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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.