King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

authority of

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

, which includes the city of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in the United States. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Metro employs 2,716 full-time and part-time operators and operates 1,540

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es. King County Metro formally began operations on January 1, 1973, but can trace its roots to the Seattle Transit System, founded in 1939, and Overlake Transit Service, a private operator founded in 1927 to serve the Eastside. Metro is also contracted to operate and maintain

Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, r ...

Central Link The 1Line, formerly Central Link, is a light rail line in Seattle, Washington, United States, and part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system. It serves 19 stations in the cities of Seattle, SeaTac, and Tukwila, traveling nearly between ...

light rail line and eight of the agency's

Sound Transit Express Sound Transit Express (ST Express) is a network of regional express buses, operated by the multi-county transit agency, Sound Transit. The routes connect major regional hubs throughout 53 cities in three counties (King, Pierce, and Snohomish) i ...

bus routes along with the

Seattle Streetcar The Seattle Streetcar is a system of two modern streetcar lines operating in the city of Seattle, Washington. The South Lake Union line opened first in 2007 and was followed by the First Hill line in 2016. The two lines are unconnected, but s ...

lines owned by the City of Seattle. Metro's services include electric trolleybuses in Seattle,

RapidRide RapidRide is a network of limited-stop bus routes with some bus rapid transit features in King County, Washington, operated by King County Metro. The network consists of six routes totaling 64 miles that carried riders on approximately 64,860 tr ...

enhanced buses on six lines, commuter routes along the regional freeway system,

dial-a-ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

routes,

paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...

services, and overnight “owl” bus routes.

History

A horse-drawn streetcar rail system debuted in Seattle in 1884 as the

Seattle Street Railway The Seattle Municipal Street Railway was a city-owned streetcar network that served the city of Seattle, Washington and its suburban neighborhoods from 1919 to 1941. It was a successor to the horse-drawn Seattle Street Railway established in 1884 ...

. In 1918, the city of Seattle bought many parts of the Seattle Street Railway, on terms which left the transit operation in financial trouble. In 1939, a new transportation agency, the Seattle Transit System, was formed, which refinanced the remaining debt and began replacing equipment with "trackless trolleys" (as they were known) and motor buses. The final streetcar ran on April 13, 1941. The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle was created by a local referendum on September 9, 1958, as a regional authority tasked with management of

wastewater Wastewater is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of domestic, industr ...

and

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

issues in King County. The authority was formed after civic leaders, including those in the

Municipal League A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, noted that solutions to regional issues were complicated by local boundaries and a plethora of existing special districts. The state legislature approved the formation of a combined transportation, sewage, and planning authority in 1957, but the countywide referendum was rejected by a majority outside of Seattle. Metro, as the authority came to be called, was restricted to sewage management and given a smaller suburban jurisdiction ahead of the successful September referendum. By 1967, the agency had completed its $125 million sewage treatment system, which diverted 20 million gallons ( million liters) that had previously contaminated Lake Washington. After two failed attempts to enable it to build a regional

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

system, it was authorized to operate a regional bus system in 1972. The bus system was known as Metro Transit and began operations on January 1, 1973. Its operations subsumed the Seattle Transit System, formerly under the purview of the City of Seattle and the Metropolitan Transit Corporation, a private company serving suburban cities in King County. In the early 1970s, the private Metropolitan faced

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

because of low ridership. King County voters authorized Metro to buy Metropolitan and operate the county's mass transit bus system. Metro Transit introduced its new services in September 1973, including a ride-free area in downtown and express routes on freeways (known as "Flyer" routes), and a unified numbering scheme in 1977 that replaced named routes. The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle was overseen by a federated board of elected officials, composed of elected officials from cities throughout the region. Its representation structure was ruled unconstitutional in 1990 on the grounds of "one person, one vote" following a similar ruling in ''

Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris ''Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris'', 489 U.S. 688 (1989), was a case argued before the United States Supreme Court regarding the structure of the New York City Board of Estimate. Background Under the charter of the City of Greater ...

