Metro manager explains what’s behind suspension of 20 bus routes

KING COUNTY, Wash. — After announcing the suspension of 20 bus routes this upcoming September, King Country Metro Transit General Manager Michelle Allison explained the agency’s ongoing issues to the King County Transit Committee on Tuesday.

“We will be temporarily suspending 150,000 hours in September to help ensure that reliability for our customers,” Allison said during a hearing. “They want their system to show up and take them where they need to go when it is published in the schedule, and we need to be able to do that.”

Allison also said the agency was “about 150 operators short, maybe a little bit more, maybe a little bit less at this moment… this is a recruitment issue, as well as it is a supply issue. It is taking dozens of weeks for certain parts to get out into the system.”

Here are the bus routes that will be suspended this upcoming September, along with detours suggested by KC Metro:

Seattle/Shoreline

• Route 15 : Alternate route RapidRide D Line
• Route 16: Alternate Route 5
• Route 18: Alternate Route 40
• Route 29 : alternate routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 31, 32, 40, RapidRide D Line and Seattle Monorail.
• Route 55: Alternate routes 56, 57, or Route 775 to connect with the West Seattle Water Taxi, RapidRide C Line, Route 21
• Route 64 : Routes 62, 65, 322, ST Express 522, Link and Route 8 at Capitol Hill Station or Route 70 at U District Station
• Route 301: Alternate routes 346 and 348
• Route 304: Alternate routes 331, 345 and 348
• Route 320: Alternate routes 20, 372, ST Express 522, Link and Route 8 at Capitol Hill Station or with Route 70 at U District Station.

East King County

• Route 214: Alternate route ST Express Route 554
• Route 216: Alternate routes 218, 269, ST Express routes 545, 550 and 554, Metro Flex in Sammamish.
• Route 217: Alternate routes 269 and ST Express Route 554.
• Route 232 : Alternate routes 224 and RapidRide B Line.
• Route 237: Alternate routes 231, 250, 311, ST Express routes 522, 532 and 535.
• Route 268: Alternate route 269 and ST Express Route 545.
• Route 342: Alternate routes 245, 250, 331, ST Express routes 535, 560, 566

South King County

• Route 114: Alternate routes 105 or 240 and transfer to/from Route 101; Route 240 to/from ST Express Routes 550 and 554.
• Route 121: Alternate routes RapidRide H Line, Routes 113, 131 and 132.
• Route 167: Alternate routes 101 or 102 to Link light rail, routes 255 or ST Express Route 542.
• Route 190: Alternate routes RapidRide A Line to Link light rail at Angle Lake Station, routes 150, 162, 165, 183 and Sounder.

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