King County Metro

History

The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, was created by a local referendum in 1958 authorized to manage regional wastewater and water quality issues in King County. After two failed attempts to enable it to build a regional rapid transit system, it was authorized to operate a regional bus system in 1972. The bus system was known as Metro Transit and began operations in 1973. Its operations subsumed the Seattle Transit System, formerly under the purview of the City of Seattle and the Metropolitan Transit Corporation, a private company serving suburban cities in King County. In the early 1970s, the private Metropolitan faced bankruptcy because of low ridership. King County voters authorized Metro to buy Metropolitan and operate the county's mass transit bus system.

The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle was overseen by a federated board of elected officials, composed of elected officials from cities throughout the region. Its representation structure was ruled unconstitutional in 1990. In 1992, after gaining approval by popular vote, the municipality's roles and authorities were assumed by the government of King County. The municipality's transit operations was a stand-alone department within the county until 1996, when it became a division of the newly created King County Department of Transportation.

After completion of the downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel project, attention was drawn again to developing a regional rail system. This interest led to the formation of the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (more commonly known as Sound Transit) which holds primary responsibility for planning and building high capacity transit in the counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish, in western Washington state.

Today, King County Metro operates more than 200 routes, providing local and regional transit service, primarily within its jurisdictional boundaries. Besides its own transit operations, Metro operates several ST Express bus routes and the Central Link light rail line under a contract with Sound Transit and two streetcar routes under contract with Seattle Streetcar.

Ride Free Area

For almost 40 years, until 2012, most of downtown Seattle was designated as a zero-fare zone, an area in which all rides on Metro vehicles were free, known as the "Ride Free" Area. Intended to encourage transit usage, improve accessibility and encourage downtown shopping, the zone was created in September 1973 and was originally called the "Magic Carpet" zone. It was later renamed the Ride Free Area (RFA). The RFA extended from the north at Battery St. to S. Jackson St. on the south and east at 6th Avenue to the waterfront on the west. Until 1987, the zone was in effect 24 hours a day, but in October of that year Metro began requiring fare payment within the zone during night-time hours, between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m., to reduce fare-related conflicts that sometimes led to assaults on drivers; in February 1994, the RFA's hours were reduced further, with fare payment required between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

A King County Auditor’s Office report released in September 2009 found that Metro “can neither fully explain nor provide backup documentation for the operating cost savings that offset the fare revenues in the calculation of the annual charges to the City of Seattle for the city’s Ride Free Area” and that some assumptions in the methodology Metro used to calculate the amount of lost fares were “questionable” and have not been updated to reflect changes to the fare structure and fare collection methods.

A 1975 study found that while the Ride Free Area generally reduced bus travel times within the RFA itself, buses that traveled through the Ride Free Area to other destinations generally did not benefit. It also found that unloading outbound coaches once outside the RFA took additional time, though not entirely quantified vis-à-vis time saved within the RFA.

On September 29, 2012, the Ride Free Area was eliminated. All riders boarding in downtown must now pay as they board.

Routes

Metro combines service patterns typical of both city and suburban bus networks. The city network, was descended in large part from the Seattle Transit system of converted streetcar routes. Most service is operated in a hub-and-spoke pattern centered either on downtown Seattle or the University of Washington, with lesser amounts of crosstown service. The suburban network typically operates on major streets between the regions employment and population centers.

Routes in the city network are numbered from 1 to 77, with special late-night "Owl" routes numbered in the 80s. Because of the scattershot evolution of the system, there is no easily discernible pattern to the route numbers, although there are clusters in certain neighborhoods.

The in-city routes with the highest ridership are the RapidRide D Line from downtown to Crown Hill via Uptown/Seattle Center and Ballard; the 7, traveling from downtown through the International District to the Rainier Valley; the 40, traveling from downtown through South Lake Union, Fremont, and Ballard to Northgate; the 41, traveling from downtown via I-5 to Northgate and Lake City; the RapidRide C Line from South Lake Union and downtown to West Seattle's Alaska Junction and Westwood Village; the 36, traveling from downtown through the International District to Beacon Hill; the 5 from downtown via the Woodland Park Zoo and Greenwood/Phinney Ridge to Shoreline Community College; the 44, a crosstown route connecting the University District and Ballard; the 8, a crosstown route connecting Uptown/Seattle Center and South Lake Union with Capitol Hill, the Central District and Mount Baker; and the 70, connecting downtown to South Lake Union, Eastlake, and the University District.