''. In 1992, after gaining approval by popular vote, the municipality's roles and authorities were assumed by the government of King County. The municipality's transit operations was a stand-alone department within the county until 1996, when it became a division of the newly created King County Department of Transportation. In August 2018, the county council approved legislation to separate Metro from the Department of Transportation, creating the King County Metro Transit Department effective January 1, 2019. After completion of the downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel project, attention was drawn again to developing a regional rail system. This interest led to the formation of the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (more commonly known as

) which holds primary responsibility for planning and building high capacity transit in the counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish, in western

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Today, King County Metro operates more than 200 routes, providing local and regional transit service, primarily within its jurisdictional boundaries. Besides its own transit operations, Metro operates several ST Express bus routes and the

light rail line under a contract with Sound Transit and two streetcar routes under contract with

Ride Free Area

For almost 40 years, until 2012, most of downtown Seattle was designated as a

zero-fare Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, refers to public transport funded in full by means other than by collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local gove ...

zone, an area in which all rides on Metro vehicles were free, known as the "Ride Free" Area. Intended to encourage transit usage, improve accessibility and encourage downtown shopping, the zone was created in September 1973 and was originally called the "Magic Carpet" zone. It was later renamed the Ride Free Area (RFA). The RFA extended from the north at Battery St. to S. Jackson St. on the south and east at 6th Avenue to the waterfront on the west. Until 1987, the zone was in effect 24 hours a day, but in October of that year Metro began requiring fare payment within the zone during night-time hours, between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m., to reduce fare-related conflicts that sometimes led to assaults on drivers;Sanger, S.L (August 21, 1987). "Metro puts the brakes on free rides at night". ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'', p. B1. in February 1994, the RFA's hours were reduced further, with fare payment required between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.Foster, George (February 4, 1994). "Free downtown bus service to be cut in compliance with security plan". ''

'', p. C1. A King County Auditor's Office report released in September 2009 found that Metro "can neither fully explain nor provide backup documentation for the operating cost savings that offset the fare revenues in the calculation of the annual charges to the City of Seattle for the city’s Ride Free Area" and that some assumptions in the methodology Metro used to calculate the amount of lost fares were "questionable" and have not been updated to reflect changes to the fare structure and fare collection methods. A 1975 study found that while the Ride Free Area generally reduced bus travel times within the RFA itself, buses that traveled through the Ride Free Area to other destinations generally did not benefit. It also found that unloading outbound coaches once outside the RFA took additional time, though not entirely quantified vis-à-vis time saved within the RFA. On September 29, 2012, the Ride Free Area was eliminated. All riders boarding in downtown must now pay as they board.

Operations

Routes

Metro has 237 bus routes that combine service patterns typical of both city and suburban bus networks, carrying over 400,000 daily passengers . The city network was descended in large part from the Seattle Transit system of converted streetcar routes. Most service is operated in a hub-and-spoke pattern centered either on downtown Seattle or the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, with lesser amounts of crosstown service. The suburban network typically operates on major streets between the regions employment and population centers. Routes in the city network are numbered from 1 to 99. Because of the scattershot evolution of the system, there is no easily discernible pattern to the route numbers, although there are clusters in certain neighborhoods. Suburban routes follow a numbering system: 100–199 for South King County, 200–299 for the Eastside, 300–399 for North King County, and 900–999 for dial-a-ride and custom routes. The in-city routes with the highest ridership are the RapidRide D Line from downtown to Crown Hill via Uptown/Seattle Center and Ballard; the 7, traveling from downtown through the International District to the Rainier Valley; the 40, traveling from downtown through South Lake Union, Fremont, and Ballard to Northgate; the RapidRide C Line from South Lake Union and downtown to West Seattle's Alaska Junction and Westwood Village; the 36, traveling from downtown through the International District to Beacon Hill; the 5 from downtown via the Woodland Park Zoo and Greenwood/Phinney Ridge to Shoreline Community College; the 44, a crosstown route connecting the University District and Ballard; the 8, a crosstown route connecting Uptown/Seattle Center and South Lake Union with Capitol Hill, the Central District and Mount Baker; and the 70, connecting downtown to South Lake Union, Eastlake, and the University District. The Metro-operated

routes are numbered in the 90s, with the

South Lake Union Streetcar The South Lake Union Streetcar, officially the South Lake Union Line, is a streetcar route in Seattle, Washington, United States, forming part of the Seattle Streetcar system. It travels and connects Downtown Seattle to the South Lake Union n ...

numbered 98 and the former bus replacement for the

Waterfront Streetcar The Waterfront Streetcar, officially the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, was a heritage streetcar line run by King County Metro in Seattle, Washington, United States. It traveled for along Alaskan Way on the city's waterfront facing ...

numbered 99. The suburban system is more numerically organized. Roughly speaking, areas in South King County (from Burien and

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

through Renton and Maple Valley) are served by routes numbered in the 100s, areas in East King County (from Renton to

Bothell Bothell () is a city in King and Snohomish counties in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, situated near the northeast end of Lake Washington. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 48,161 resident ...

