SEATTLE — King County Metro kicked off new shuttle service between Mercer Island and downtown Seattle Monday; the shuttle makes five morning and afternoon trips -- during the heaviest stretches of rush hour.
Another new shuttle is making its first day of trips around Burien. A similar service was axed last fall because Metro Transit said there just weren't enough riders or funds to support a traditional route, so both of these new services are part of Metro Transit’s “alternative services” program.
"Oh, it's just great all the way around to have it, to have transportation,” explains Gisela Klee, who lives in a Burien retirement community.
For the last year, she’s struggled just to get to the local grocery store, more than a mile away. Monday she was one of the first rider on new route 631; it makes a loop in Burien, stopping at the hospital, and picking up on request, wherever riders want -- provided its safe.
"It's intended to help people get around Burien, make other connections at the Burien Transit Center,” explain Malva Slachowitz with Metro.
But Metro has tried this before; they hit the brakes on Route 139 last fall. Only about 22 people per day boarded that bus at Highline, Burien’s hospital, and it was one of the busiest stops, so it cost Metro nearly twice as much to operate the service as its regular services.
This time the route is an "alternative service.” In addition to Burien and Mercer Island there’s also one in Snoqualmie and plans for two more on Vashon Island and in Southeast King County. The County Council approved $12 million for the program and these five are "test" routes.
"It is a demonstration. So we are assessing what the measures are to determine its success,” says Slachowitz.
Metro tells us it doesn't know how many riders are needed to sustain the program after a two year trial period, but the hope is they'll meet the number for the sake of people like Gisela who desperately need it.
KIRO
