Transit Now targets 100,000 hours by year’s end

In just 12 months, King County Metro Transit has made steady progress on promises made to the voters who approved the Transit Now initiative to increase bus service. And, even more is in store for 2008.

Demand for transit service is up across King County.

By the end of the year, an estimated 100,000 hours of new bus service will be on the street since voters approved Transit Now.

With the February service change that begins this week, Metro has already delivered 54,000 hours of new bus service in communities such as lower Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, First Hill, Ballard, the University District, Juanita, Kenmore, Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, and on South King County routes serving Renton, Tukwila, SeaTac, and Burien.

Now, Metro turns its attention to the needs of growing communities in East and South King County that currently have limited bus service. By the end of the year, Metro is proposing new or revised routes serving North Bend, Snoqualmie, Issaquah Highlands, Klahanie, Carnation, Maple Valley, Black Diamond, and the Kent East Hill. Specific routes will be finalized later this year following public input.

King County Executive Ron Sims announces more Transit Now service for 2008.

This year, Metro also plans to finalize several new partnerships that will leverage Transit Now funding to pay for additional targeted transit service. Through these partnerships, cities and companies can contribute funding to help pay for enhanced bus service serving their employees and communities. Those partnerships, modeled after a program launched last fall with Children's Hospital, will be phased in over several years beginning in September 2008.

In addition to these short-term service improvements, Metro continues to develop five RapidRide routes to be introduced beginning in 2010. Those RapidRide corridors will include Pacific Highway South, Bellevue-Redmond, West Seattle, Ballard and Aurora Avenue.

RapidRide buses will look different.

New routes and more frequent service are just two benefits Transit Now delivers. As more service hours are added, the initiative is giving Metro better tools to ease overcrowding on buses, especially during busy morning and afternoon commute times.

With Transit Now, Metro hopes to expand its system by up to 20 percent between 2007 and 2016 – an increase that will also produce huge benefits for the environment. By making it more convenient for people to take the bus instead of driving alone, Metro will have more tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming as it helps fight congestion.