Credit: George H. W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum

Just when you thought it was safe to depend on apps that use the regular schedule to tell you when your bus is scheduled to come, a holiday that many don’t pay attention to is upon us. Yes, it is … (checks calendar) … Presidents’ Day!

Most King County Metro routes will be running on their regular weekday schedule. A bunch will have specified runs cancelled: 102, 111, 114, 121, 122, 123, 125, 143, 157, 167, 168, 169, 177, 179, 186, 187, 192, 197, 212, 214, 218, 219, 232, 243, 244, 249, 252, 255, 257, 269, 271, 277, 303, 311, 312, 342, 907, and 931. Cancelled trips show with an “H” or “D” in the timetables.

A few Metro routes will not be running at all today: 201, 237, 304, 308, 316, 330, 355, 661, and 930.

Sounder and all ST Express routes will operate on their normal weekday schedules, while Link Light Rail will operate every 10 minutes all day until late in the evening, but with 3-car trains, and Tacoma Link operates on its Sunday schedule, running every 24 minutes from 9:48 am to 5:48 pm (which you have to go to the printed schedule to figure out).

More agencies after the jump…

The streetcars will be running on Sunday frequency, which is to say every 15-18 minutes from 10 am to 7 pm (SLU) and 8 pm (First Hill).

The monorail will be running from 9 am to 8 pm.

Community Transit will run local routes on their regular weekday schedules. The only commuter routes operating will be 402, 413, 421, and 855. The rest of the commuter routes are cancelled for the day.

Kitsap Transit will operate on its holiday service schedules, which will mean reduced runs on nearly every route. Routes 15, 19, 22, 23, 33, 34, 35, 81-106, the Annapolis ferry, and the Purdy Connection will not be running. The cross-Sound fast ferries and routes 2, 302, and 307 will be running their full weekday schedules.

Transit agencies running their regular weekday schedules include:

  • C-Tran
  • Everett Transit
  • Grays’ Harbor Transit
  • Intercity Transit
  • Island Transit
  • Jefferson Transit
  • King County Ferries (with the expanded West Seattle service still in effect)
  • Pierce Transit
  • Skagit Transit
  • TriMet
  • Twin Transit
  • Whatcom Transit.

Mason Transit will not be running today.

Clallam Transit will not be running today, except for route 123, the Strait Shot, which will be on its Sunday schedule.

King County Metro routes 101, 180, and 216 are listed on Metro’s holiday service page as having some trips cancelled, but do not show any cancelled in each of those routes’ online schedules, at least for this service period that ends on March 22.

SDOT funding to keep regular service on minor holidays

None of the Metro routes being reduced or cancelled today are Seattle-only routes. Until recently, some Seattle-only routes were running regular service on minor holidays, but being reduced on days the University of Washington is not holding classes. That has changed, thanks to available funding from the Seattle Transportation Benefit District. Now, Seattle-only routes run their full regular weekday schedules on MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, and Veterans’ Day.

SDOT holiday parking rules that impede regular service

Three years ago, former STB Staff Reporter Zach Shaner pointed out the irony that SDOT is funding keeping full weekday bus service on minor holidays, while using weekend parking rules that allow free and unrestricted parking, blocking several bus lanes with parked cars. Thankfully, the number of lanes allowing off-peak parking has been reduced since Zach’s original post, but the underlying policy blind spot remains intact, undercutting SDOT’s transit investment on MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, and Veterans’ Day. The minor holiday rules also allow general-purpose traffic into some bus lanes that aren’t blocked by becoming parking lanes.

14 Replies to “More Bus Cancellations, Fewer Bus Lanes, Because Presidents’ Day”

    1. I-5 was deserted at rush hour; best bus trip in ever. Seems like 50% of the population (or at least the cars) stayed home to me. And the 545 was about 1/3 full at 7:45 AM pulling into downtown… that never happens.

  4. OneBusAway does work today. Since reduced weekday is just another schedule day, it shows the correct trips just fine, and excludes the trips that aren’t operating.

    I’ve always wondered about the exact distribution of express routes that get reduced schedules, vs routes that don’t run at all on reduced weekday. For example:
    121/122, 197, 177, 179, 192 all run with fewer trips, so if you rely on these routes, these are still available, you may just need to take an earlier bus.
    Routes 190, 178, and almost 177 (one SB trip reduced) actually aren’t reduced at all! They operate all the same trips as a normal weekday.

    But for routes 304, 308, 316, and 355, they don’t run at all, 100% of trips are gone on reduced weekday, meaning riders need to find alternative routes if they use these.

    Is there a reason that South King – Seattle express routes get slightly reduced during reduced weekday, while many North King – Seattle Express routes get cut completely? That’s an extremely lopsided service pattern where N. King pays a lot of service hours to keep near-normal service levels for S. King. Is it that because more South King riders take transit on reduced weekdays, or is it a historical service pattern?

    1. What surprises me is the 355 being cut out, despite most of the route is within City of Seattle limits. (just the part north of N. 145th to Shoreline CC is outside of Seattle, just like the 5). I guess the slower 5 is the only option for those riders north of N. 85th St.

      1. It kind of makes sense though. The 355 is a commuter express. It only runs in commuter direction (towards downtown in the morning, away from downtown at night). It doesn’t make sense to run commuter buses on weekends or holidays.

    2. South King’s population is higher than Seattle and has more lower-income and transit-dependent riders.

  5. There’s a pattern to the specific trip cancellations. It’s not the baseline service so if it normally runs every 15 or 30 minutes it will still run those. It’s the one or two extra trips around peak time that are cancelled.

  6. Wonder if after the DSTT closes to buses, the lanes needed by the 550 and the 41 can stay “Bus Only” on holidays when many people still work?

    Mark

  7. For those fortunate enough to get the day, minor holidays represent a rare opportunity to travel the city while enjoying a mostly-weekday bus schedule. Within Seattle, this is less important than it used to be, as the weekday and weekend schedules have become less different. But, in other parts of the county, a weekday off represents a rare opportunity to visit places you’ve always wanted to go, without having to deal with hourly bus schedules, or having to take a local route that takes twice as long because the express isn’t running. There are even a few remote corners of the county, such as Duvall and parts of Vashon Island that are simply unreachable by transit, unless it’s a weekday.

    Today, I took advantage of the opportunity to ride the 224 to Redmond Ridge and hike the Tolt Pipeline trail back. Lots of snow still on the ground, but a lot of fun. In the past, I’ve used weekday holidays to visit Puyallup (via Sounder instead of the 578) and a remote corner of Vashon Island.

    Unfortunately, the Snoqualmie Valley Shuttle shuts down on every minor holiday, so for anyone working a normal job, it is nearly a hard requirement that if you want to reach Carnation on a bus, you have no choice but to burn a day of vacation.

    1. Vashon thankfully now has weekend service on the 118 (although trips are 1-2 hours apart). Wish I could get to Duvall on weekends.

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