May 31, 2001
Committee Sends Transit Changes to Full Council
Package Adds Hours, Increases Service to East Side, Integrates Routes

The Metropolitan King County Council’s Transportation Committee approved, and passed on to the full Council for consideration on Monday, a series of Metro Transit service improvements scheduled to go into effect in September.

“This package is for the regular rider and those who have said they would use public transportation if they had access to the bus,” said Committee Chair Maggi Fimia. “It increases service while providing needed routes to the growing suburban corridors.”

The proposed improvements add more than 68,000 hours of bus service throughout King County in September, with a total increase of 124,000 service hours by February 2002. The changes include increasing service to east King County, restoring routes cancelled in 2000 due to budget cuts, and better integrating suburban routes with Sound Transit service.

“We’re in a situation of limited resources and increasing demand for service. These changes, when implemented, will fine tune Metro Transit’s routes so that current riders are better served and more people can begin to take advantage of the convenience of leaving the car at home and making that trip into downtown Kent or Redmond by bus,” said Les Thomas, Transportation Committee vice chair. “These improvements, which focus on our suburban communities, will make life on the roads a little easier for everyone.”

Over the last two weeks, the public had the opportunity to comment on the changes during a series of five community hearings held in Kent, Bellevue and Seattle. Comments were also accepted by E-mail. Fimia called the public input on the final proposal very important.

“When we were forced to reduce service last year, there was no public input on changes that affected some of our most loyal riders,” Fimia said. “With this proposal, I wanted to make sure those who take the bus had the opportunity to voice their concerns and help shape the final package. They are the customers and they deserve to be heard.”

The full council is scheduled to consider the service changes during its June 4 meeting. The proposed changes are online at www.metrokc.gov/mkcc/service_change.htm.

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