King County Metro Transit has just unveiled a vision for future bus service. It is a plan aimed at giving bus riders a more valuable ride that is both speedy and reliable.

"This plan details how and where we propose to improve the existing Metro Transit system," said Service Development Manager Jim Jacobson. "The emphasis in this plan falls into two areas – providing both congestion relief and mobility."

The Six-Year Transit Development Plan presented Sept. 20th to the Metropolitan King County Council’s Regional Transit Committee outlines Metro’s proposal for adding 365,000 annual hours of new bus service between the years 2002 to 2007.

Metro’s goal is to continue responding to shifts in population and employment growth by using strategies that: boost ridership during peak commute times; expand service on core routes; integrate Metro service with Sound Transit routes; and allow for flexibility to address local community needs.

"This approach will provide the foundation for solid service expansion and regional coordination," said Metro Transit General Manager Rick Walsh.

One of the elements of the expansion will be the addition of 6,000 park and ride spaces in the next six years. This will be done in coordination with Sound Transit, and focus on supporting ridership growth to the high-density downtown areas of Seattle and Bellevue.

Metro has also reviewed the way transit service is allocated throughout the county. The proposed six-year plan would allocate 40 percent of the service to East King County, 40 percent to South King County, and 20 percent to Seattle and North King County.

The plan also contains a proposal to develop a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in one of three heavily traveled corridors. Metro is exploring starting one BRT line in 2005 in one of three areas: on Aurora Avenue North, connecting Shoreline to downtown Seattle; on Pacific Highway South and South 154^th Street, serving Federal Way, Midway, SeaTac and Southcenter; and Northeast 8^th Street, and on 156^th Avenue Northeast and SR-520, connecting Bellevue, Overlake and downtown Redmond.

"In the coming weeks, we will begin the process of fine-tuning these approaches by asking bus riders and the general public for their opinion on these proposals," said Walsh.

Informational gatherings will be held in late October. Public comments submitted at those events will help shape recommendations to be submitted to King County Executive Ron Sims later this year. The final package of proposed service improvements for the next six years will be transmitted to the King County Council this winter.

Metro will host three open houses and six information tables where interested members of the public can meet with transit planners to discuss the six-year plan initiatives.

The open houses will be:

• Oct. 22 at the Kent Senior Activity Center;
• Oct. 23 at the Exchange Building in downtown Seattle;
• Oct. 30 at the Kirkland Senior Center.

The information tables will be set up at:

• Oct. 20 at Northgate Mall;
• Oct. 24 at Seattle Central Community College;
• Oct. 27 at Crossroads Shopping Center in Bellevue;
• Oct. 30 at Highline Community College in Des Moines;
• Nov. 1 at Issaquah Police headquarters;
• Federal Way, location and date to be determined.

Specific details about the meetings will be posted online during the October 15 to November 2 public outreach period.