) are served by routes numbered in the 200s, areas in North King County (from Bothell to

Shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

) are served by routes numbered in the 300s. The Metro-operated

routes are numbered in the 500s. Route numbers in the lower

900s 900s may refer to: * 900s (century) AD, the period from 900 to 999, a century in the first millennium of the Common Era, almost synonymous with the 10th century (901–1000) * 900s BC (century), a century in the first millennium Before Common Era ...

(901–931) are used for

Dial-a-Ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

services, while shuttles connecting to the King County Water Taxi are numbered in the 700s. Other shuttle services, including

Via Via or VIA may refer to the following: Science and technology * MOS Technology 6522, Versatile Interface Adapter * ''Via'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Noctuidae * Via (electronics), a through-connection * VIA Technologies, a Taiwan ...

in the Rainier Valley, are contracted out to private operators. Since 2003, Metro has contracted with senior charities to operate the Hyde Shuttle system, which provides free rides to elderly or disabled passengers in Seattle and other cities. Metro formerly funded a shuttle system named Ride2 that served West Seattle and Eastgate using contracted private buses, which ended in 2019. Metro is contracted to operate special custom buses. Custom routes that serve schools in Bellevue and on Mercer Island are numbered in the 800s (823, 824, 886–892) and routes serving the private Lakeside School and University Prep numbered in the higher

(980–995). Metro also operates custom routes to major employment sites (like

Group Health Cooperative Group Health Cooperative, (formerly known as Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound), later more commonly known as Group Health, was a Seattle, Washington based nonprofit healthcare organization. Business model Established in , Group Health prov ...

in Tukwila and the

Boeing Everett Factory The Boeing Everett Factory is an airplane assembly facility built by Boeing in Everett, Washington, United States. It sits at the northeast corner of Paine Field and includes the largest building in the world by volume at 13,385,378 m3 (472,37 ...

). Custom routes are also occasionally established to serve as shuttles for large local events, including

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and

Washington Huskies football The Washington Huskies football team represents the University of Washington in college football. Washington competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Husky Stadium, located on cam ...

games. Since 2008, Metro has maintained an Emergency Snow Network plan to be implemented during major snowstorms and other periods of inclement weather. The network uses only 67 routes on high-frequency corridors with flat topography to compensate for a reduced number of drivers and workers. Several routes were also split between trunk routes using articulated buses and shuttles to serve hillier areas with smaller buses. The network plan was first implemented during the February 2019 snowstorm. In August 2019, the King County Council voted to waive transit fares during snow emergencies. An earlier plan from the 1980s replaced Seattle–Eastside commuter routes with a set of routes that exclusively served predetermined park and ride lots.

RapidRide

King County Metro operates RapidRide, a network of

limited-stop In public transit, particularly bus, tram, or train transportation, a limited-stop (or sometimes referred to as semi-fast) service is a trip pattern that stops less frequently than a local service. Many limited-stop or semi-fast services are a com ...

bus lines with some

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

features. All RapidRide routes have frequent service with frequencies of 10 minutes or better during peak commuting hours and 15 minutes during most off-peak hours and on weekends. Most lines (except the B and F lines) have late night and early morning service. Stops are placed farther apart than typical Metro service to increase speed and reliability. Stops with heavier ridership have "stations" with an awning, seating, lighting, real time information signs to communicate estimate arrival times of RapidRide buses. Most stations and some stops in Downtown Seattle have ORCA card readers that allow passengers to pay before the bus arrives and board at any of the buses' three doors. All lines use new, low-floor, articulated buses that are painted with a distinct red and yellow livery and have onboard Wi-Fi. The RapidRide corridors are: * A Line: Tukwila –

Federal Way Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-larges ...

