of transit agencies starting service changes on Sunday, March 30.
King County Metro
For King County Metro, spring service changes will result in service increases on net. The agency will deploy more trips to evenings and weekends on select routes, particularly Routes 8, 36, and 107 which are funded in part by the Seattle Transit Measure. The agency will also be making various schedule adjustments and revising stops so as to serve the new Federal Way Downtown Station.
Federal Way Link had been scheduled to begin operation in 2024, but construction snags led the extension’s opening date to be pushed to 2026, which will be paired with a more extensive bus restructure. For now, transit agencies are rerouting buses to take advantage of Federal Way Downtown Station’s new bus bays and accommodate the construction closure of the old transit center next door.
A few routes are getting cuts, such as the RapidRide C Line, which is losing some afternoon trips, but service will continue to operate about every 10 minutes or better, Metro pledges. In contrast, the H Line and G Line are getting additional trips, bolstering their relatively meager late-night schedule.
Riders can expect the following changes:
| Service | Changes |
|---|---|
| Route 8 | Eight trips will be added on Saturdays and 33 trips will be added on Sunday to improve service from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes. |
| Route 36 | Fourteen trips will be added on Saturdays and 36 trips will be added on Sunday to improve service from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes. |
| Route 56 | One trip will be removed from this route during weekday morning hours. |
| Route 62 | This line will no longer serve the stop at S Washington Street and 4th Avenue S. Instead, the stop will be moved to S Washington Street and 5th Avenue S. |
| Route 107 | Six daily trips will be added on weekdays, 61 trips will be added on Saturdays, and 63 trips will be added on Sunday to improve service on weekends from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes. |
| Route 124 | One trip will be added on Saturdays and two trips will be added on Sundays to improve service. |
| Route 177 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bays 10 and 11 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 181 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bays 12 and 13 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 182 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bay 9 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 183 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bays 10 and 11 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 187 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bays 2 and 9 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 193 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bays 10 and 11 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 224 | Beginning on Saturday, May 10, this route will be adjusted to serve Downtown Redmond Station. |
| Route 226 | The schedule will be adjusted for morning trips to better coordinate with Interlake and Bellevue High School bell times. |
| Route 240 | The schedule will be adjusted for morning trips to better coordinate with Newport High School bell times. |
| Route 241 | The schedule will be adjusted for morning trips to better coordinate with Interlake and Bellevue High School bell times. |
| Route 250 | Beginning on Saturday, May 10, this route will be adjusted to serve Downtown Redmond Station. |
| Route 269 | Beginning on Saturday, May 10, this route will be adjusted to serve Marymoor Village Station. |
| Route 901 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bays 9 and 11 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 903 | This route will be adjusted to serve Bay 9 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 930 | Beginning on Saturday, May 10, this route will be adjusted to serve Downtown Redmond Station and operate hourly between 6:00am and 5:00pm. |
| RapidRide A Line | This line will be adjusted to serve Bays 8 and 11 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| RapidRide B Line | Beginning on Saturday, May 10, this line will be extended to Downtown Redmond Station and service near Overlake Village Station will be adjusted. |
| RapidRide C Line | Some trips will be removed from the schedule during afternoons, but service will continue to operate about every 10 minutes or better. |
| RapidRide E Line | This line will no longer serve two stops on 3rd Avenue S near S Main Street and S Washington Street. Instead, stops will be moved to 4th Avenue S and 5th Avenue S near S Washington Street. |
| RapidRide G Line | Two daily late-night trips will be added to the schedule. |
| RapidRide H Line | Five daily weekday trips and three trips daily on weekends will be added to the schedule, improving service particularly late at night. |
Sound Transit
Service changes will be implemented in phases for Sound Transit, depending upon where the service originates or terminates. Aside from ST Express bus routes that travel to, from, and within Pierce County, Sound Transit will start service changes on Saturday, March 29. ST Express services that travel to, from, and within Pierce County will start seeing changes on Sunday, March 30. The latter will see the most substantial service improvements due to Pierce Transit having more staffing resources on hand to operate ST Express routes.
