King County Metro will add nine bus routes and thousands of additional trips each week beginning August 29, in a service change County Executive Girmay Zahilay announced Tuesday. The package increases early morning, late night and weekend service and improves connections to Link light rail, with the heaviest additions in South King County. The changes run through March 2027.
The new routes are 72, 77, 121, 164, 166, 215, 220, 270 and DART 902. They include a Shoreline South Station to UW connection, an east-west U-District to Bitter Lake line, a partial restoration of peak Burien to downtown service, frequent Des Moines to Kent to Auburn service, and an all-week link running from North Bend through Snoqualmie and Issaquah to Mercer Island. Thirteen routes gain frequency, including the RapidRide A Line, ten gain longer operating hours, and four add weekend service for the first time.
In practice that means 441 more trips each weekday, 400 more on Saturdays and 507 more on Sundays, bringing daily totals to 12,406 on weekdays, 9,117 on Saturdays and 8,813 on Sundays. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson attributed the city’s share of the increase to the Seattle Transit Measure, which funds 180,000 bus trips annually, and pointed to new Denny Way bus lanes opening this month as part of a wider effort to cut transit delays. Metro Flex, the agency’s on-demand app-based service, expands to Auburn and Federal Way on August 31.
Some riders will lose service they currently use. Routes 162, 177 and 212 are being deleted, and Metro is directing those riders to Sounder, Link and neighboring bus routes. Routes 165, 208, 271 and 372 are being replaced by new or revised service, and DART Route 901 along with the Federal Way DART give way to the new DART 902. Riders on any affected route should check the King County Metro service change page before August 29, since several downtown terminals and bay assignments are shifting as well.
