February 2015 Metro service reductions detailed in proposal to County Council

Acting upon the recommendations of an Ad-Hoc Committee that included three members of the King County Council, County Executive Dow Constantine today sent the Council a proposal for February service changes that would reduce 169,000 hours of Metro Transit service.

The cuts are the second round in a series of service cuts needed to bring Metro Transit service levels in line with available funding. In the first round on Sept. 27, Metro will cut an unprecedented 151,000 hours of service deleting 28 routes and revising 13 routes. Together the two rounds represent cuts to about 10 percent of Metro’s service.

Details about the recommended changes for February 2015 are available on Metro’s website. King County Council will consider these changes this month.

Please note that if the Seattle transit initiative is approved by voters in November, all of the adopted February service cuts would be postponed until June 2015 to allow Seattle and any other party to submit contracts to preserve service.

February 2015 service changes

• 16 routes deleted: 4, 22, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 158, 159, 178, 179, 187, 190, 192, 242, and DART 930.
• 32 routes revised or reduced:1, 2, 3, 8, 9X, 12, 13, 14, 16, 21, 24, 26X, 27, 28X, 29, 32, 33, 60, 65, 106, 107, 116X, 121, 125, 157, 168, 177, 181, 193X, 197, 271 and DART 901.

Metro has made significant revisions to the phasing of the service reductions proposal that was originally submitted to the County council in April 2014.

By making these changes, all areas of the county in which Metro was proposing to restructure routes to be more efficient would experience some reduction in February. This approach spreads service reductions in a more balanced way across King County in each individual service change rather than incrementally over the course of subsequent service changes.

The effect is that the phasing of changes has been revised for some areas of Seattle, South King County, and East King County. The current proposal for February 2015 reduces service hours, while enabling the transit network to remain usable—touching all restructure areas around the County. Future service cuts and changes will be considered as part of the 2015-2016 budget.

While the reductions will have broad public impacts, analysis shows they will not have a disproportionate impact on minority or low-income populations.

Below is a summary of how the revised February cuts will impact various communities.

North-Central Seattle and Magnolia

• Magnolia routes 24 and 33 previously slated for changes in June 2015 instead are recommended for reductions in February 2015. These are lower performing routes–more service being preserved to the neighborhood by making the routes more efficient.
• Routes 16, 26 and 28 are recommended for reductions in February 2015 instead of June 2015. These are popular during commute times, but are lower performing based on service throughout the day. Routes 26 and 28 will see some combined service with express variants, Routes 26X and 28X.
• Future service cuts and revisions will be considered as part of the 2015-2016 budget.

Northeast Seattle (Laurelhurst, Eastlake, Wedgwood)

• Northeast Seattle peak and weekday service: Lower performing peak-only routes 25, 30 and 242 are recommended for deletion in February 2015 instead of June 2015. Underlying bus service exists in areas of the peak service.
• Fremont to the University District: Routes 31 and 32 face recommended revisions and Route 65 is recommended for evening reductions. These changes in February 2015 were previously recommended in June 2015.
• Future service cuts and revisions will be considered as part of the 2015-2016 budget and with the start of University Link light rail service in 2016.

Central Seattle (Queen Anne, First Hill, Capitol Hill, Central Area, Southeast Seattle, Beacon Hill)

• Routes previously slated for February 2015 reductions continue to be recommended for reductions in February 2015, though with some modifications from the original proposal.
• Affected routes are 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 27, 29, 60, 106 and 107. Routes 1, 3, 12, 14 and 60 are lower performing routes based on service throughout the day.

West Seattle

After facing possible cuts in June 2014, West Seattle originally was not scheduled for any service cuts or restructures until September 2015. Following the direction of the Council and an ad hoc committee to balance phasing of service cuts more geographically, there now are recommended service revisions in West Seattle in February 2015, modified from the proposal that were originally slated for implementation in September 2015.

• Route 21 on 35^thAvenue Southwest would see night and off-peak reduction in service, shifting from current 15-minute service to recommended 30-minute service.
• Route 22 will be deleted and Route 125 will be revised to provide Gatewood and South Seattle Community College with an all-day connection to downtown Seattle. These changes previously recommended for September 2015 are now recommended for February 2015.
• Peak routes 121 and 116X would have a few deleted trips in February 2015, previously proposed for September 2015.
• Future service cuts and revisions will be considered as part of the 2015-2016 budget.

East King County

Some East King County service cuts previously recommended for February 2015 will be considered during 2015-2016 budget deliberations in order to create a more balanced geographic distribution of recommended cuts.

• No longer happening in February: reductions to peak-only services on routes 237, 311 and 342, or restructures in Kirkland and Redmond.
• Route 271 service east of Eastgate is still planned for elimination.
• DART 930 is still planned for deletion.
• Further service cuts will be considered during 2015-2016 budget discussions.

Kent, South King County

These reductions previously recommended for February 2015 changes would still happen in February 2015, with some modifications from the prior recommendations.

• No longer happening in February 2015: reductions to DART 907, 914 and 916.
• Kent: peak routes 157, 158, 159, 168 still planned for February 2015.
• I-5/South area restructure: 177, 178, 179, 190, 192, 193X, 197 still planned for February 2015.
• Federal Way: 181, 187, DART 901 still planned for February 2015, with some modifications to the original proposal.

We know from our extensive public outreach in 2013 and 2014 that people who rely on Metro will lose service, be inconvenienced, or ride more-crowded buses. We followed our service guidelines and worked very hard to make cuts that will have the least impact and to provide travel options for riders losing their current service. We value every one of our customers and will continue to do the best we can to preserve service and get you where you want to go.

If you have questions about the February service cuts or would like more information, please contact us at community.relations@kingcounty.gov or call 206-263-9770.