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News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:
Feb. 7, 2006
Transit service and options expand in February with
new park-and-ride lots and new commuter routes
The bus service changes that begin this
Saturday will expand transit options for local residents seeking to ease
their commute or find new ways to travel across King County. Now is a
good time to pick up a new green Metro timetable or check out the latest
info on Metro Online.
This month, there are new park-and-ride
lots opening along Interstate 5 and near Interstate 90 supported by two
new commuter bus routes. Plus, there are other revisions to improve the
speed and reliability of all transit service.
Major changes at park-and-ride lots
include the opening of King County Metro Transit’s
Issaquah Highlands 1,000-stall garage on Monday, Feb. 13 and Sound
Transit’s
Federal Way Transit Center with 1,200 parking spaces on Saturday,
Feb. 11. Also next week, Sound Transit will open the 265-stall
South Sammamish lot and close the park-and-ride on Mercer Island for
approximately 12 months for the construction of a new parking garage.
Metro and Sound Transit bus service will
be adjusted to serve the new park-and-rides. This includes the debut of
Metro
Route 218 with direct service between Issaquah Highlands and
downtown Seattle, and Sound Transit
Express 577 between the Federal Way Transit Center and Seattle. Both
new routes will operate during peak commute times only.
There are significant revisions to both
Metro and Sound Transit routes currently serving Federal Way. Most of
the routes that use the new transit center on 23rd Avenue South will no
longer serve the renamed Federal Way/South 320th Street Park-and-Ride.
If your route travels through Federal Way, it is important to check the
new green timetables to see how you may be affected by the changes.
Transit passengers who currently use the
Mercer Island lot are encouraged to park at Metro’s Eastgate
Park-and-Ride garage for service across I-90, or at several leased lots
on the island for local service. Metro and Sound Transit will provide
frequent shuttle service between the leased lots and the Mercer Island
Park-and-Ride bus stops. All buses that currently stop at North Mercer
Way boarding locations at the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride will continue
to stop there, which will be convenient for passengers wishing to
transfer to other Eastside or local routes.
Other highlights of the Feb. 11 service change include:
·
Revisions in downtown Seattle
to routes 111 and 114, so that the buses travel both northbound and
southbound on Third Avenue through the Central Business District. Buses
on these East Renton and Newcastle routes will continue to enter and
leave downtown via Fifth Avenue South;
·
Route 143 from Seattle to Black
Diamond will travel via southbound on Third Avenue when leaving town.
Morning routing on northbound trips will not change;
·
Route 308 trips to Lake Forest
Park will move to Pike Street and stop just east of Sixth Avenue in the
downtown area, instead of connecting with I-5 via Olive Street;
·
The six bus stops at the
Alaska Junction in West Seattle, near the intersection of Southwest
Alaska Street and 44th Avenue Southwest, have been assigned bay numbers
to make transfers easier. Buses will continue to stop in the same
locations, but the bay numbers will now be used on timetables, maps and
other printed and online materials; and
·
Minor schedule adjustments on
several other routes.
Three times a year, Metro Transit
updates its routes to improve service and keep up with the changing
needs of transit passengers. The updated schedules are now available in
new green paper timetables. Look for them on most buses, and in Metro
racks in libraries, malls and government offices. Starting Friday, Feb.
10 the new schedules will be available
online.
You can plan your trip in advance with Metro's online
Trip Planner, and see what
routes, times and locations are best for you. Trip plans using Metro's
new schedules are available now. Enter a date of Feb. 11 or later for
itineraries in Metro's service area. Trip plans outside of King County
may not contain complete information until the day of the service
change.
On Presidents' Day, Monday, Feb. 20, most Metro routes will be on a
Sunday schedule, but there is supplemental service on the following
routes: 7, 28, 41, 54, 64, 73, 101, 106, 120, 140, 150, 154, 174, 255,
303, 342, 358, 941, 949, and 952. Look for the letter "H" on the weekday
portion of the route timetables.
Sometimes people need more than just bus
service. That’s where
Rideshare Services can help by providing resources for carpooling,
vanpooling or vansharing.
Carpooling and vanpooling match people
traveling to common destinations. VanShare helps those who need to make
a connection to or from bus service. You can VanShare from home and
connect to your bus, or use VanShare from the bus stop or park-and-ride
lot to complete a trip to work.
For all service change details, and links to other transit information,
visit Metro Online, or call
(206) 553-3000.
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