Metro Connects
The Service Network
FREQUENT SERVICE “Show-up-and-go” service that starts early and runs late. Frequent service is fundamental to a transit system that improves mobility, confronts climate change, and advances equity. Metro Connects envisions an expanded frequent transit network that will improve access and connectivity regionally and support a growing population and economy. By 2050, 80 percent of King County residents will have access to frequent transit.
What will frequent service look like? Frequent service will be provided by an interconnected network of routes with a high level of reliable, easy-to-use service all day, every day. Metro Connects defines frequent service as any route that comes at least every 15 minutes, 16 hours a day on weekdays and 12 hours a day on weekends. Stops will be every quarter mile. Metro Connects proposes a major expansion of frequent service. The 2050 network will have nearly 630 miles of frequent service throughout the county. It will allow riders to travel faster and more conveniently for short, local trips and to major destinations and mobility hubs. Frequent service will be reliable. Buses will move quickly along streets where buses have priority. Metro and city partners will invest in capital improvements to boost speed and reliability, such as bus lanes, signal priority, queue jumps, and other improvements. Metro may also use headway management, so buses come at consistent and reliable intervals, reducing customer wait times. Off-board fare payment at key stops and heavily used transfer points will get customers to their destinations sooner. The frequent transit network will be easy to use. Customer information, including signage, maps, smartphone apps, and Metro’s website will clearly denote routes and stops with frequent service. Getting to and waiting for the bus or making transfers to other routes and modes will be easy, comfortable, and safe. Bus stops will have clear route and trip information, passenger amenities, and connections to walking and biking infrastructure. Metro will use technology to improve the customer experience. Real-time information about arrivals, transfers, and vehicle capacity will be provided at stops with many boardings, on the bus, and via smartphone apps. The combination of frequent service with transit-supportive land use is one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to encourage transit ridership and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 15 Metro will emphasize frequent service on arterials and corridors that have supportive land uses (as described in Metro’s Service Guidelines) and that provide connections to major centers, transit hubs, and destinations in the county. These corridors have a density and mix of housing, jobs, and activity
For more information see Technical Report D and King County Metro Mobility and Fleet Investment Strategies to Reduce GHG Emissions 15
King County Metro Long Range Plan
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