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Bus route changes, improvements for University of Washington, college campus connections

ByJeff Switzer, King County Metro
Riders exit buses in Seattle's University District, where Route 72 is a new connection.
Riders exit buses in Seattle's University District, where new Route 72 now operates.

The countdown is underway to the Sept. 30 start of classes at the University of Washington, and with it comes planning how to get to the Seattle and Bothell campuses using new and revised Metro bus and Sound Transit train connections.

As part of the ongoing evolution of the public transportation network, we’ve changed routes and given riders more connections to Link trains on the Eastside, North King County and South King County.

Schedules and routing for King County Metro and Sound Transit buses and Sound Transit 1 and 2 line connections were updated Aug. 29. We expect the changes will improve the connections, speed and reliability of your trip from across King County to the UW Seattle and UW Bothell campuses, as well as colleges in North and South King County.

We made these changes with guidance from community members and public input, which helped us improve bus service across King County while balancing some necessary adjustments and trade-offs. The new network connects riders with train service and offers bus service at more times of the day and more days of the week.

Direct routes onto campus are available, and by using Metro’s Trip Planner you can see which option works best for your travel needs. Metro customer service also is available for trip planning and can be reached by phone at 206-553-3000 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

North King County connections

The UW Seattle campus is served by 1 and 2 line trains and more than a dozen Metro bus routes, carrying tens of thousands of students, staff and faculty to and from campus.

  • Route 372 was retired and replaced by new Route 72 in Lake City, and with routes 331 and ST Express Route 522 covering the portions of the previous route in Bothell, Kenmore and Lake Forest Park.
    • New Metro Route 72 connects Shoreline South/148th Station, Lake City and UW Seattle campus and has transfer points on Northeast 145th Street for riders on Sound Transit Express Route 522. (Bus stop 82111 to northbound stop 76770, or bus stop 82111 to southbound 76660).
    • Sound Transit Express Route 522 was revised to carry riders from the Northshore area to 1 Line trains at Shoreline South/148th Station, which provides frequent all-week service to the UW Seattle campus and Bothell campuses. There are easy transfer points on Northeast 145th Street to the new Metro Route 72, which maintains the direct connection to and from the UW Seattle campus.
    • Extended Metro Route 331 is now extended to carry riders between Shoreline Community College, Aurora Village Transit Center and Mountlake Terrace Station to new destinations past Kenmore and the UW Bothell Campus.
  • Metro Route 65 is now revised to connect riders along Northeast 150th and 155th streets to the Shoreline South/148th Station and to and from the Seattle UW campus.
  • New Metro Route 77 offers new connections between Bitter Lake, Aurora Avenue, the new Pinehurst Station opening Sept. 30, Lake City, Roosevelt Station and U District Station and onto the UW campus. This route is now through-routed with Route 75 to Northgate, so riders can continue through the UW main campus and U District without switching buses.
  • Metro Route 333 and Route 365 are now serving Northeast 145th Street with the completion of the I-5 interchange roundabouts.

Map shows route transfers for Route 72 and 522 at NE 145th StreetEastside connections

The Eastside’s new bus network makes new connections to Link 2 Line stations, opening up communities to bus and rail service that now crosses Lake Washington. Service was developed with guidance from community members and riders as Sound Transit phased in 2 Line train service.

  • Metro Route 271 was retired and replaced with new Route 220 and Route 270, and connections via Sound Transit Express Route 556.
    • New Route 220 will provide service between Eastgate Park & Ride, Lake Hills, and Bellevue Transit Center. This will provide replacement service for part of the deleted Route 271 between Eastgate and downtown Bellevue.
    • New Metro Route 270 provides service between downtown Bellevue and the UW Station and U District Station, replacing service for part of the deleted Route 271.
    • Sound Transit Express Route 556 operates frequent all-week service between Issaquah Transit Center, Eastgate, and downtown Bellevue, and between Issaquah Highlands and Issaquah Transit Center
  • Metro Route 203 was revised and provides all-week service between Issaquah Highlands, Issaquah Transit Center, Factoria and South Bellevue Station.
  • New Route 215 will provide an all-week connection between North Bend, Snoqualmie, Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride and 2 Line service at Mercer Island Station.
  • DART Route 249 operates between Spring District Station, South Kirkland, Medina, downtown Bellevue, and South Bellevue Station.
  • Route 269 was extended from Sammamish and Issaquah Highlands to 2 Line service at Mercer Island Station using I-90. Weekday peak period frequency was improved to every 15 minutes and new weekend service was added. Route 269 no longer provides service between Issaquah Highlands and Issaquah Transit Center.