* B Line: Redmond –

Overlake Overlake is the name for a region comprising parts of eastern Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue and southern Redmond, Washington, Redmond, Washington (state), Washington. It is in the vicinity of Microsoft's main corporate campus and is officially def ...

–

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

* C Line:

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an i ...

–

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

–

South Lake Union South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union. The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Den ...

* D Line: Ballard – Uptown – Downtown Seattle * E Line:

– Downtown Seattle * F Line: Burien –

Southcenter Westfield Southcenter, formerly known as Southcenter Mall, is a shopping mall located in Tukwila, Washington, United States. Owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, it is the largest shopping center in Washington state and the Pacific Northwest. The ...

– Renton

Freeway express services

Metro operates many peak-hour commuter routes serving

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

s that use 244.52 miles of the region's network of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes.Washington State Department of Transportation
Summary of Public Transportation - 2007
. November 2008. This practice was pioneered at Seattle Transit as the ''

Blue Streak Blue Streak or Bluestreak may refer to: Entertainment * ''Blue Streak'' (album), a 1995 album by American blues guitarist Luther Allison * Blue Streak (comics), a secret identity used by three separate Marvel Comics supervillains * Bluestreak (co ...

'' express bus service running between Northgate Park & Ride and Downtown Seattle. Special stops called "freeway flyers" or freeway stations were constructed to allow efficient transfer between local and express buses. The first freeway flyer stop opened in 1975 at Montlake Boulevard and State Route 520.King County Metro
Transit Milestones 1970s
Metro also takes advantage of new HOV direct-access ramps and freeway stations constructed by Sound Transit to improve speed and reliability of its commuter routes.

Skip-stop spacing

Metro uses

skip-stop Skip-stop is a public transit service pattern which reduces travel times and increases capacity by having vehicles ''skip'' certain ''stops'' along a route. Originating in rapid transit systems, skip-stop may be also used in light rail and bus s ...

spacing on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Avenues in Downtown Seattle, whereby buses skip every other bus stop. On 3rd Avenue, each bus route is assigned to Blue, Yellow, Red or Green stop groups and each bus stop has two color designations; in the northbound direction, every other bus stop is a Red/Yellow or Green/Blue stop, while in the southbound direction they are Green/Yellow and Red/Blue. On 2nd and 4th Avenues, routes are grouped into Orange and White stops. The bus stop color groupings are identified by a colored plate installed above or on the side of the bus stop sign. On 3rd Avenue only, there are additional colored markers one block ahead of each bus stop on the trolley overhead wires, to help bus drivers identify the colors of the upcoming bus stop.

Night Owl services

Metro operates a network of 12 routes with late-night "Night Owl" service, which is defined as having regular service between midnight and 5 am. The Night Owl network is made up of some of Metro's most popular routes, and is designed to connect neighborhoods with major transportation hubs including downtown Seattle, Sea–Tac Airport, park & ride lots, transit centers, and Link stations (providing service during the hours when trains are not in service). The City of Seattle's transportation benefit district funds service on Night Owl routes that operate entirely within the city limits. Routes with Night Owl service include the 7, 36, 48, 49, 120, 124, 160, 161, and the RapidRide A, C, D, and E Lines.

Trailhead Direct

King County Metro operates a weekend express shuttle between Seattle and hiking areas in the Cascade foothills called Trailhead Direct from April to October. The service, operated in partnership with the county's park and recreation department and private companies, debuted in 2017 and was expanded the following year to cover three routes:

Capitol Hill station Capitol Hill station is a light rail station in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. The station is served by Sound Transit's Link light rail system and is located near the intersection of Broadway and East Jo ...

Mount Si Mount Si (pronounced ), known as q'əlpc' to the Snoqualmie people, is a mountain in the northwest United States, east of Seattle, Washington. It lies on the western margin of the Cascade Range just above the coastal plains around Puget Soun ...

;

Mount Baker station Mount Baker station is a light rail station located in Seattle, Washington. It is situated between the Columbia City and Beacon Hill stations on the 1 Line, which runs from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport to Downtown Seattle, the ...

to the

Issaquah Alps The Issaquah Alps is the unofficial name for the highlands near Issaquah, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, including Cougar Mountain, Squak Mountain, Tiger Mountain, Taylor Mountain, Rattlesnake Ridge, Rattlesnake Mountain, and Grand Ridge. The ...

