King County Metro continues to suspend weekday Route 162 until further notice, and some individual weekday bus trips remain canceled due to staff and bus availability. All weekend routes and trips are expected to operate as scheduled.

Route 162 riders have alternatives available during this temporary suspension:

  • On the Kent East Hill, use Routes 160, 165, 168 or 914 and connect to Route 150 or Sounder at Kent Station to/from downtown Seattle.
  • From Kent Station, use Route 150 or Sounder to/from downtown Seattle
  • Between Kent-Des Moines Road (SR-516) and Kent Station, use Route 183 or walk to connect to Route 150 or Sounder to/from downtown Seattle
  • From Kent-Des Moines P&R, use Route 190 to/from Downtown Seattle or Route 193 to/from First Hill.
  • Riders can explore whether joining or forming a Vanpool is a good option for travel, with savings available for people living or working in Kent.

Fleet availability continues to be a challenge, and maintenance crews are making repairs and returning buses to service. We also are working with vendors to improve and stabilize the supply chain challenges affecting our industry. We appreciate your patience while we complete this important work. We are also  facing workforce availability challenges and are actively recruiting, training and promoting operators to deliver our service.

To support riders better, we are sending email and text Transit Alerts in advance in cases where there are known, recurring canceled trips for the coming week.

Before traveling, riders are encouraged to:

Real-time information on the road

  • Use “Text for Departures” by texting your bus stop number to 62550. You will receive a text with the next departure times and/or canceled trips at that stop.
  • Use the Next Departures tool on Metro’s Trip Planner to see what trips are operating at your bus stop.
  • On Twitter, follow @KingCountyMetro for general information.
  • Call Metro’s customer service office, which is open on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 206-553-3000.

September service change will bring better reliability, suspended routes

King County Metro will increase reliability and build resiliency with its fall update to transit schedules. The agency currently is delivering 95% of more than 11,200 daily bus trips while facing challenges with canceled trips. The changes beginning in September will ensure riders can have confidence knowing that Metro will be there no matter where they need to go.

To ensure transit services are in sync with fleet availability and its workforce, Metro will focus upcoming revisions on 20 low-ridership routes, and 92% of boardings will not be directly impacted. These changes will help prevent last-minute cancellations and improve reliability for riders. Metro will help connect riders with other transit options for nearly all the impacted routes.

Sept. 2 suspended routes have alternatives available

These 20 routes will be fully suspended beginning Sept. 2. Each of these routes has alternatives, and most are available either at the same bus stops or nearby. Routes 15, 16, 18, 29, 55, 64, 114, 121, 167, 190, 214, 216, 217, 232, 237, 268, 301, 304, 320 and 342.

Sept. 2 reduced trips

Twelve bus routes will be reduced to operate less frequently starting Sept. 2: Routes 7, 10, 20, 28, 36, 73, 79, 225, 230, 231, 255, 345. Some high-ridership routes such as 7 and 36 will continue to have very frequent service, with wait times of just a few more minutes. Some low-ridership routes will shift to service every 30 to 60 minutes during some time periods.