Metro studying transit improvements on Route 106
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King County Metro, in collaboration with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), King County Road Services, and the City of Renton, is studying transit improvements for Route 106 to reduce bus travel times, improve reliability, and increase overall customer experience. Route 106 serves 5,000 riders each weekday and operates every 10-15 minutes most of the day. This route connects the International District, Mt. Baker, Rainier Valley, Skyway, and downtown Renton – neighborhoods where many residents rely on transit for work, school, and essential services.
Route 106 serves communities with high percentages of populations defined in our Mobility Framework as “areas of unmet need”, including areas with a high proportion of people with low or no income, communities of color, people with disabilities, and linguistically diverse communities, among other historically underserved communities.
The Route 106 seeks to identify investments that will:
- Reduce bus travel times by 10-15% during busy commute times
- Improve service to allow buses to have more reliable trips through the corridor
- Improve connections to other in the area.
- Benefit existing transit riders and encourage additional ridership
Potential improvements: what they are and why they matter
The Route 106 study will work to identify transit improvements that will provide faster, more reliable bus service to thousands of riders daily. Below are some examples of the types of improvements under consideration to enhance transit service and meet the demand of a rapidly growing community.
| Type of Improvement | What It Is | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Transit signal priority | Allows wireless signals from a bus to change traffic signal to green as it approaches an intersection | Reduces the amount of time buses spend at traffic lights and can improve travel times. |
| Bus stop relocation / removal | Moves the location of a stop and/or removes bus stops that are too close together | Helps buses travel faster and more reliably by spacing out stops along the route, reducing travel times. |
| In-lane bus stops/boarding island | Allows buses to stop in the travel lane instead of pulling over to pick up/drop off passengers | Reduces the amount of time lost to merging in and out of traffic and improves accessibility for riders and cyclists/pedestrians. |
| Queue jumps | Allow buses to merge into traffic from a dedicated bus lane or right-turn only lane, usually with a special traffic signal | Decreases travel delays by allowing buses to move ahead of surrounding traffic. |
| Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes/Bus lanes | Roadway lanes dedicated exclusively (or primarily) for the use of buses | Improves travel times as buses avoid general traffic delays in surrounding lanes. |
This fall –from September 8 through October 3— Metro will engage with riders, businesses, and community members to receive feedback that will help inform the proposed concept design for Route 106 improvements.
Metro wants to learn:
- How you are currently using Route 106
- What concerns you have about Route 106
- What changes would you most like to see for Route 106
During this engagement period, Metro will work with key community voices through community engagement at bus stops to engage with riders, business outreach, and tabling at community-based organizations.
Metro is committed to involving the community in this study to ensure that their needs and vision help inform future design decisions.
We want to hear from you!
Here are a few ways you can share your feedback with us:
Take our questionnaire by October 3, 2025,
Join us at one of our upcoming tabling sessions where you can engage with our team and ask questions:
- Renton Library – Resource Fair: Thursday, September 18, 2025, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
- Skyway Library – Drop-in Tech Help: Monday, September 22, 2025, 12:30–3:00 p.m.
Getting to 10% design
The project is currently in the planning phase. During this phase, the study team will engage with local organizations, community members and other key groups to help us evaluate improvement priorities. We will continue to engage with the community as we move towards final design and construction.
Contact us
For questions or feedback about the project, please contact us at community.relations@kingcounty.gov or 206-263-9768.
We need the route 56 for all-day routes and it will be able to no longer express route and then we want the restored routes 257 & 311 in bothell and Woodinville.
Can you do a study for the 257 and 311 routes?
Metro eliminated the entire Juanita Woodinville Way and 132nd Corrridor from a direct downtown route. There’s only one option left for me, take 3 buses with two transfers: So I have to take 231 south (runs once an hour) to Kirkland Transit Center, take 255 west to Yarrow Hill freeway station, take 545 west to Seneca Street downtown (a fully packed standing only bus).
My only other option is to take 231 east (once an hour) to Brickyard P&R, to take 256 to downtown but it goes to So. Lake Union, then downtown along 2nd Avenue (not 5th) for a 4-5 block walk mostly on a 45 degree climb to my work at 6th and Union.
Can you at least have 231 run twice an hour instead of once an hour?
Ideally I’d like 257 and or 311 restored, especially with the original downtown run on 5th Avenue.
Thank you !!
@Julia We routed your comments to our service planning team, they are monitoring how these changes are going as we phase in improvements as part of the East Link Connections project, which is restructuring bus service in preparation for the 2 Line crossing Lake Washington early next year.
