Metro Connects
Fleet, Infrastructure, and Workforce
FACILITIES AND OTHER SUPPORT SYSTEMS Building and maintaining infrastructure, such as bus bases, other support facilities, bus shelters, transit centers, and park-andrides, provides the foundation of the Metro Connects vision. Metro has made significant investments in infrastructure to support high-quality service, but continued growth is essential. Maintaining a state of good repair will help ensure that Metro customers enjoy a world-class transit system.
What will bases and support facilities look like? Bases and support facilities are essential to expanding, improving, and operating service. Mechanics do maintenance or repairs. Employees clean and fuel the bus and may post “rider alerts” about upcoming service changes. Drivers learn about events that might affect transit service that day. Activities like these are performed at Metro’s seven bus bases and other facilities, and Metro Connects proposes infrastructure to support the service proposed for the future. What is “state of good repair”? State of good repair means keeping capital assets in a condition at which they could operate at a full level of performance. Maintaining the transit fleet and facilities in a state of good repair helps to avoid the high costs of deferred maintenance, to qualify for federal funding, and to deliver safe, reliable, and comfortable customer service.
Bus bases Metro’s seven bus bases support an average of 200 buses each and have both operations and maintenance facilities. Metro is currently near capacity at existing bases, limiting the ability to add more vehicles to the fleet. Metro expects additional capacity to become available with the construction of Metro’s Interim Base in 2021. Metro will need one or two additional bases to house the expanded fleet and nonrevenue vehicles needed to deliver the service in Metro Connects. Metro is planning to build a new base on its South Annex property at the South Campus. The exact facilities required depend on factors such as the sizes of buses needed, their propulsion technologies, and partnerships with other transit providers. New bases will be sited and designed according to these criteria:
Service demand. Timing and size for new facilities is driven by the demands of service growth. Occasionally, service demand exceeds available capacity, driving the need for unique and rapidly deployable solutions to provide additional capacity quickly.
Sustainability. King County’s Green Building Ordinance and Strategic Climate Action Plan set requirements and targets for achieving the highest green and equitable infrastructure standards in facilities. Bases will also be designed and retrofitted to support zero-emissions fleets.
King County Metro Long Range Plan
79