Thanks to our partnership with the City of Seattle, the revised proposal gives residents:

  • Increased overall bus service to Georgetown
  • Trips every 15 minutes on Route 124
  • New connections and service to Beacon Hill, and maintained connections to Rainier Beach and Renton via an extended Route 107 that will serve Georgetown
  • More service to/from Tukwila
  • More service to Cleveland High School, Aviation High School, Boeing Field, and the Museum of Flight
  • Metro’s commitment to work with the Georgetown community and City of Seattle to improve the schedule reliability of the route 124 and to consider additional stops for the Route 107

SESeattleSnipMetro’s proposal to change routes 9 express, 38, 106, 107, and 124 is seeking to address a number of long-standing and unmet mobility needs south of downtown. For a number of years we’ve spent time listening to the concerns of communities of color, low-income and non-English speaking communities accessing opportunities – culturally and language-appropriate social services, healthcare, cultural events, family gatherings, religious and businesses – along the Martin Luther King Jr. Way (MLK) corridor. They have shared concerns about the loss of historic community connections between the International District and Renton, seeking more convenient access for riders coming from around the county to access opportunities along MLK Way.

Click here for map: (PDF 2MB) SESea_Basemap_withinset

This proposal also raises service levels, with bus service every 15 minutes most of the time, to what the communities between Renton and downtown Seattle and Tukwila to downtown Seattle need, based on population, employment and demographic analyses using Metro’s Service Guidelines. At the same time, this proposal also seeks to address the needs Georgetown residents have told us are important to them while we have sought to hear from and engage communities that would be affected by the change.

We would like to ensure riders have current, accurate information about how we have revised the proposal, based largely in response to what we heard from Georgetown residents and businesses who have a stake in how King County Metro serves the transit community. Our latest proposal is possible thanks to the City of Seattle’s financial commitment to support additional service on Route 124 using their Prop 1 regional transit partnership fund as well as our commitment to continued work with the Georgetown community on key issues raised about what’s going well or poorly with the Metro routes currently serving the community. Details about the current, revised proposal can now be found on our project website at www.kingcounty.gov/metro/seseattle2015.

The service improvement proposed for Route 124 and also the extension of Route 107 into Georgetown are both intended to provide replacement service for the community, in response to the proposed change to the Route 106, which would be revised to operate between Renton and the Chinatown/International District through the Rainier Valley and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

Today, as the 106 and 124 are each operating between Georgetown and downtown Seattle, both routes are scheduled independently and they follow different pathways, with the 106 originating in Renton while the 124 is starting in Tukwila. When both routes are operating every 30 minutes, some trips passing through Georgetown are often closely spaced while at other times there are longer gaps, resulting in an uneven and irregular service frequency. With the proposed improved weekday and Saturday service, Route 124 will operate on an even schedule and common pathway, with trips arriving about every 15 minutes throughout the day. So even with a single route, this can provide a higher level of service in Georgetown than with two, uncoordinated 30-minute routes.

The improved service level on Route 124 could also provide a greater benefit to Georgetown as the 124 serves the entire community, both the residential neighborhood between South Bailey Street and East Marginal Way, as well as the town center and the business district along Airport Way South, while Route 106 just serves the north half of Georgetown. The added service frequency on Route 124 will not only benefit Georgetown but also doubles the service between Georgetown and Tukwila, including the East Marginal Way South corridor, with improved access to employment and education sites and connections with other service and Link at the Tukwila Station. This is the segment in which the large majority of riders coming to and through Georgetown use the route 124.

While service on Route 106 between Georgetown and downtown Seattle is a few minutes faster and slightly more reliable than the Route 124, we recognize this concern and intend to improve the reliability of the 124 in conjunction with the development of the new 15-minute weekday and Saturday schedule. This will involve an analysis by Metro schedulers to identify route segments by time of day where additional running time is needed along with adequate recovery time between trips. A primary goal will be to assure that the southbound Route 124 trips coming through downtown to Georgetown and Tukwila operate as close to on time as possible. Metro will also be working with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to identify potential signal timing, routing or other improvements that can reduce the delay for transit.

To maintain the connection between Georgetown and Beacon Hill, Rainier Beach and Renton currently provided by Route 106, it is proposed that Route 107 be extended along South Albro Street to 13th Avenue South/South Bailey Street and back to Swift Avenue South on Beacon Hill. Route 107 would link these communities and also provide a single transfer point with routes 60 and 124. The Route 107 would operate every 15 minutes in the peak periods and every 30 minutes in the midday and evening. While the Albro loop routing is the current proposal, Metro is willing to examine other routing options with the community and SDOT that may extend the Route 107 further into Georgetown so as to provide additional coverage.

In total, the combined service improvements to the Route 124 and extension of Route 107 would result in a net increase of bus trips to and from Georgetown of 45 trips each weekday, a 23% increase, while maintaining connections provided by the current Route 106.