It’s the first weekday commute after the big restructure. How is service today? Is ridership any different?

Is the G reliable? How crowded is Link? Is anyone using the 515? The express routes to SLU? How are the Link feeders doing? And new routes like the 61? Do you have a better experience going to your destinations now? Or worse?

The highway 520 ramps at Montlake open today. Are buses using them? Is it an improvement?

This is an open thread.

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Community Transit partnered with famed travel writer Rick Steves to create a series of four neat videos highlighting travel destinations in Snohomish County made more accessible with yesterday’s major restructure. Check them out!

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Widespread bus restructures begin today (September 14) on King County Metro, Sound Transit, and Community Transit around the new Lynnwood Link extension and RapidRide G line. On Monday the long-awaited bus ramps on highway 520 open in Montlake. Pierce Transit and Everett Transit had minor changes earlier this month.

September 14, 11am – 3pm: King County Metro is hosting a RapidRide G opening day celebration on 19th Avenue between Madison & Pine. “Enjoy refreshments & entertainment, grab swag, & sign up for an ORCA card.”

September 14, 5pm – 7:30pm: The Urbanist is hosting an opening day celebration for the RapidRide G Line.

More below the fold.

Continue reading “Big Bus Restructures Begin” | 106 comments

With the opening of Lynnwood Link Extension, Community Transit will restructure many of its bus routes to focus more on all-day semi-frequent service across western Snohomish County. Other peak-only express buses will be truncated to allow for some all-day express buses as well. In additional to reallocation of bus hours, Community Transit will run more bus service in general with 480,000 annual bus service hours, totaling 32% more service by 2026. The major restructure will go into effect tomorrow morning, September 14, with others to follow in coming years.

Main highlights:

• Improves and expands access to fast and frequent Swift bus rapid transit lines, including the new Swift Orange Line
• Adds more frequent bus service throughout Snohomish County and more late-night and weekend bus service, resulting in:
  • three times the number of routes with 20 minutes or better frequency and two times the number of routes with 30 minutes or better frequency
  • increasing the number of people and jobs within walking distance of all-day, frequent transit service by 68% and 40%, respectively
• Replaces Northgate and downtown Seattle bus service with new express 900-series routes to Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace light rail stations

Main Links:

• New Community Transit System Map, pdf of new system map
• Previous Community Transit System Map, pdf of current system map (link will likely be replaced / not work after September 14)
• Community Transit Transit Changes, lists only new bus routes and highlights large route changes
• Community Transit Service Changes, lists all Community Transit bus route, lists other relevant bus routes and shows all Community Transit bus schedules
• Sound Transit Express Changes
• Sound Transit 2024 Service plan (pdf)

Note: due to the large number of route changes, the descriptions below may be slightly simplified for conciseness and will also prioritize listing moderate to major changes with some minor route schedule changes skipped.

Continue reading “Community Transit Restructure – 2024 and Beyond” | 41 comments

Countdowns: RapidRide G & restructures (Saturday! Sept. 14)

RapidRide G Opening Celebrations:

September 14, 11am – 3pm: King County Metro is hosting a RapidRide G opening day celebration on 19th Avenue between Madison & Pine. “Enjoy refreshments & entertainment, grab SWAG, & sign up for an ORCA card”.

September 14, 5pm – 7:30pm: The Urbanist is hosting an opening day celebration for the RapidRide G Line.

Transit News:

2 Line Beats Ridership Expectations, 1 Line Has Second-Best Month Ever

Sound Transit, Seattle Symphony celebrate Link’s new Symphony Station

Community Transit: Major changes to bus service starting September 14

Local Transit and Land Use News:

Traffic and pedestrian improvements continue on Ballard Ave

SDOT Starts Planning for Multimodal Access to West Seattle’s Link Stations

Seattle’s Growth Plan Keeps Most of the City Unaffordable, County Committee Says

Downtown Design Review Moratorium Gets Mixed Reception from Seattle Council

Spot Fixes to Improve Safety on Lake Washington Boulevard Move Forward

Councilmember Zahilay proposes $1B for middle-income public housing; meanwhile the Seattle City Council punted the initiative to fund social housing to next year, possibly violating the City Charter in the process.

SDOT proposing a Restricted Parking Zone around the Judkins Park Station

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup – Open Thread 65” | 161 comments

King County Metro’s RapidRide G, Seattle’s first center-running bus rapid transit (BRT) line, will start running this Saturday, September 14. The route features 24/7 service with all-door buses enabling boarding on both sides allowing transit riders to access the new center stations, bus only lanes, transit signal priority, and off-board payment with ORCA card readers at stations. The route will also be the only route with a stop on 1st Avenue in Downtown since service there was cut in 2020.

Here’s a summary of the route’s planned service frequencies:

Period	Peak & Midday 5 am to 7pm	Evenings 7 pm to 10 pm	Night 10 pm to 5 am
Weekday & Saturday	6 min	15 min	15-40 min
Sunday	15 min	15 min	15-40 min

Continue reading “RapidRide G and Bus Restructures” | 88 comments

This is an Open Thread.

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Edit, September 10, 7pm: the original article has been updated to correct errors and clarify statements with input from Sound Transit. We regret the errors.

Sound Transit’s Stride S1 Line, the bus rapid transit (BRT) project approved under ST3 to connect Bellevue to Burien via South Renton in 2028, has been updated over the last year to include support for full electrification, temporary route changes around the Tukwila International Boulevard Station due to issues with fish water culvert requirements, and consideration of potential station location swap in South Renton.

While some of these changes are being spun to imply better connectivity for future riders, the real impact is in making the line slower and likely less useful for future riders, compromising the S1 Line’s original goals of prioritizing speed as a compromise for skipping major destinations in South King County. For the S1 Line to represent a real improvement in transit service worth the capital investment, Sound Transit must find ways to make up for these potential degradations in future service.

Continue reading “Stride S1 Line Updates: TIBS Reroute, Renton Station Swap, and More” | 215 comments

Ahead of the opening of the Lynnwood Link Extension, HNTB offered to participate in an interview with the Seattle Transit Blog discussing their work on the project.

HNTB is an employee-owned infrastructure design firm with offices in downtown Seattle, Bellevue, and many other cities nationwide. They provided engineering design and construction oversight of the Lynnwood Link Extension throughout the life of the project and have worked on almost every major Sound Transit project since they won their first contract from the agency in 1998.

Although HNTB was unable to join the blog for a live interview before the extension opened, they provided written responses to our questions. The following are HNTB’s unedited responses to my questions:

Continue reading “HNTB on Lynnwood Link” | 14 comments