The Metro-operated Seattle Streetcar routes are numbered in the 90s, with the South Lake Union Streetcar numbered 98 and the bus replacement for the Waterfront Streetcar numbered 99.

The suburban system is more numerically organized. Roughly speaking, areas in South King County (from Burien and Des Moines through Renton and Maple Valley) are served by routes numbered in the 100s, areas in East King County (from Renton to Bothell) are served by routes numbered in the 200s, areas in North King County (from Bothell to Shoreline) are served by routes numbered in the 300s.

Major all-day Metro routes in the suburbs include the RapidRide E Line connecting downtown Seattle and Shoreline's Aurora Village TC; the 120, connecting Seattle and Burien; the 372X connecting the University District, Lake City, and UW Bothell; the 150, connecting Seattle, Southcenter and Kent; the 255, connecting Seattle and Kirkland; the 271, connecting Issaquah, Bellevue, and the University District; the 101 and 106 between Seattle and Renton; the 240, connecting Renton and Bellevue; and the 347 and 348, connecting Northgate and North City.

The Metro-operated Sound Transit Express routes are numbered in the 500s.

Route numbers in the lower 900s (901–931) are used for Dial-a-Ride services, while shuttles connecting to the King County Water Taxi are numbered in the 700s.

Metro is contracted to operate special "custom" buses. Custom routes that serve schools in Bellevue and on Mercer Island are numbered in the 800s (823, 824, 886–892) and routes serving the private Lakeside School and University Prep numbered in the higher 900s (980–995). Metro also operates custom routes to major employment sites (like Group Health Cooperative in Tukwila and the Boeing Everett Factory). Custom routes are also occasionally established to serve as shuttles for large local events, including Seattle Seahawks and Washington Huskies football games.

RapidRide

King County Metro operates RapidRide, a network of limited-stop bus lines with some bus rapid transit features. All RapidRide routes have frequent service with frequencies of 10 minutes or better during peak commuting hours and 15 minutes during most off-peak hours and on weekends. Most lines (except the B and F lines) have late night and early morning service. Stops are placed farther apart than typical Metro service to increase speed and reliability. Stops with heavier ridership have "stations" with an awning, seating, lighting, real time information signs to communicate estimate arrival times of RapidRide buses. Most stations and some stops in Downtown Seattle have ORCA card readers that allow passengers to pay before the bus arrives and board at any of the buses three doors. All lines use new, low-floor, articulated buses that are painted with a distinct red and yellow livery and have onboard Wi-Fi.

The RapidRide corridors are:

Freeway express services

Metro operates many peak-hour commuter routes serving park and rides that use 244.52 miles of the region's network of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. This practice was pioneered at Seattle Transit as the Blue Streak express bus service running between Northgate Park & Ride and Downtown Seattle. Special stops called "freeway flyers" or freeway stations were constructed to allow efficient transfer between local and express buses. The first "freeway flyer" stop opened in 1975 at Montlake Boulevard and State Route 520. Metro also takes advantage of new HOV direct-access ramps and freeway stations constructed by Sound Transit to improve speed and reliability of its commuter routes.

Skip-stop spacing

Metro uses skip-stop spacing on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Avenues in Downtown Seattle, whereby buses skip every other bus stop. On 3rd Avenue, each bus route is assigned to Blue, Yellow, Red or Green stop groups and each bus stop has two color designations; in the northbound direction, every other bus stop is a Red/Yellow or Green/Blue stop, while in the southbound direction they are Green/Yellow and Red/Blue. On 2nd and 4th Avenues, routes are grouped into Orange and White stops. The bus stop color groupings are identified by a colored plate installed above or on the side of the bus stop sign. On 3rd Avenue only, there are additional colored markers one block ahead of each bus stop on the trolley overhead wires, to help bus drivers identify the colors of the upcoming bus stop.

Operating costs

The cost per boarding for Metro was $4.10 in 2005, compared to $2.50 among the country's 15 largest transit agencies and $2.97, the national average. Metro's cost per boarding is 38% above the national average.