Riders can expect the following changes:
| Service | Changes |
|---|---|
| Link 1 Line | Schedules will be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 510 | Two daily trips will be added to the schedule. Schedules will also be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 512 | Schedules will be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 513 | The first southbound trip will depart from Seaway Transit Center at 4:45am to provide a better connection to the 1 Line. Schedules will also be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 515 | Six daily trips will be removed from the schedule and reallocated to Routes 510 and 532. Schedules will also be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 522 | The first southbound trip on weekdays will start at UW Bothell/Cascadia College rather in Woodinville to improve connecting service with the 1 Line. |
| Route 532 | Two daily trips will be added to the schedule. Schedules will also be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 535 | Schedules will be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 574 | The route will be adjusted to serve Bays 4 and 7 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 577 | Six daily weekday trips and 27 trips on Sundays will be added to the schedule. The route will also be adjusted to serve Bays 3 and 11 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station and schedules will be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 578 | Two daily weekday trips will be added to the schedule. The route will also be adjusted to serve Bays 3 and 7 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station and schedules will be adjusted to improve reliability. |
| Route 580 | Service will be restored between South Hill Park-and-Ride and Puyallup Station. |
| Route 586 | The route will be adjusted to serve Bays 4 and 7 at the new Federal Way Downtown Station. |
| Route 590 | Twenty-two daily weekday trips will be added to the schedule. Sound Transit will also restore stops in Downtown Tacoma for select trips and adjust schedules to improve reliability. |
| Route 594 | Three extra daily weekday trips and 10 trips on Sundays will be added to the schedule. Schedules will also be adjusted to improve reliability. |
Additionally, the Link 2 Line extension to Downtown Redmond will begin on Saturday, May 10 with service every 10 minutes and add two stops at Marymoor Village and Downtown Redmond. Relatedly, Metro is modifying three routes to serve Downtown Redmond Station, including the B Line.
Community Transit
As part of the spring service change, Community Transit will be investing another 15,000 annual service hours into its local bus network, starting on Saturday, March 29. That will allow the agency to early morning and late evening service on routes. In addition to new trips, the agency will adjust trip times across routes and revise stop locations as several transit centers.
Routes getting improved frequency are Routes 101, 119, and 121 as well as the Swift Blue Line. Route 101 frequencies will improve during weekday evening hours whereas Route 119 frequencies will improve during the midday period on weekdays and Route 121 service will improve to all-day service on weekdays. In addition, Blue Line frequencies will improve from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes on weekdays after 7:00pm and to every 15 minutes on Saturdays from 7.00pm and 8.00pm.
As for stop and trip adjustments, Community Transit will make a host of changes to Routes 102, 103, 106, 117, 120, 130, 201, 202, 209, 220, 240, 270, 271, 280, 903, and 907 as well as the Swift Orange Line.
Pierce Transit
Starting on Sunday, March 30, Pierce Transit will adjust service by adding trips to a half-dozen routes, revise bus stops to the new Federal Way Downtown Station, and revise trip times on nearly two dozen routes. Extra weekday trips will be allocated to Routes 1, 2, 3, 53, 54, 202, and 214. Route 214 will also get new stops on Ring Road. As for other minor adjustments, Pierce Transit will make schedule changes to Routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 16, 28, 41, 42, 48, 53, 54, 55, 57, 100, 202, 206, 212, 214, 400, 402, 409, 500, and 501.
Intercity Transit
The oddball of the group is Intercity Transit, which will implement service changes on Sunday, May 4. Additional trips will be rolled out to improve weekend frequencies on four routes and extended service on several others.
Service investments will allow Routes 21, 45, 47, and 60 to operate at 30-minute frequencies on weekends by adding evening trips. As for extended service, Intercity Transit will improve weekday evening service by adding three trips to Route 67, two trips to Routes 64, and one trip to Route 94. Minor schedule adjustments will also be made to a variety of routes.
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.
