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New park-and-rides, new bus routes debut in February
 The
bus service changes that begin Saturday, Feb. 11 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 and Sound Transit’s
Federal Way Transit Center with 1,200 parking spaces. Also in
February, 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
on North Mercer Way boarding locations near 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 on
Metro Online. You can also call
(206) 553-3000 for Metro information.
Plan your trip in advance with Metro's
online Trip Planner at
http://tripplanner.metrokc.gov, 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.
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