information from King County Metro

Metro’s first round of unprecedented service cuts go into effect Sept. 27, and riders are strongly encouraged to use the next week to prepare for changes to dozens of routes and make alternate travel plans as needed.

Service will be canceled on 28 routes and reduced or revised on another 13 routes. As a result, riders will see about 250 closed bus stops, nearly 1,200 changed bus stop signs and 800 posted rider alerts.

Information for riders
Summary information for riders is available in orange Rider Alert brochures on buses and at transit information hubs, as well as on the Metro website. By entering a date after Sept. 27 in Metro’s online trip planner, riders can see what alternatives are available as routes are canceled or revised. New orange timetables also are available. Metro customer service is providing trip planning help at 206-553-3000.

An estimated 2.3 million annual rides will be lost due to these canceled and reduced routes, said Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond. Metro provides approximately 400,000 daily rides each weekday and 118.6 million in 2013.

“We hope riders take time to prepare for these changes so they are ready Sept. 27 and during that first week of commutes,” Desmond said. “As we cancel routes and reduce service, riders face possible longer travel times due to more crowded buses and a longer walk to reach our service.

“It’s unfortunate to be cutting service when ridership demand is so high – when we should be increasing service by 15 percent – but it’s a necessary step to bring spending in line with available revenues.”

Sept. 27 service changes
(* – potentially revised in two phases)

· 28 deleted routes: 7X, 19, 47, 48X, 61, 62, 139, 152, 161, 173, 202, 203, 205X, 209, 210, 211X, 213, 215, 243, 250, 260, 265, 280, 306X, DART routes 909, 919, 927, 935.
· 13 revised routes: 27*, 30*, 200*, 204, 208, 212*, 236*, 238*, 249*, 312X, 331, DART routes 903, 931.
· 7 route adjustments: No-cost route schedule adjustments or revisions also are posted online: Routes 24, 33, 48, 49, 122, 178, 201.

This round of scheduled cuts is one step in bringing Metro’s spending within its existing revenues.

More service cuts ahead
In addition to cuts this month, further rounds of service cuts are proposed for February 2015 and March 2016, with three rounds totaling 400,000 service hours – a newly reduced figure thanks to efforts at reforms and cost efficiencies. These are proposed by King County Executive Dow Constantine as part of the 2015-2016 budget and represent a revised figure from a previous service cut proposal of 550,000 hours. The King County Council will consider transit service levels as part of deliberations on the county’s biennial budget. A media briefing earlier this week outlined Metro’s efforts and the proposed budget. Highlight videos are online (Part 1, Part 2) and the full briefing.

Metro continues to work to stretch transit dollars as far as possible to preserve service and is budgeting bus service based on identified dependable revenue levels.