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. Riders are strongly encouraged to sign up to receive transit alerts as intermittent trip cancellations or route suspensions can occur. On Monday, May 29, Metro will operate Sunday schedules due to the Memorial Day holiday, and customer service offices will be closed.
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:
- Visit Metro’s upgraded service advisories page to see if Metro has suspended routes or construction reroutes.
- Sign up for transit alerts for your favorite routes to receive updates via email and text.
- Not yet a subscriber? See the most recent alerts for your route.
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.