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$32 million boost in transit service for first phase of viaduct work
More buses, more often is the centerpiece of a $32 million
transit plan that will help Seattle commuters during next year’s
start of Alaskan Way Viaduct construction. West Seattle, Ballard and
Aurora Avenue – the neighborhoods most affected by construction – will
see the most service as well as incentives for transit passes, carpools
and other ways to help people avoid being stuck in traffic.
The transit mitigation plan is part of the first phase of planning currently underway by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), King County, and the city of Seattle to repair or replace the first half of the seismically vulnerable viaduct. It will offer more service and more choices to many of the 200,000 workers commuting to downtown Seattle each day. About 40 percent of all downtown workers rely on the bus to get to work. Discussions are still underway for transit mitigation during construction of the one-mile center section of the viaduct. The transit funding will increase the frequency of existing bus service along three busy Seattle travel corridors – Aurora, Ballard, and West Seattle – in advance of the start of RapidRide, Metro’s planned bus rapid transit funded through voter-approved Transit Now. Improved service will provide more options for people who work in West Seattle and Ballard. Peak period service will be expanded on several routes to better meet growing demand, and passenger waits and overloads will be reduced with the help of a new bus detection system designed to more closely monitor on-time performance.
To support the Moving Forward projects, Metro is preparing to accelerate the purchase of 30 new 60-foot hybrid coaches and the delivery of coaches already on order for its own future transit expansion. It will also increase the use of some buses currently in service. Metro expects to take delivery of the first 15 buses in 2009, in time for the start-up of initial viaduct construction. With this initial set of transit improvements identified, the state, county and city now turn their attention to the next phase of transit mitigation required to keep the region moving during construction of the central portion of the viaduct. The central waterfront transit mitigation plan will be part of a larger set of viaduct recommendations that will be issued late this year. |
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