This June and September, transit riders in Seattle will see exciting improvements to their bus service, with better frequency and reliability, day and night, on weekdays and weekends. I have created maps that show the frequent transit network (PDF) as of this September. The improvements are sourced from the Prop 1 service contract which David summarized route-by-route last month that was approved on Tuesday. The maps are based on my current frequent transit map that you can use to compare differences with the September maps. What’s new and different with the maps?
The most significant change over the present is the evening frequent network, that is the collection of routes running every 15 minutes until at least 10 pm. Many of the routes already on the map gain frequent evening service every day of the week. The 2, 5, 10, 12, 40, 41, and 66/67 in Capitol Hill and North Seattle join the frequent evening club. RapidRide C and D lines will run every 15 minutes until midnight. The expansion of evening service is sure to attract many new transit rides from current and first-time riders.
I included the Seattle Center Monorail on the evening map because it runs every 10 minutes until 11 pm. With some form of fare integration, more people will choose it as the fastest way to get from Seattle Center to Westlake (and beyond).
Route 11 to Madison Park and the First Hill Streetcar are the only new additions to the daytime frequent network map. While the map does not show it, there are routes that will get all day service better than every 15 minutes. I reformatted the guide on the right to be easier to read.
As a bonus, I have created a version of the map that features the all day network together with the frequent network. Prop 1 funds restoration of all day service to routes 25, 27, and 47 as well as more service on less frequent routes. The original map was not designed to have all this information packed on it so the text can be a bit small but I am using this to test the concept of a more general Seattle transit map without drawing a new map from scratch. If you like it, let me know and I might develop it further.
The “official” edition of my frequent transit map will be updated when the service changes take effect in June and September. Comments on the maps here will be considered for incorporation into the final edition of the maps.
Does it make sense to anyone else to have an arrow or some other symbol on parts of routes that don’t meet the frequent criteria? For example, the 65 and 75 split in Sand Point but we know they continue on to Lake City via divergent paths. What about a symbol (“>>”) that means “this route continues but isn’t frequent on this segment; consult a Metro flyer or the all-day companion map for more information?”
Also, I like the all-day map. What would be awesome is if STB had an online shop where we could buy laminated copies of all three of these, suitable for folding and tossing in a backpack yet still using in the rain.
What would be awesome is to make these available on street bus shelter signs.
Would it be too much of a hassle to get current v new side sliders like you did here:
https://seattletransitblog.wpcomstaging.com/2014/03/31/visualizing-cuts-to-seattles-frequent-transit-network/
Sorry. I won’t be able to do it today or this weekend.
Are the 21 and 50 moving back to the lower-level Spokane Street bridge in the September shake-up, or is that part of the map a vestige of when they couldn’t get onto the high-level bridge during reconstruction of the 1st Ave S ramps?
It’s a vestige. They should be on the high-level bridge.
Any bets that they will delay the First Hill Streetcar again?
Great maps! This shows at a glance just how significant Prop 1 is.
Your all-day map should also show all the all-day transit running out of town, at least in a sidebar. Off the top of my head, that’d mean adding the 554, 590/594, 101, and ferries. (Technically, Amtrak Cascades to Portland would also count, but it seems too rare to be significant.)
Also, I wholeheartedly second lakecityrider’s proposal to add arrows on the end of interlines.
Is the re-routing of the 3/4 to SPU a done-deal or is that still just a proposal?
That’s a late-night thing that already exists, but it looks from the schedule that it does so starting downtown and not at the top of the hill (that is, the bus goes up Queen Anne Ave instead of 5th and Taylor).
What is the purpose of the 32 segment along 15th? Does it actually get much ridership? The times I’ve taken the 31 from Magnolia to Fremont I’ve been surprised at the ridership it gets, sometimes even justifying the occasional artic. Is the 32 segment similar?
Small suggestion for the all day map… add a route number icon on 34th Ave W. All the routes are like spaghetti in Magnolia… it would be nice to show which bus runs on each particular street.
I’ll do that. It’s just the 24 on that street.
can you do a map showing frequent service outside of Seattle? It would be interesting to see where frequent service ends in the suburbs.
Looks like these will work really well on our (the company I work for) 11 x 17 color laser printer if I chop off the key on the right side.