Take the 48 to visit the Jimi Hendrix bus shelter at 23rd Avenue and Massachusetts (Image: King County via Flickr)
Are you excited yet? We are less than 6 months away from the start of Prop 1’s injection of service hours into King County Metro’s bus system throughout Seattle. In short, almost every single bus route that runs on the Hill will be coming more frequently at least some of the time. But let’s look into what this really means for Hill bus riders and the schedules of 9 bus routes that run within or along the edges of Capitol Hill that will be receiving added service hours after the June service change. Two routes that serve the Hill, the 9X and the 12, will not receive any additional service hours until September. Many Hill bus routes receive improved service at each change.
Digging into the numbers, the bulk of added service on the Hill in June will be given to three buses: the 10, the 47, and the 60. The 60 is a much longer route than the other two, running through South Seattle, and so the same number of service hours translates into more round trips on a route like the 10 or the 47 than it does for the 60. Improvements to route 60 include increasing weekday frequency to every 30 minutes.
The 47 — not having run at all since last September — will return to full service during weekdays with 30 minute peak service and 45 minute off-peak. It is likely, however, that there will not be enough off-peak hours to cover running the 47 on the weekends, with no plan to add service on Saturday and Sunday in the near future.
But the biggest increase in service hours on an already existing Capitol Hill route will come to the 10. In addition to adjustments to the schedule to improve reliability, frequency on this route serving 15th Ave and Pine will increase to every 10 to 15 minutes during early mornings, weekends, and late at night.
The 8 bus also receives a substantial number of service hours in June, to add one trip in both directions and to adjust the schedule to improve reliability. However, seeing as Prop 1 specifically prohibits spending the funds collected for it on capital improvements like signal timing and bus lanes and the 8’s route is not likely to change any time soon, it is likely that 8 riders will not see a big change in the reliability and on-time performance of this route.
The 11 and the 2 will also see improvements to their schedules, with the 2 likely to see a big jump in reliability when SDOT installs bus lanes on Spring between 3rd and 6th Avenue this summer.
The 43 and the 49 will only see minor changes in June to their schedules with no added trips.
Other changes include the March 1st start for the new reduced fare program. You can visit orcalift.com to learn more about the program.
Meanwhile, trolley routes will have new coaches join the fleet later this year.
In short, summer will bring a much-needed improvement in service to some very valuable Capitol Hill bus routes, but we will have to wait until September to see the more well-rounded increase in service that many were hoping for on Capitol Hill.
For details on the Spring St bus lane project that will benefit the eastbound rt 2 bus, please see this article on The Urbanist: http://www.theurbanist.org/2015/01/28/transit-improvements-coming-to-spring-st-this-summer/
Could you give us a link to where the specific info is for the new hours on the lines discussed?
Seattle Transit Blog had a comprehensive list of all the routes that will be positively affected: http://seattletransitblog.com/2015/01/15/final-prop-1-contract-and-seattle-bus-improvements/#more-61106
“Improvements to route 60 include increasing weekday frequency to every 30 minutes.”
That should be *evening* frequency. The daytime frequency is 20 minutes already.
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Glad the 47 is coming back (though no weekends is a bummer). But as for the 43 and 49, those are incredibly crowded buses and I thought the proposition was going to add hours to those. Maybe the 47 will take some pressure off those.
Adding one more 8? As in one 8 for the entire day? That can’t increase frequency much. As for reliability, Denny is suck a clusterfuck, I don’t know how they could control the flow of the 8. The hope is just adding more and that’s the only chance. Will see the effect. Meanwhile, can anyone carpool? Reduce some cars on the road would help. Wishful thinking.
Or, in the case of the 8, walk. It only takes 25 minutes to walk from 12th and John to the Amazon campus, and I’m always surprised at how many people choose not to do so given how miserable those packed 8’s are.
Huh? Are you aware that not everyone is capable of walking? Including otherwise able-bodied people who may be carrying 40 pounds of groceries or wrangling children/strollers, etc. Also, is walking from say 1st & Denny to broadway and John at night a solid and safe option? How about 1st & Denny to MLK (since some of the 8s go that far). Is that a reasonable walk? Also, what if I am transferring to the 8 from another bus route and already paid my fare so want a ride, because, it’s public transportation?
One of the main reasons for traffic are the turnoffs to and from 99 and I-5. More buses is the only way to reduce the overcrowding. I’d suggest more of the double buses at key times.
In conclusion, how about you walk every time? I’m totally in favor of that. Though if you sprain your ankle sometime, you can ethically get on the bus (but only with a doctor’s note and if you’re over 75).
Oh Jesus, I’m obviously not referring to everyone on the bus. I live on the hill and work in SLU, and the majority of the 20-something Amazonians who ride between those stops are able to walk. They still have to walk over five minutes to get to their offices. And if they did, the buses would be less crowded for those who can’t or whose commutes are longer. I do walk, unless it’s raining. On the way home, it’s actually faster than taking the bus.
Also, I’m not condemning anyone for riding the bus, just stating that I’m surprised more (able bodied, unencumbered) people choose not to walk if the live near 12th and John and Westlake, since it’s such a short walk and that bus is so uncomfortably packed. I find it way easier and more pleasant than being jostled around.
Seriously? I live on the hill and walk to lower queen anne all the time, at all hours of the night. I’ve never felt unsafe and it’s almost always faster than waiting for and trying to take the 8, if it even shows up. Obviously not everyone is “able” to make that walk, but most are. And it would help alleviate the overcrowding since they mostly use short buses for that route. But adding more buses will just result in more, less full buses stuck on Denny pumping CO2 into the air, it won’t make the trip any faster.
I walk to work the downhill portion every day from ~Broadway & Denny to 3rd & Broad, or about 1.7 miles. Rain or shine I walk to work. I do take the bus 8 home because 85% of the time the bus that comes along at 3:00pm makes a nice quick trip up the hill. Any later and the buss is delayed by 10-15 minutes. I also don’t get the “safety” questions by some of these people. I never feel unsafe walking in this city. Then again, I don’t let my life be ruled by fear in the first place. I understand risks – I just don’t feel unsafe.
You never having “felt unsafe” is not a protection against crime. You obviously know that. Everyone has different set points based on their identity and experience as to what constitutes feeling unsafe. More power to you in that. And respect to those who have different senses and experiences regarding safety. Meanwhile, feel free to review the crime maps at http://www.seattle.gov/police/crime/onlinecrimemaps.htm and I’m just going to hazard a guess that the path the 8 follows is not crime free.
I wonder how much money was spent to remove the shelters along the 47 route, and if they’ll be replaced.
I can only think of two shelters that were removed…Bellevue at Republican and Bellevue at Bellevue Place.
I highly recommend #8 riders check the One Bus Away app if you ride between 8am and 8:20. There are often 3 buses that arrive right on top of each other during that time. The first one is always packed to the gills and the ones that arrive 1-3 minutes after that one are only half full with plenty of seats. Realizing this has made my commute so much more pleasant.
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