Metro's higher-than-average cost per boarding can be at least partially attributed to its high percentage of "commuter" routes, which run at peak hours only, and often only in one direction at a time. As of 2011, 100 of Metro's 223 routes are peak-only. These routes require significant deadheading (particularly on the one-way routes), as well as a very large part-time labor force, both of which drive up costs.

Metro's lowest-cost route overall, route 4 (East Queen Anne to Judkins Park), had a cost per boarding of only $0.46 during peak hours in 2009. By way of contrast, Metro's peak-only route with the lowest cost per boarding was route 206 (Newport Hills to International School), at $2.04. Metro's highest cost route by this measure, route 149 (Renton Transit Center to Black Diamond), had a peak time cost of $34.47 per boarding. Route 149 serves the rural southeastern corner of King County.

In 2007 it cost $3.64 per boarding to deliver service in the West (Seattle) subarea, $4.79 in the South subarea and $7.27 in the East subarea of King County. At the end of 2008, the systemwide cost per boarding was $3.70.

Fares

King County Metro has two fare zones, the city of Seattle city limits being one zone and all other areas of King County being the other. Peak hour fares are in effect from 6-9 am and 3-6 pm Monday-Friday.

The King County Metro fares as of March 1, 2015 are:

Fare history

One-way fare (Peak, 1 Zone), with year of rate change:

Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel

A major Metro facility is the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT), a 1.3-mile-long, five-station tunnel that allows seven bus routes and Central Link light rail trains to travel under the heart of downtown Seattle.

The tunnel was completed in 1990 at a cost of $455 million. While it was planned from the outset to be convertible to use by trains, the tunnel began operation with a fleet of 236 Breda dual-mode buses that operated using a diesel motor on city streets and an electric motor (with power fed by overhead trolley wire) in the tunnel. In 2004, Metro switched to hybrid-electric buses that operate in a mostly electric "hush mode" while in the tunnel.

The tunnel was closed between fall 2005 and fall 2007 to prepare it for light rail trains. Crews lowered the roadway to match the height of Central Link's low-floor light rail vehicles, replaced the overhead trolley wire with catenary wire, and built a stub tunnel where trains could reverse direction and allowed for construction of the University Link extension to the north (which was completed in 2016). The tunnel finished its retrofit and returned to service on September 24, 2007 and light rail trains began service on July 18, 2009.

Bus service in the tunnel could end as soon as 2019. A project to expand the Washington State Convention Center will prevent buses from being able to access or layover at the north end of the tunnel. At that point, the tunnel will be used exclusively by light rail trains.

As of September 10, 2016, the following routes operate in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel during tunnel operating hours:

Transit centers

While Downtown Seattle is Metro's main transit hub, transit centers act as smaller regional hubs and are served by many bus routes. Some transit centers also offer a park-and-ride facility. Metro operates out of several transit centers located throughout King County, some of which are shared with Sound Transit and other county agencies.

Park-and-ride lots

In King County, Metro has 132 park-and-ride facilities containing a total of 24,524 parking stalls. Half of the lots are leased from other property owners such as churches.

Operations bases and facilities

Metro stores and maintains buses at seven bases (garages), spread throughout its 2,134-square-mile (5,530 km²) operating area. In addition to the bases, maintenance of the fleet and operation of the system are supported by several other facilities.

Transit Now

In April 2006, King County Executive Ron Sims announced a program entitled "Transit Now" that, once approved by voters, would provide for a 20 percent increase in transit service by the end of 2016 over 2006 service levels, measured in annual operating hours. In order to realize this growth, Transit Now proposed an increase in the local option sales tax for transit of one-tenth of one percent. The Transit Now ordinance, passed by the King County Council on September 5, 2006, and signed by Executive Sims on September 11, 2006, forwarded the tax proposition to the voters and identified the programs to which operating revenue generated from the sales tax increase could be appropriated. The measure was approved by 56.62% of King County voters in the November 2007 general election. The service programs identified in the ordinance are as follows:

1. Implementation of RapidRide routes in five arterial corridors.
2. Increase service on high-ridership routes that provide frequent, two-way connections throughout the agency's service area.
3. Service for growing areas in outlying suburban/[exurban] areas.
4. Partnerships with cities and major employers to provide more service than could otherwise be provided through typical resources.
5. Additional improvements such as expanded ride-share and paratransit services in King County.

