WA: How Seattle light rail crossing Lake Washington will change bus service

The start of light rail service across Lake Washington this weekend will bring a host of changes to Seattle-area bus service, a shake-up that's become somewhat regular as rail expands across the metro region.

Seeking to bring more commuters to light rail stations while making minor tweaks to its system, King County Metro is adding hundreds of bus trips on the Eastside and in South King County and making schedule changes on 27 routes.

Not to be outdone, Community Transit is making changes to 12 bus routes in Snohomish County, one of the endpoints of the horseshoe-shaped 2 Line, which largely serves the Eastside.

The updates to both transit agencies' schedules take effect Saturday — the same day Sound Transit begins service at two new stations on the 2 Line, at Judkins Park in Seattle's Central District and on Mercer Island, and joins the north-south 1 Line with the 2 Line.

The most notable light rail-related change comes to Metro's Route 8. Currently, the bus travels on Martin Luther King Jr. Way between Massachusetts and Jackson streets. Beginning Saturday, it will instead operate on 23rd Avenue South in this area, stopping near the upper-level entrance to the Judkins Park light rail station on 23rd and offering front-door service from one of Metro's busiest routes.

The changes to Route 8 are unconnected to Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson's January pledge to put a bus lane on Denny Way to help make the chronically late and heavily used Route 8 a more reliable bus line. The 8 — nicknamed the L8 — carries nearly 7,000 daily riders, many of them commuters traveling between the Central District, Capitol Hill and South Lake Union, and has one of the poorest reliability rankings in the system.

Metro is also adding trips to some of its routes:

* The 48, which runs by Judkins Park Station, will get an extra northbound trip.

* The 101 from downtown Seattle to Renton will get four new weekday trips during commute times.

* Route 156, which begins in South Center, is being extended to connect to the Kent Des Moines light rail station near Highline College.

* The 181 between Federal Way and Green River College will get more weekend service.

Other changes to King County Metro service this spring are relatively minor, and don't have much to do with the new stations. The agency made its biggest changes related to the 2 Line last fall, adding hundreds of bus trips, extending the reach of the 2 Line into neighborhoods throughout the Eastside, according to Jeff Switzer, a Metro spokesperson.

In Snohomish County, Community Transit is changing the weekend schedule for Route 117 connecting Lynnwood City Center Station to the Mukilteo Ferry Terminal. The changes, which shift bus arrivals and departures by five to 10 minutes, will lessen ferry passengers' wait times to catch a bus to the light rail station.

Also on weekends, Community Transit is adding new early morning trips on routes 201 and 202, which both connect Lynnwood station to Smokey Point Transit Center to better serve passengers headed to the Arlington Amazon Fulfillment Center.

Two new weekend trips are being added to the Swift Blue Line, which runs from Everett Station to the Shoreline North/185th light rail station and points in between.

The Snohomish transit provider is also cutting some service. Route 904 connecting Marysville to Lynnwood station is losing its last weekday morning southbound trip from Marysville. Beginning Monday, the final run will now leave at 8:44 a.m.

Sound Transit Route 515, which Community Transit operates for the light rail agency with stops at Lynnwood and Mountlake Terracelight rail stations before heading to downtown Seattle, will have less frequent service during the morning and afternoon rushes. This change is due to increased highway traffic related to Revive I-5 construction work on the Ship Canal Bridge. From about 6 to 8 a.m., southbound buses will arrive every 15 minutes instead of every 10. From 3 to 6 p.m., northbound trips also run every 15 minutes instead of every 10.

Similar weekday commute frequency cutting due to Revive I-5 is happening on Sound Transit Route 510 between Everett and Seattle, which stops at Mountlake Terrace.

Unrelated to this weekend's opening, Sound Transit is beginning a night bus pilot line that will run every half-hour between downtown Seattle and the airport. The overnight service on Route 570 will begin about 15 minutes after train service ends.

Beyond providing late-night and early morning service to the airport, the night bus will plug a hole in South Seattle and South King County. At midnight, about an hour before trains stop running system-wide, northbound 1 Line trains between Federal Way and Beacon Hill will stop running.

Ridership is minimal on those northbound trains, which leave Federal Way between 11:48 p.m. and 12:36 a.m. Currently, those trains oust all passengers at Beacon Hill, and then park overnight at the agency's Sodo maintenance base.

Late-night southbound trains, which are parked overnight in Federal Way, won't be affected.

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