As we celebrate Earth Day and Earth Week, King County Metro’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is growing every day—literally!
Last month, we celebrated two milestones on our way to becoming one of the first large transit agencies in North America with a 100% zero-emission fleet.
Metro, joined by County Executive Dow Constantine, Tukwila Mayor Tom McLeod and representatives from the Federal Transit Administration and Seattle City Light, launched construction on our Interim Base. The facility will be Metro’s first 100% electric bus base and will be able to support 120 next-generation, zero-emission buses when it opens in 2026.
A week after breaking ground on that facility, we announced an agreement with GILLIG, a leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses, to purchase electric buses that will arrive when the Interim Base is ready. The initial order is for 89 40-foot-long battery-electric buses with an option to purchase up to 395 buses.
Building Interim Base and expanding our battery-electric bus fleet are just part of King County’s approach to meet the goals of the Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP).
Riding transit is the simplest and best action people can take to reduce their carbon emissions each and every day. Metro is proud to provide service for over 1 million riders each week on buses, light rail, streetcars, vanpools, water taxis, paratransit and Metro Flex.