; and a shuttle from North Bend to

Mailbox Peak Mailbox Peak is a mountain located in King County of Washington state. It is set west of the crest of the Cascade Range, on land managed by Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Mailbox Peak is situated seven miles east of North Bend, and on ...

. A fourth route, between

Tukwila International Boulevard station Tukwila International Boulevard station is a light rail Metro station, station in Tukwila, Washington, United States. It is located between SeaTac/Airport station, SeaTac/Airport and Rainier Beach station, Rainier Beach stations on the 1 Line ...

, Renton, and Cougar Mountain, was added in 2019.

Operating costs

The cost per boarding for Metro was $4.10 in 2005, compared to $2.50 among the country's 15 largest transit agencies and $2.97, the national average. Metro's cost per boarding is 38% above the national average.Review of Metro Transit, Municipal League of King County
(November 2008) Metro's higher-than-average cost per boarding can be at least partially attributed to its high percentage of commuter routes, which run at peak hours only, and often only in one direction at a time. As of 2011, 100 of Metro's 223 routes are peak-only. These routes require significant deadheading (particularly on the one-way routes), as well as a very large

part-time Part-time can refer to: * Part-time job, a job that has fewer hours a week than a full-time job * Part-time student, a student, usually in higher education, who takes fewer course credits than a full-time student * Part Time Part Time (styliz ...

labor force, both of which drive up costs. Metro's lowest-cost route overall, route 4 (East Queen Anne to Judkins Park), had a cost per boarding of only $0.46 during peak hours in 2009. By way of contrast, Metro's peak-only route with the lowest cost per boarding was route 206 (Newport Hills to International School), at $2.04. Metro's highest cost route by this measure, route 149 (Renton Transit Center to Black Diamond), had a peak time cost of $34.47 per boarding. Route 149 serves the rural southeastern corner of King County. In 2007 it cost $3.64 per boarding to deliver service in the West (Seattle) subarea, $4.79 in the South subarea and $7.27 in the East subarea of King County. At the end of 2008, the systemwide cost per boarding was $3.70.

Fares

King County Metro has a flat rate fare structure for all riders. In July 2018, Metro transitioned to a single adult fare of $2.75, eliminating off-peak and zoned fares.

ORCA card The ORCA card (standing for One Regional Card for All) is a contactless, stored-value smart card system for public transit in the Puget Sound region of Washington, United States. The card is valid on most transit systems in the Seattle metropo ...

s can also be used. Until 2018, King County Metro had two fare zones, dividing Seattle and the rest of the county, and also had a

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...

surcharge. Starting September 2022, 18 or younger ride public transportation for free. The King County Metro fares as of July 1, 2018 are:

Fare history

One-way fare (Peak, 1 Zone), with year of rate change: *2018: $2.75 (peak fares discontinued) *2015: $2.75 *2012: $2.50 *2010: $2.25 *2009: $2 *2008: $1.75 *2001: $1.50 *1998: $1.25 *1993: $1.10 *1991: $1 *1989: 75¢ *1985: 65¢ *1982: 60¢ (peak fares introduced) *1980: 50¢ *1979: 40¢ *1977: 30¢ *1973: 20¢

Facilities

Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel

A major Metro facility is the

Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT), also referred to as the Metro Bus Tunnel, is a pair of public transit tunnels in Seattle, Washington, United States. The double-track tunnel and its four stations serve Link light rail trains on the ...

(DSTT), a 1.3-mile-long, four-station tunnel that allows

light rail trains to travel under the heart of downtown Seattle. It formerly carried bus traffic alongside light rail trains, stopping at a fifth station in the north and connecting to the

SODO Busway The SODO Busway, also referred to as the E-3 Busway, is a busway in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It has four stops, including two that connect to Link light rail stations, and functions as an extension of the Downtown Seattl ...

in the south. The tunnel was completed in 1990, at a cost of $455 million, to carry commuter buses. While it was planned from the outset to be convertible to use by trains, the tunnel began operation with a fleet of 236

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

dual-mode buses that operated using a diesel motor on city streets and an electric motor (with power fed by overhead

trolley wire The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney. History Construction of th ...