South King County connections

Bus service was revised to create new expanded bus and Metro Flex connections in South King County that connect communities with Link 1 Line stations. As a result, these new Link connections also help riders better access the UW Seattle Campus, which is flanked by University of Washington Station and U District Station, and UW Tacoma Other bus-to-Link improvements help connect riders to and from and Highline Campus near Kent Des Moines Station and Green River College east of Auburn.

  • New Federal Way Metro Flex provides on-demand weekday service to Federal Way Downtown Station that offers bus and 1 Line train connections, including buses to UW Tacoma.
  • New Route 164  provides frequent service between Des Moines, Kent, and Auburn, replacing some of the deleted Route 165.
  • New Route 166 provides peak-frequent service between Burien and Kent Des Moines Station, replacing some of the deleted Route 165.
  • New Route 902  replaced DART Route 901 and a DART service in Federal Way.
  • RapidRide A Line has more overnight frequency to every 30 minutes.
  • Route 156 has more trips to increase frequency and run earlier on weekends.
  • Route 181 has extended hours to midnight and increased weekday frequency.
  • Route 182 has expanded and improved weekday and weekend service and connects with Route 187.
  • Route 183 has extended Saturday hours and added Sunday service.
  • Route 187 has earlier and later trips, more trips, and provides two-way service on Hoyt Road Southwest.
  • Route 903 has increased span and frequency and connects with Route 902.

17 Comments

  1. The Route 65 paragraph could mention Shorecrest and that it is slower to/from the South Shoreline station. Is the transfer on NE 145th Street at 30th Avenue NE easy? It is a four lane arterial. Route 65 also serves the transfer point.

    Reply

      1. Please consider recommending a common stop transfer between routes 522 and 72 at eastbound stop 82270 on NE 145th Street farside 30th Avenue NE. Please ask ST to have Route 522 serve a westbound stop farside 30th Avenue NE. The signal would help with the crossing. Why ask transferring riders to walk to SR-522? Too much walking in your diagram.

  3. why did you kill almost every single bus in issaquah? now issaquah doesn’t have a one seat ride anymore thanks to metro’s silly change that affected literally everybody in issaquah

    Reply

      1. Issaquah should have been able to keep one seat rides to and from Seattle. I get the idea of connecting to the light rail in Bellevue to avoid service duplication between Bellevue and Seattle. However, that duplication will come in handy anytime there is a disruption on the light rail. Its like an insurance policy. Its good to have because when you need it, you really need it. Additionally, giving Issaquah riders one seat rides to and from Seattle can also help prevent the light rail from becoming overcrowded. Further, it would allow the light rail to accomodate more riders from other Eastside communities, thereby expanding public transit’s reach to even more people.

  4. Reduced service to campus but celebrating anyways. Thanks

    The 2 Line in Mercer Island isn’t that bad luckily for some Eastsiders.

    South King County still has no express connection to the UW. Although I do think the SODO link connection is better, but it’s annoying that few routes take you to SODO for the transfer. Link is very slow to UW from Tukwila south… especially after already putting up with slow and delayed local service. And they’re closing the bus way to make it worse.

    Add some open BRT / bus only HOV hours on I-5 it’s going to help people commute in general. Stride 405 is a big improvement but I-5 is still missing it. Link isn’t going to work for many people but great for local trips and high ridership situations.

    Reply

    1. East Kent and Southeast Renton to UW is near impossible will take 2 hours. Further south they can use Sounder with meaningful savings. Kent and Tukwila either have the slow 150 or they’re close enough to Seattle that Sounder doesn’t save enough time + inconvenient station locations. So prioritize more SODO to Kent/Renton routes. And Maple Valley Covington to Renton connections.

      The 102 and 111 is the only good service we have in East of Renton.

      Reply

    2. How does South King County not have express connections to UW? That feels like a major oversight on the part of our region’s transit planners. This should be addressed during upcoming service changes, especially for communities who don’t have direct access to the light rail.

      Reply

  5. RIP 372 that’s my bus 🙁 I think those routes should be restored: 309 & 312 or 322 should be turned into an all-day

    Reply

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