The Route 60 is the Capitol Hill route that will see the most trips added with October’s service change. (Image: Ryan Packer/CHS)
By Ryan Packer
October 2nd will likely be most memorable as the first day you’ll be able to take light rail from Capitol Hill Station to Northgate, Roosevelt, and the heart of the U District.
But bus riders across the city will likely see changes to their routes starting then as King County Metro works to restore bus service to levels that are closer to where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. Metro is adding about 200,000 hours of bus service back county wide, bringing the system to approximately 90% of what it was in early 2020.
Even as Metro brings routes back and adds trips, some of Capitol Hill’s most frequent buses will lose trips. That’s because even after Seattle voters approved an increase in the city’s sales tax to fund transit, it wasn’t enough to match the amount being funded by the old $60 car tab combined with the slightly lower sales tax. The City Council has opted to use half of the now-$40 car tab fee to use for physical street improvements instead of funding bus service hours.
The routes seeing reductions around Capitol Hill will be the 10, 11, 12 and 48. First Hill’s routes 3 & 4 will also see trips reduced. Most of the trips going away will be on weekdays, with Saturday and Sunday frequencies staying much closer to normal. The only change to Capitol Hill’s workhorse 49 will be a change of routing in the U District to directly serve the new light rail station entrance on NE 43rd Street. The Route 48 will also change to run a bit further north, to N 50th Street.
The Route 9, the peak-hour direct connection between Broadway and the Rainier Valley, will be returning after being suspended in early 2020. The Route 47, however, will remain suspended—though its fate is not completely sealed.
The Route 60 connecting south from Broadway through First Hill will see 19 more trips on weekdays due to the fact that it runs through neighborhoods like White Center, South Park and Georgetown that have been impacted by the closure of the West Seattle Bridge. City Council direction has prioritized bringing back service faster on those routes. Eight additional 60 trips will happen on Sundays as well.
Mayor Jenny Durkan, quoted on King County Metro’s blog, noted 80% support at the ballot box in Seattle for the Transportation Benefit District. Durkan’s original proposal from last year would not have raised the sales tax rate to pay for transit, but the City Council did add an additional 0.5% to get closer to maintaining pre-pandemic service levels. If Durkan’s proposal would have been the one approved, more drastic trip reductions would be occurring in Seattle, very possibly on routes like the 8 and 49 that aren’t seeing any changes now.
Service changes next March and September should also see trips added on the long road back to pre-pandemic service levels. You can see the exact timetables that will take effect October 2nd on Metro’s website.
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I would love to see the 10 return to its old route – continuing down 15th until it makes a western turn on Pine.
IIRC they did that so the cap hill light rail entrance would be more accessible via the 10. But I miss the old route as well, it was so convenient for getting from one end of the hill to the other.
You’re correct, Natalie, but it would have been nice if they actually bothered to sync the #10’s schedule with the light rail schedule. More often that not, it’s easier and faster to walk down to Broadway to catch the train. Those at the Pine Street end of the old route have the #11 and #12 nearby and will eventually have the Madison rapid ride, but there’s a whole bunch of people still left out in the middle.
The 10 reroute was also done to replace the 43 that ran downtown.
I also miss the 10 covering Pine to Denny. Routing it up John would not be necessary if the 43 were still fully operational. In general, I’m not a huge fan of prioritizing light rail transfer points over servicing streets that aren’t right by light rail.
It would be great if they did that. The 8 will take care of the people wanting to get to the light rail.
I’m still flabbergasted by the suspension of the 47. No bus lines at all in the very dense NW part of the hill, people are supposed to walk all the way to Broadway or Olive for a bus.