Metro Connects
The Service Network
RAPIDRIDE SERVICE RapidRide is Metro’s highest level of service, characterized by innovations, amenities, frequent trips, speed, and reliability. This arterial bus rapid transit service 13 is integral to the region’s highcapacity transit network. RapidRide improves mobility along major corridors as well as between and into regional centers.
What will RapidRide service look like? Metro intends to continue providing top-quality RapidRide service that produces strong results (see Figure 11).
Figure 11
Benefits of RapidRide 14
Today, RapidRide buses arrive at least every five to 15 minutes from early morning until late evening. Stations at the busiest stops have broad shelters, real-time bus arrival signs, and ORCA readers that let cardholders pay on the sidewalk and get on at any of the buses’ three doors. Riders benefit from well-spaced stops, roadway improvements, onboard WiFi, and “intelligent transportation systems” that help the buses keep moving quickly. The next generation of RapidRide will expand and improve on these features. Metro Connects envisions more investment in speed and reliability improvements to achieve even more robust bus rapid transit. Success will look different for each RapidRide corridor. However, all RapidRide lines will have an established set of standards and improvements. RapidRide’s features, including:
Transit priority measures such as business access transit (BAT) lanes, queue jumps, and transit signal priority to ensure operations are faster and more reliable than standard bus service
13 Bus rapid transit (BRT) is bus service that operates as part of the region’s high-capacity transit system, with frequent service most of the day; articulated buses; stops at half-mile intervals; operation in improved roadways, bus lanes, or segregated right of way; shelters with real-time arrival signs; and offboard fare payment. 14
Infographic based on 2019 data
King County Metro Long Range Plan
22