) in the tunnel. In 2004, Metro switched to hybrid-electric buses that operate in a mostly electric "hush mode" while in the tunnel. The tunnel was closed between fall 2005 and fall 2007 to prepare it for light rail trains. Crews lowered the roadway to match the height of Central Link's low-floor light rail vehicles, replaced the overhead trolley wire with catenary wire, and built a stub tunnel where trains could reverse direction and allowed for construction of the University Link extension to the north (which was completed in 2016). The tunnel finished its retrofit and returned to service on September 24, 2007 and light rail trains began service on July 18, 2009. Bus service in the tunnel ended on March 23, 2019, as part of the demolition of

Convention Place station Convention Place was a bus station in Seattle, Washington, United States. It served as the northern terminus of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and was used by King County Metro and Sound Transit Express buses. Link light rail, which stops ...

to prepare for an expansion of the

Washington State Convention Center The Seattle Convention Center (SCC), formerly the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), is a convention center in Seattle, Washington, United States. It consists of several exhibition halls and meeting rooms in buildings along Pike Stree ...

. The project severed access to the north portal of the tunnel, while an upcoming light rail construction project in 2020 will also cause other disruptions. The tunnel is now exclusively used by light rail trains, and its ownership is planned to be transferred to Sound Transit in 2022.

Transit centers

While Downtown Seattle is Metro's main transit hub, transit centers act as smaller regional hubs and are served by many bus routes. Some transit centers also offer a

facility. Metro operates out of several transit centers located throughout King County, some of which are shared with

and other county agencies.

Park and ride lots

In King County, Metro has 132

facilities containing a total of 24,524 parking stalls . Half of the lots are leased from other property owners such as churches. Metro began developing its park and rides in the 1970s using various funding sources, including federal grants. By 1988, it had 37 lots across King County, mostly concentrated on the Eastside, and monitored property crimes with a team of four police officers and hired guards. In the 1980s, Metro proposed co-locating its park and rides with commercial developments to encourage

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

and attract more riders. In the 2000s, Metro opened its first park and ride garages as well as several lots that were integrated with housing and retail developments.

Operations bases and facilities

Metro stores and maintains buses at seven bases (garages), spread throughout its operating area. In addition to the bases, maintenance of the fleet and operation of the system are supported by several other facilities.

Funding measures

Transit Now

In April 2006, King County Executive

Ron Sims Ronald Cordell Sims (born July 5, 1948) is the former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, having served in the position from May 8, 2009 to July 2011. He is also the former King County Executive. Sims ...

announced a program entitled "Transit Now" that, once approved by voters, would provide for a 20 percent increase in transit service by the end of 2016 over 2006 service levels, measured in annual operating hours. In order to realize this growth, Transit Now proposed an increase in the local option sales tax for transit of one-tenth of one percent. The Transit Now ordinance, passed by the King County Council on September 5, 2006, and signed by Executive Sims on September 11, 2006, forwarded the tax proposition to the voters and identified the programs to which operating revenue generated from the sales tax increase could be appropriated. The measure was approved by 56.62% of King County voters in the November 2007 general election. The service programs identified in the ordinance are as follows: # Implementation of RapidRide routes in five arterial corridors. # Increase service on high-ridership routes that provide frequent, two-way connections throughout the agency's service area. # Service for growing areas in outlying suburban/ xurbanareas. # Partnerships with cities and major employers to provide more service than could otherwise be provided through typical resources. # Additional improvements such as expanded ride-share and paratransit services in King County.

Proposition 1

In November 2014, Seattle voters passed Proposition 1 with 59% support. It uses $45 million in new annual funds from a 0.1% sales tax raise and a $60 annual car-tab fee to add King County Metro bus service within the City of Seattle.

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS)

Collaborating with several local jurisdictions, Metro was an early adopter of

Transit Signal Priority Bus priority or transit signal priority (TSP) is a name for various techniques to improve service and reduce delay for mass transit vehicles at intersections (or junctions) controlled by traffic signals. TSP techniques are most commonly associat ...

