Together we're improving commuter service on the I-90 corridor
Eastgate Park & Ride
Metro’s I-90 peak-only routes are some of our most popular and heavily used bus routes. They offer very fast trips between large park-and-rides and downtown Seattle, and with ridership steadily growing, they’re experiencing overcrowding, pass-ups, and crush loading. To address these issues, Metro is making changes to better match the demand with our existing resources.
More than 700 Metro riders gave us feedback via our online survey on how to improve service on this corridor. We carefully reviewed the suggestions while developing a final set of recommendations. The King County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee had a hearing on the recommendations on April 30.
The adopted improvements are designed to provide riders with more options to meet the demand during peak commute times. We focused on ways to provide bus trips when and where they’re most needed. Because of Metro’s constrained budget, we can make only improvements that do not involve added costs.
Latest project update
Table: Changes by route
| Route | Change | Areas served | Rationale | AM trips | PM trips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 210 | Reroute to serve Eastgate P&R | Newport Way, Lakemont, Eastgate, Factoria, downtown Seattle | Maintain morning trips from the Eastgate P&R loading platform to take advantage of unused Route 210 capacity | 4 | 4 |
| 211 | Discontinue deviation to S Bellevue P&R | Issaquah Highlands P&R, Eastgate P&R, Mercer Island P&R, First Hill | Reduce travel time by 8-10 minutes | 7 | 7 |
| 212 | Reduce the number of trips, replace with re-routed Route 210 | Eastgate P&R, downtown Seattle | Match service levels with demand. During the morning commute, maintain the number of trips from Eastgate P&R loading platform | 19 4 fewer (replace with 4 Route 210 trips) |
19 4 fewer (additional service available at Freeway Station) |
| 214 | Provide additional trips to offset loss of Route 215 capacity, reduce number of trips that travel east of Issaquah Transit Center | Downtown Issaquah, Issaquah Transit Center, downtown Seattle | Match service levels with demand | 13 2 more |
13 3 more |
| 215 | Discontinue deviation to Issaquah Transit Center | North Bend, Snoqualmie, Eastgate, downtown Seattle | Provide faster service | 5 | 5 |
| 216* | Reroute to serve Issaquah Highlands instead of N Issaquah | Bear Creek P&R, Sammamish P&R, Issaquah Highlands P&R, Mercer Island P&R, downtown Seattle | Provide more service in higher ridership areas; speed service | 6 | 6 |
| 218* | Convert 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. trips to create a new Route 219 that will travel beyond Issaquah Highlands to serve Sammamish | Sammamish, Issaquah Highlands P&R, Eastgate Freeway Station (a.m. only), downtown Seattle (transit tunnel) | Provide more service to Sammamish | 5 | 9 |
*Routes 216 and 218 stop at Eastgate Freeway Station in the morning only.
Table: Changes by location
| Location | Change | AM trips | PM trips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastgate Freeway Station | Routes 210 (p.m.) and 216 would stop here. Routes 218 and 219 (new) would stop here in the AM only. | 56 (2 fewer) |
37 (2 more) |
| Eastgate Park & Ride (Lower platform) |
Route 212 would have 4 trips, which would be offset by 4 Route 210 trips in the a.m. | 23 | 19 (4 fewer) |
| Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride | Routes 216, 218, and 219 (new) will stop here. | 21 (6 more) |
21 (6 more) |
| Issaquah Transit Center | Route 215 will no longer stop here, Route 214 would have additional trips. | 20 (3 fewer) |
22 (2 fewer) |
| South Bellevue Park & Ride | Route 211 will no longer stop here. | 31 (7 fewer) |
33 (7 fewer) |
| South Sammamish Park & Ride | Routes 216 and 219 (new) will stop here. | 11 | 15 |
Budget constraints
The past four years have been among the most difficult in Metro’s history. The recession that began in 2008 caused a steep drop in sales tax revenue, making it very hard to balance Metro’s budget. Even in this challenging fiscal climate, we’re working to make positive changes for our riders by redistributing resources to where they are most needed.
In the past few years, we’ve already changed our bus service on the I-90 corridor to meet the needs of more riders and to keep buses moving as smoothly as possible through downtown Seattle.
The proposed changes would help relieve overcrowding on this corridor.
Timeline
- January-February 2013: Gather feedback from the community on proposed changes to I-90 bus service
- March 2013: Recommend changes to the King County Council
- April 30, 2013: County Council committee hearing (Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee)
- September 2013: Change bus service
Stay informed
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Contact us
- Send an email
- Or call 206-263-9768
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Información importante sobre el servicio de autobuses de su zona. Para solicitar esta información en español, sírvase llamar al 206-263-9988 o envíe un mensaje de correo electrónico.