Processed with VSCO with a6 preset Editor’s note, 3/23/20: Corrected route lists updated below.
Today King County Metro Transit (Metro) announced that starting Monday, March 23 they will be reducing transit service for the duration of the region’s public health emergency.
Metro, along with every other transit operator, is seeing declines in ridership and expects them to continue as residents heed public health guidance to telework and avoid unnecessary gatherings.
Metro has designed reductions to maintain some service on as many routes as possible, acknowledging that people rely on these routes to access medical care, grocery stores, and other vital services.
Most Seattle bus routes will continue to run, but under this temporary Reduced Schedule, buses will run less frequently throughout the day. Bus service may also start later in the morning and end earlier in the evening. Service on some bus routes will be cut entirely, which may affect residents traveling into the city.
These service reductions are designed to maintain a resilient and sustainable transit system that’s able to keep our region moving every day and to ramp back up when this chapter closes.
The Reduced Schedule means that online customer information planning tools and third-party apps may be increasingly inaccurate. Information about Reduced Schedule changes can be viewed at kingcounty.gov/metro/ReducedSchedule including suggestions for alternate routes riders may want to consider.
Inside Seattle:
Seattle bus routes which will no longer run: Routes 9, 29, 37, 47, 78, and 125. In other parts of King County, routes 200, 208, 237, 308, 330, and 541 will also stop running.
Seattle bus routes with reduced service: Metro Routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 36, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 55, 56, 57, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 74, 75, 76, 77, 106,107, 116, 120, 124, 177, 316, 345, 355, 372, 373, 980, 987, 988, 994, and 995.
Sound Transit Express Bus Routes 522, 541, 542, 545, 550, 554, 555 and 556.
Seattle Streetcar: The First Hill Streetcar frequency will go from 12 to 15-minutes. For the time being, South Lake Union Streetcar service is being suspended.
Via to Transit: Via to Transit service will be suspended for the time being in order to accommodate Public Health – Seattle & King County social distancing guidelines.
Sound Transit: Downtown Seattle Link light rail stations will close this weekend as crews wrap up Connect 2020 construction. On Monday, light rail service will resume with trains coming every 14 minutes, maintaining the same frequency as it did during Connect 2020.
Sounder South train service will be reduced to from 13 round trips to 8 round trips a day. Sounder North train service will be reduce four round trips to two round trips a day. More information is available at Sound Transit.
Transit provides a lifeline service for thousands of riders throughout Seattle and the region to access necessities.
Over the next several weeks and months, we’ll continue to work with our transportation partners to tackle emerging challenges and keep people and goods moving.