Metro seeks input on E and F lines

RapidRide service will be coming to two new corridors when the E and F lines start rolling in 2013, and Metro is asking now for public feedback about routing and stops.

The E Line will travel along Aurora Avenue N between Shoreline and Seattle, replacing Route 358. We’re considering two alternative paths in the Green Lake area between N 64th Street and Winona Avenue N, and want to know which option people prefer.

The F Line will serve Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila, and Renton, replacing Route 140. We want to learn what people think about several different routing options between Burien and Renton, and a possible future extension of the line to the Renton Landing.

We’d also like comments about overall route design and proposed stop locations for both lines.

Find details, maps, a link to an online survey, and more ways to comment on Metro’s website: E Line | F Line

Congress approves grant funding for E and F Lines

Last Thursday (Nov. 17), Congress announced $37.5 million in federal funding for the two RapidRide lines that are scheduled to launch in 2013. The appropriation now moves on to President Obama for his signature.

The funds are part of a federal Bus and Bus Facilities grant program, and represent full funding of Metro’s request. King County will share some of the funding with partner cities to help support the street improvements and transit elements inside their jurisdictions that will make these RapidRide lines successful. Funding partners for the E and F lines include Shoreline, Seattle, and Tukwila.

Here’s a news release from the office of King County Executive Dow Constantine.

Metro’s website has maps and info on the E and F  lines:

• E Line
• F Line

Ready… set…

Hop aboard this weekend and experience RapidRide for free!

Remember, rides on the B Line will be free on Saturday and Sunday, the first two days of this new service in and between Bellevue and Redmond. If you’ve been curious about Metro’s new service, hop on and check it out!

And the start of the B Line is only one of the changes to Metro service on the Eastside that are taking place this weekend.

Bus service on the Eastside is being restructured to improve the efficiency of the transit network and to integrate with the B Line. Most of these revisions are in Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland. They include the following:

• Three new routes – Route 226 travels through eastern Bellevue between the Eastgate Park-and-Ride and Bellevue Transit Center; Route 235 connects Bellevue Transit Center and Kingsgate Park-and-Ride via Totem Lake, Rose Hill, and Kirkland; and Route 241 serves south and west Bellevue with service from the Eastgate Park-and-Ride to Bellevue Transit Center.
• Revised routing for routes 211, 221, 234, 238, 240, 245, 246 249, 250, 265, and 930 DART.
• Added trips on routes 211, 212, 255, and 271, and Sound Transit Express 522 and 545.
• Elimination of routes 222, 225, 229, 230, 233, 247, 253, 256, 261, 266, 272, and DART 926 to avoid duplication of service.

If you ride a bus on the Eastside, please take the time to review these service changes on Metro’s website or in the Special Rider Alert brochure. You can also learn a little more about the service restructuring project on Metro’s Bellevue-Redmond Connections project website, or call Metro’s Customer Information at 206-553-3000 (but expect longer wait times than usual, because everyone else may be doing the same thing).

Metro employees will be stationed at various transit centers on the Eastside today, Saturday, and early next week to distribute information and help bus riders get where they need to go.

If you missed the pre-launch celebration

King County has posted a video with some of the remarks by speakers at the RapidRide B Line pre-launch event yesterday. Officials from both Redmond and Bellevue arrived at the event by RapidRide buses that were later “tied together” with ribbon to symbolize how the B Line will strengthen transit connections between the two communities.

And here’s a photo showing a few of the Metro employees who’ve been working hard to bring RapidRide to the Eastside (click the image for a larger version):

Launching this new service has involved nearly every work group in Metro's organization.

More about tomorrow’s pre-launch event

King County Executive Dow Constantine and Eastside elected officials will meet at Crossroads Shopping Center tomorrow to celebrate the new connection between Bellevue and Redmond via the new RapidRide B Line, which starts service on Saturday.

On Wednesday morning, special RapidRide buses will depart from the city halls at Redmond and Bellevue, carrying a delegation from each city. The two buses will meet in the middle at Crossroads Shopping Center, where Constantine will be waiting.

Scheduled to join Constantine are U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, King County Council Vice Chair Jane Hague, King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, Bellevue Mayor Don Davidson, Redmond City Councilmember John Stilin, and Claudia Balducci, the chair of the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Transportation Policy Board.

The event will start at 10:30 a.m. in the west parking lot at Crossroads (in front of Half Price Books) and last about half an hour.

How to celebrate the B Line launch

If you’re excited about the start of RapidRide service in Bellevue and Redmond this Saturday (10/1/11), here’s how you can mark the occasion:

1. Come to a pre-launch event on Wednesday (9/28/11), at 10:30 a.m. in the west parking lot of Crossroads Shopping Center (in front of Half Price Books).

2. Ride the B Line for free all weekend (10/1 and 10/2), and keep your eye out for RapidRide Man, who will be handing out some nifty folding pocket maps showing the new central Eastside transit network.

RapidRide Man will be riding the B Line this weekend.

One week to launch

Here are some shots of the test coaches plying the B Line route on the Eastside, just over a week before service begins.

No passengers allowed — yet!

A sign goes up announcing RapidRide service

Test coach on the road in Bellevue

Test-driving the B Line

With the launch of B Line service in Bellevue and Redmond less than two weeks away, Metro is getting ready to test-drive the new buses along the route. All 12 B Line buses will be out on the road for up to 20 hours a day on Thursday and Friday (Sept. 22-23), passing through every stop and station on the line but accepting no passengers.

The test drives will allow Metro to check the unique RapidRide systems (automated onboard announcements, transit signal priority for traffic lights, real-time information signs at bus stops, and the Wi-Fi system on each bus) and help bus drivers become more familiar with the B Line equipment and routing.

Metro also wants to check the B Line schedules against real-world traffic conditions before service begins.

So if you see a red-and-yellow bus on the road in Bellevue or Redmond this week, give it a wave and plan to try out the new service in a few weeks. Rides will be free for both days of the first weekend (Oct. 1 and 2)!

» Learn more about the B Line

A Line ridership starts up – and stays there

Ridership counts indicate that the A Line is popular – more so, in fact, than the Route 174, which it replaced. The graph below shows average weekday boardings for the A Line starting with the launch of RapidRide service in October 2010, well above the highest numbers for Route 174. From there, RapidRide’s numbers climbed through July 2011, when the latest figures were available.

In fact, weekly A Line boardings in July 2011 were a whopping 52.5 percent higher than those on Route 174 just one year earlier!

Reichert takes RapidRide tour

On Aug. 23, county staff members from the Executive’s Office, Department of Transportation, and Metro gave Congressman Dave Reichert a tour of new construction along the B Line in Bellevue.

Also on the tour were King County Councilmember Jane Hague, City of Renton Councilmember Greg Taylor, and Bellevue Deputy Mayor Conrad Lee.

Reichert, third from right, seemed to like what he saw on his RapidRide tour.

The group inspected RapidRide passenger amenities at the new station next to Crossroads Shopping Center, then boarded a RapidRide bus and headed for Renton. Along the way, they discussed how RapidRide can be a catalyst for economic development and checked out the amenities on the bus, including WiFi, Next Stop announcement signs, and three doors for boarding and exiting.

In Renton they were joined by Renton Mayor Denis Law at a local coffeehouse, and officials from both Bellevue and Renton expressed enthusiasm for the start of the B Line (Bellevue-Redmond) in October and the F Line (Burien-Renton) in 2013.

Some federal grant funds for the E and F lines are in the President’s budget but still need to be appropriated by Congress, so this was a great opportunity to show Reichert the features, benefits, and local support for RapidRide.

King County Councilmember Jane Hague boards a RapidRide bus.