(TSP), a system that can extend green lights to allow buses to get through. The system can boost average speeds as much as 8% and is in use on several of the city's busiest corridors, including Aurora Avenue North, Rainier Avenue S and Lake City Way NE. The system uses RFID tags that are read as buses approach a TSP equipped intersection. In 1998, the fleet was updated with an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system that utilizes battery-powered beacons that read the RFID tags and communicate the buses' location to Metro. In 2010, the AVL system was replaced with a GPS-based system as part of a system-wide radio update. As a part of the radio update Metro also added automated next stop signs and announcements to all buses. In 2010, Metro rolled out a new IP network based ITS infrastructure for its

service. Buses will communicate with roadside equipment using

802.11 IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer com ...

wireless technology on the 4.9

GHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

public safety band. A

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...

backhaul connects access points and roadside equipment together to Metro's Communication Center. The system will extend the legacy RFID-based TSP system. It will also be used in conjunction with GPS technology to provide frequent and accurate location updates for next bus arrival signs at RapidRide stations. The extent of Metro's application of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) for transit information available for customers has been limited to a few projects: * An early project called MyBus by the

(UW) utilized the tracking data to provide real-time bus information. This is now hosted by Metro under the name Tracker. An improved version of MyBus called OneBusAway, developed by UW graduate students Brian Ferris and Kari Watkins, combines Tracker information with Google Maps. OneBusAway continued to be maintained by the University of Washington Department of Computer Science, until a new nonprofit organization was founded to house and administer it in 2019. * Transit Watch displays, like those found in airports and major train stations, are installed at some transit centers and transfer points to show real-time bus arrival information. *A pilot project provided bus information displays along a city arterial. Metro discontinued the project in 2005, citing the cost of maintenance and technical problems. * Metro has a regional trip planner that provides itineraries for transit trips within King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, including those on Sound Transit services, Washington State Ferries, the Seattle Center Monorail, and the Seattle Streetcar.

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

also provides trip planning using schedule data as part of their

Google Transit Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

service.

ORCA Card

Metro is a participating agency in the regional smart card program called ORCA (One Regional Card for All). It was launched for public use on April 20, 2009, along with six other transit agencies in the region.

Bus stop technology

RapidRide stations as well as major bus stops in Downtown Seattle are also receiving what Metro calls a "Tech Pylon", a free standing wireless-capable kiosk, that has next bus arrival signs and an ORCA validator for off-board fare payment.

Fleet

As of 2017, King County Metro operates the 10th largest fleet of buses in the United States, with a total of 1,540 buses. The fleet includes a mix of electric trolleybuses, diesel-electric hybrids, and battery electric buses. Buses range in size from shuttles to

articulated bus An articulated bus, also referred to as a banana bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, wiggle wagon, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usua ...

es on higher-demand routes. In 1978, Metro was the first large transit agency to order high-capacity

es (buses with a rotating joint). Today, King County Metro has one of the largest articulated fleets in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

(second only to

MTA New York City Transit The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City. P ...

) and articulated buses account for about 42% of the agency's fleet. In 1979, the agency ordered some of the first

wheelchair lift A wheelchair lift, also known as a platform lift, or vertical platform lift, is a fully powered device designed to raise a wheelchair and its occupant in order to overcome a step or similar vertical barrier. Wheelchair lifts can be installed in ...

equipped coaches in the nation, promising a completely new level of independence for

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

residents. Early lifts were severely flawed, but by the mid-1980s the lifts were generally reliable and were ordered on all new buses. Metro's entire fleet has been wheelchair-accessible since 1999. Metro was reluctant to adopt

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

buses, not buying any until 2003. Low-floor coaches have slightly reduced

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

(because the

wheelwell Fender is the American English term for the part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well (the fender underside). Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thr ...

s intrude further into the passenger compartment) which may have been a concern. Whatever the reason for the delay, Metro has now embraced low-floor buses and all new fleet additions since 2003 have been low-floor, with the last high-floor buses retired in 2020.

References

External links

Metro TransitOneBusAwayMetro Employees Historic Vehicle Association (MEHVA)Seattle Tunnel on History Linkmybus.orgBus MonsterComparative study between Diesel and GM Hybrid bus fleets operating in Seattle (King County)Why You Should Trust King County Metro Trip Planner
{{Puget Sound Transit Sound Transit Bus transportation in Washington (state)

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

Transit authorities with alternative-fuel vehicles Transportation in King County, Washington Transportation in Seattle Government agencies established in 1973 1973 establishments in Washington (state) Transit agencies in Washington (state)