Bus routes across North, South, and East King County will see adjustments starting August 29, with most intended to improve connectivity with light rail. The biggest changes are set to happen in South King County, where weekend service levels will dramatically increase.
I’m sensing a theme of raising money by activating transit enthusiasts primarily from north King County to force transit on a less-enthusiastic south King County. Cynically, I believe it’s because they know transit enthusiasts will keep voting to raise revenues until we get good service, and are hoping that good transit will sway southern residents
But the biggest changes this year will happen in South King County, where weekend service levels are set to jump by 72% and weekday levels by 51%, as Metro both adds new service and reallocates service on retired routes to better connect to Link stations instead of going to Downtown Seattle. Around 8,500 riders are already using Kent-Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown station every day – with Federal Way seeing the lion’s share of those riders – before the bus restructure was even implemented.