It sounds like you mapped out your options already, but it also looks like the 256 to 545 might also be an option similar to your 255 to Yarrow Point; folks also mentioned Route 256 makes regular stops downtown and can let you off at 7th/Stewart, which might be a much shorter trip and an easier walk to 6th/Union. Routes 10/11/12 also are ways to get from Second uphill to Sixth. Sorry that the route change has affected your travel options.
They’re deleting the 545 next year so your options will become even more limited. This is a shame.
We should not remove options… Only add them. Tax payers are paying for it.
Also I’m not quite sure why any of these changes are being made with the 2 Line in my mind, because the 2 Line is irrelevant to Kirkland and Woodinville.
The 2 Line crosses the I-90 bridge, not the 520 bridge. So I am unsure of why Metro is updating and removing routes such as 271/545/257/311 which use the 520 bridge and not the I-90 bridge.
Folks from that area do not have an easy way into Bellevue, and the 2 Line still wraps around south then back north for extra time spent.
I suggest reversing any changes made to these routes, except ones that actually speed up the commute for a majority of the riders (which none of them appears to do so). I understand service hours are a concern, but maybe you should step up on fare enforcement as you’re losing a lot of money to unpaid fares.
@South King: Thank you for your comments. We routed your comments to our service planning team, they are monitoring how these changes are going as we phase in improvements as part of the East Link Connections project, which is restructuring bus service in preparation for the 2 Line crossing Lake Washington early next year.
If you have any additional comments about the service changes made on the Eastside, you can provide those comments here: https://kingcountymetro.blog/2025/08/27/king-county-metro-adding-more-than-900-weekly-bus-trips-improved-2-line-connections/
Why are changes being made with the 2 Line? Why Metro is updating and removing routes such as 271/545/257/311 which use the 520 bridge and not the I-90 bridge.
–These changes are not only about 2 Line, but also to update the Eastside bus network generally to increase frequency, provide more service mid-day, later at night, and on weekends. These are priorities we heard from the public during engagement for this bus network restructure.
–New Route 256 maintains a fast connection to downtown, but also adds service to South Lake Union, a large employment center desired by commuters.
Folks from [[Kirkland and Woodinville]] do not have an easy way into Bellevue, and the 2 Line still wraps around south then back north for extra time spent.
–ST Express 535 provides all-day service every 30 min to downtown Bellevue from Totem Lake Freeway Station and Brickyard Park and Ride. Route 231 provides all-day 60 min service between Woodinville and Brickyard Park and Ride, downtown Kirkland.
–Route 250 provides all-day frequent service between downtown Kirkland and downtown Bellevue.
I have comments about Renton Transit
Could we see improvement to Route 148 scheduling? Currently the transfer timing from Route 148 to useful routes like Route 101, ST 560/566 are not appropriate.
Often the 148 arrives in Renton TC/S Renton P&R a couple mins before/after these transfers (depending on the direction), forcing riders to wait 15-30 mins for the next one. This is especially problematic on the return trip, as the 148 has lower frequency. We’re forced to take an earlier bus back and wait, and if the 148 is late (which it tends to be), we have to wait for even longer. At most we should only be asked to wait 5 mins for a transfer and buses should coordinate to wait a couple mins if it can help. Obviously the 101 runs late quite a lot, so it can make sense to give extra padding if needed.
I understand Route 102 exists during peak hours, but there are only 5 runs in the morning and 6 in the evening. Sometimes we need to travel outside of this schedule and there is no reason not to line up the buses better. Especially since the 148+560/566 is our only way into Bellevue. By making transfers difficult, you’re making potential riders of Route 148 take their car to S Renton P&R and park. This is less than ideal for everyone, especially those without bus service who must use those parking stalls.
I also request that the 102 timings give more time to transfer to Link. A similar issue occurs here where the SODO transfer time is only 0-2 mins, and if the train is early or bus is late (or vice versa in afternoons), the transfer will be missed…. Causing disaster in commutes especially in the afternoon where the 102 bus arrives very infrequently.
In particular, the 3:38 and 4:17 SODO bus does not give enough time to transfer at Stadium station and the bus sometimes leaves before Link riders can make it to the stop. The SODO station requires multiple street crossings and also runs a risk of missing the bus, especially if the train is a couple minutes late.
So please do push out the 102/148 by a couple mins in the next schedule change (unless it already has enough gap, which is true in the runs after 4:45pm) to buy riders time to make these critical transfers. Thanks.