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When the King County Council approved a $20 congestion reduction charge to help Metro maintain the current level of bus service in 2012-2013, it also directed Metro to make the transit system more cost-effective during the two years the charge is in effect, by using the newly adopted Strategic Plan and Service Guidelines to improve the current system.

The Council directed Metro to reduce at least 100,000 annual service hours during the 2012-2013 biennium from poorly performing routes and reinvest those hours in corridors that have a low quality of service or that are currently under-served. Reinvestments should relieve overcrowding or improve on-time performance on heavily used routes, or satisfy unmet transit needs. These June changes would reduce and reinvest approximately 40,000 annual service hours.

To determine where service should be reduced or added, Metro followed service guidelines that were approved by the County Council in July 2011 along with Metro’s Strategic Plan for Public Transportation 2011-2021. The use of clear, objective service guidelines had been recommended by the county’s Regional Transit Task Force.

Services may be reduced or canceled if they are determined to have relatively low productivity. Low productivity is measured in two ways. One measure shows that in comparison to all other routes that serve similar markets, the service carries relatively few riders per hour the bus is operating. The other indicates that in comparison to all other routes that serve similar markets, the combined miles of all passengers traveling on a route per mile the bus is traveling on that route is low. Routes falling in the bottom 25 percent on either or both of these measures are considered poorly performing routes. Metro has determined that the routes in the following table should be deleted or reduced because they have low productivity in one or both of the measures described above. The service hours currently used to operate these routes would be reinvested in other services.

Reducing the number of people passed up or standing due to crowding on buses is Metro's first investment priority. The service guidelines set standards for passenger loads which vary based on the frequency of service and the duration of the trip. The table below shows routes with trips that do not meet the standards and have too many passengers standing for too long. Investments will be made to these routes in June 2012 to provide more capacity for passengers.

Improving on-time performance is Metro’s second investment priority. Guidelines establish “lateness” thresholds for making investments. Metro estimates that it would take approximately 30,000 annual service hours to improve on-time performance on routes that currently qualify for investment. Metro is planning to reinvest 15,000 hours in June 2012, and suggesting an investment of 5,000 more hours and additional schedule improvements through the September 2012 process of restructuring Seattle-area transit networks. The table below lists the routes that are candidates for investment based on their past year’s performance. Investments may occur on weekdays or weekends.

Underserved corridors are Metro's third investment priority. The service guidelines identify transit corridors that are not receiving enough service as determined by their land use (the number of households and jobs near bus stops), demographics (the percentage of passengers from areas with low-income and minority populations), connections with centers of employment and other activities, and ridership. Metro will invest in these underserved corridors as resources become available. Metro will invest additional service hours in Route 180 in June 2012 to increase the routes service level recommended by the guidelines.