Proposition 1

In November 2014, Seattle voters passed Proposition 1 with 59% support. It uses $45 million in new annual funds from a 0.1% sales tax raise and a $60 annual car-tab fee to add King County Metro bus service within the City of Seattle.

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS)

Collaborating with several local jurisdictions, Metro was an early adopter of Transit Signal Priority (TSP), a system that can extend green lights to allow buses to get through. The system can boost average speeds as much as 8% and is in use on several of the city's busiest corridors, including Aurora Avenue North, Rainier Avenue S and Lake City Way NE. The system uses RFID tags that are read as buses approach a TSP equipped intersection. In 1998, the fleet was updated with an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system that utilizes battery-powered beacons that read the RFID tags and communicate the buses location to Metro.

In 2010, the AVL system was replaced with a GPS-based system as part of a system-wide radio update. As a part of the radio update Metro also added automated next stop signs and announcements to all buses.

In 2010, Metro rolled out a new IP network based ITS infrastructure for its RapidRide service. Buses will communicate with roadside equipment using 802.11 wireless technology on the 4.9 GHz public safety band. A fiber optic backhaul connects access points and roadside equipment together to Metro's Communication Center. The system will extend the legacy RFID-based TSP system. It will also be used in conjunction with GPS technology to provide frequent and accurate location updates for next bus arrival signs at RapidRide stations.

The extent of Metro's application of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) for transit information available for customers has been limited to a few projects:

ORCA Card

Metro is a participating agency in the regional smart card program called ORCA (One Regional Card for All). It was launched for public use on April 20, 2009, along with six other transit agencies in the region.

Bus stop technology

RapidRide stations as well as major bus stops in Downtown Seattle are also receiving what Metro calls a "Tech Pylon", a free standing wireless-capable kiosk, that has next bus arrival signs and an ORCA validator for off-board fare payment.

Fleet

As of 2015, King County Metro operates the 4th largest fleet of buses in the United States, with a total of 1,882 buses.

The agency has pioneered technologies in widespread use today. In 1978, Metro was the first large transit agency to order high-capacity articulated buses (buses with a rotating joint). Today, King County Metro has one of the largest articulated fleets in North America (second only to MTA New York City Transit) and articulated buses account for about 42% of the agencies fleet. In 1979, the agency ordered Flyer coaches with some of the first wheelchair lifts in the nation, promising a completely new level of independence for disabled residents. Early lifts were severely flawed, but by the mid-1980s the lifts were generally reliable and were ordered on all new buses. With the retirement of the MAN SG-220 buses in 1999, the entire fleet became wheelchair-accessible.

Metro was reluctant to adopt low-floor buses, not buying any until 2003. Low-floor coaches have slightly reduced seating capacity (because the wheelwells intrude further into the passenger compartment) which may have been a concern. Whatever the reason for the delay, Metro has now embraced low-floor buses and all new fleet additions since 2003 have been low-floor.

Trolleys

Metro maintains a fleet of 174 electric trolleybuses that serve 15 routes along almost 70 miles of two-direction overhead wire. This is the second largest trolleybus system in the United States by ridership and fleet size. The trolleybuses are valued by Metro both as zero-emission vehicles, and as vehicles well adapted to Seattle's hilly terrain. In Seattle, trolleybuses are traditionally referred to simply as "trolleys".

Metro's trolleybus fleet consists of 174 entirely low-floor New Flyer Xcelsior coaches. Of the total, 110 are 40-foot (12 m) vehicles (model XT40) and 64 are 60-foot (18 m), articulated buses (model XT60). The buses include an auxiliary power unit, to allow them to operate off-wire for up to 3 miles (4.8 km).

Occasionally Metro will use diesel or diesel-electric hybrid coaches on trolley routes. Reasons for doing this include construction (weekends only), overhead wire maintenance or events that require coaches to go long distances off-route, "coach changes" (replacing a bus in service that has developed a problem) or to add temporary additional capacity. The latter two cases sometimes lead to diesel buses being used, in order to get the replacement or supplementary vehicle into service as quickly as possible; diesel buses can reach the point of entry into service faster, as they do not need to follow the overhead wires when deadheading.

