Metro Transit to add more buses to ease crowded routes
Since cutting back routes last month, many King County Metro Transit bus riders are feeling the squeeze. To ease congestion on routes, Metro is adding buses to meet increased ridership demand between West Seattle, Burien and downtown Seattle.
Starting today, eight additional commute time buses will be added to routes 55 and 120. Two more trips will be added to each route during the morning and evening weekday commutes.
“We’re seeing double-digit demand over last year on this corridor, and demand increases even in the face of tight budgets,” said Kevin Desmond, Metro Transit general manager. “Scheduling these additional trips when commuters need them most continues to improve our transit network.”
Crowded buses during the peak commutes from West Seattle prompted Metro to add buses to the RapidRide C Line’s regular schedule starting Oct. 8. Routes 55 and 120 – also in the corridor between West Seattle and downtown Seattle – have seen full buses during most weekday commutes. Earlier this month, planners tallied a snapshot 26 percent increase in the number of passengers on routes between West Seattle and downtown Seattle compared to 2011.
Adding buses to Route 55 gives riders a parallel service to help ease commuter crowding on the C Line during the edges of the morning commute and the peak of the evening commute. The additional trips to Route 120 also will ease crowding on trips from Burien and White Center through the Delridge neighborhood to downtown Seattle.
Metro is drawing on a limited contingency reserve of transit service hours for the additional route 55 and 120 trips, a reserve also used to add the four additional daily C Line trips that started Oct. 8. The contingency was created to address any operational issues that might arise as part of the Sept. 29 transit service change, the largest in memory for Metro.
As a result of adding RapidRide C Line trips, operations have continued to improve with fewer reports of full buses passing riders at bus stops.
“We expect adding buses at these key times on routes 55 and 120 will make things better for commuters, and we will continue to monitor operations as West Seattle continues to grow,” Desmond said.
be alot cheaper to eliminate certain routes to certain area's than to purchase more bus's.
Riding the 120 has been such a hassle since they made all these changes. I usually need to wait for the next bus to be able to get on and even that is packed by the time it gets to my stop. If parking in Seattle wasn't so expensive I'd drive to work.
The RapidRide is a joke; its nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The ride is not "rapid"; it follows the exact same route as the 55 and 54 did. The only difference is an extra door on the bus (3), and WiFi. WiFi? Everyone has a smart phone now, who needs wifi?
I guarantee you demand has not increased, the number of busses has decreased, ridership has stayed the same. Eliminating the 54 and replacing with the RapidRide, while decreasing the number of 55 busses has only made the problem worse. Ride the C line on any given day and you will hear and see people saying the same.
In other news, Metro plans to cut back layovers on many routes from 7 minutes to the contract minimum 5. This will enable its drivers to get in shape by sprinting the 3 blocks to the Third World floor pit known as the gas station restroom and sprint back-all within 5 minutes and still leave on schedule unless the bus was late arriving to its terminal.  In that case, Metro is handing out free catheters to its drivers in order to cut down on unnecessary layover time.
 @Sid Vishess You might have to cut back on your morning coffee intake.Â
 @caphillkid I have a fair amount of seniority so it really does not affect me so much.One parameter when picking my routes is whether they have sufficient layover time. I hate STARTING the route late. It's the brothers and sisters below me that really get skrued.