There has been much discussion over the portion of Route 7 to Prentice St. Metro itself has planned on terminating Route 7 at Rainier Beach station, but never got the funding for the trolley wire.
When Metro finally gets the funding for this wire, I think Route 7 should always terminate at Rainier Beach station. I propose a short trolleybus route that runs between RBS and Prentice St to replace the Route 7 tail. This trolleybus could run at 30-minute frequency 7 days a week, possibly using 40-foot buses. The riders of the old Route 7 tail would then have a much faster ride to downtown with a transfer to Link. Late-night and early-morning trips can change to/from Route 7 at RBS for a connection to Atlantic Base.
Metro is planning to delete the 7 tail completely by 2025. The 106 is a few blocks away. The 7 will be split into two RapidRides. One will go from Rainier Beach Station to Henderson Street, Rainer Ave, and 23rd Ave to the U-District.
The other will go from Mt Baker Station to Rainier Ave, Jackson Street, 3rd Ave, Virginia Street, Fairview Ave to the SLU streetcar terminal. By 2040 it will be extended via Roosevelt RapidRide on Fairview, Eastlake, Roosevelt/11th to Northgate. I don’t know why the two lines will first be built separately and then combined but that’s what the map says. Perhaps it’s an unsettled issue. The initial Roosevelt RR will only go to 43rd or 65th; the Northgate extension is a later phase, so that could be part of it.