Diesel-electric hybrids

Metro operates the largest fleet of hybrid buses in the country. The first hybrid buses were purchased in 2004 for use with routes that operated in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted a one-year comparative study between conventional diesel and hybrid-powered buses operating on a typical King County drive cycle. Results showed that the hybrid powered buses lowered fuel consumption by 23%; NOx by 18%; carbon monoxide (CO) by 60%; and total hydrocarbon (THC) by 56% when compared to conventional diesel buses. Those results have led Metro to purchase hybrid buses exclusively since 2005 (with the exception of the all-electric trolley buses). Metro now has over 700 hybrid buses in the fleet, with more on order.

Hush mode

Buses equipped with the GM-Allison E^P50 and the Allison H 50 EP parallel hybrid systems have a special "hush mode" that allows the buses to operate solely on electric power, reducing tailpipe emissions and noise while operating in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. Before entering the tunnel, the operator pushes a button that puts the coach into hush mode. While buses are inside stations, the coaches operate solely on electric propulsion (although, while the doors are closed, the engine still rotates in order to operate auxiliary loads). In between the tunnel's stations, the bus uses electric traction to get to 15 mph (24 km/h), after which a combination of the electric and diesel motors are used. The operation of the diesel engine allows the batteries to recharge. Hush mode is normally deactivated by the operator as they exit the tunnel, but the mode will be automatically deactivated after the coach has traveled a certain distance.

Series hybrids

Metro's newest buses are equipped with the BAE Systems HybriDrive, a series hybrid system. In these buses an electric motor turns the wheels, with power provided by a generator attached to a diesel engine and regenerative breaking. Any excess power is stored in batteries on the roof of the bus. Because the diesel engine is not directly propelling the bus, it can operate at a more steady, fuel-efficient speed.

Buses delivered after 2014 are equipped with the upgraded HybriDrive Series-E which uses electrically powered accessory systems (alternator, air conditioning, air compressor, cooling fans and steering pump) to increase fuel efficiency and allow the diesel engine to stop when the bus is stopped and the batteries are sufficiently charged.

Battery electric buses

Upholding their history of adopting new technologies to help increase efficiency and cut down on emissions, Metro has begun testing three new Proterra Catalyst battery electric buses. The coaches are capable of traveling over 26 miles before the battery needs to be recharged. A special "fast charge" station located at the Eastgate Park and Ride allow the bus to be fully recharged in under 10 minutes, during the driver's normally scheduled layover. These new vehicles get the equivalent of 20.8 MPG, which is over 6 times better than the 3.18 MPG seen on Metro's series hybrid electric coaches. The coaches were purchased with support from a $4.7 million Federal Transit Administration grant and entered service on February 17, 2016. They will operate from King County Metro's Bellevue Base in Bellevue, and will be tested on shorter routes (due to their limited range) across the eastside. This testing will continue for a period of about one year, after which Metro has the option to purchase up to 200 new vehicles over the following five years. If the tests are deemed a success, battery electric buses could be used to replace the oldest diesel-powered coaches in the fleet.

Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association

Metro has a special fleet of more than a dozen historic motor buses and trolleybuses ranging from ones built in the late 1930s and early 1940s through to ones only recently retired. The coaches are restored, maintained and operated under an agreement with the Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association (MEHVA), a non-profit organization formed in 1981. Metro maintains ownership of the historic fleet, providing coverage under its fleet self-insurance along with storage, work space and parts on an as available basis.

Money to operate the coaches and purchase parts, not in Metro stock is generated by selling tickets to public excursions. The first trips took place in 1984, and nowadays MEHVA typically operates six to eight per year. Each excursion has a different route and a different emphasis.

MEHVA was established in 1981, as Metro prepared to retire trolleybuses that had been operating in Seattle since the 1940s. Since that time, MEHVA acquired other retired transit vehicles which were formerly operated in King County. Often these retired coaches were purchased by private citizens and left on the owner's property for many decades, leaving them in need of restoration. The collection of vehicles has gradually expanded over time, with the addition of newly retired buses when deemed historically notable and not yet represented in the collection.

Programs