King County Metro bus riders who take Route 169 in Kent will get expanded service starting Saturday, Sept. 23.
Metro will add 50 trips every weekday on Route 169, which serves Renton, Valley Medical Center, Kent East Hill and the Kent Valley. Buses will come every 15 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. instead of every 30 minutes.
Rider groups that will benefit from all day 15 minute service on Route 169 include:
• Commuters (peak and off-peak) trying to reach jobs at Valley Medical Center in Renton.
• Peak riders trying to reach the Sounder train in Kent for connections into Seattle.
• Riders trying to reach appointments at Valley Medical Center.
• All-day riders taking care of shopping (Renton, Kent East Hill and Kent Valley all have shopping destinations).
• Riders trying to make connections to other routes heading to Bellevue, Seattle and Tukwila in Renton, or to Des Moines (Highline College), Auburn, SeaTac and Green River College in Kent.
Metro will hire more than 2,800 drivers to handle the expanded service.
Metro and the city of Seattle are adding hundreds of new bus trips and increasing reliability on more than 50 bus routes across the county. More trips are planned to reduce crowding and help meet growing demand, and schedules will be updated to serve riders better.
In partnership with the City of Seattle, Metro also will expand Night Owl bus service on more than a dozen routes to meet growing demand from late-night and early-morning workers, as well as those enjoying nightlife and traveling off-hours to Sea-Tac Airport.
“We’re delivering the sixth consecutive boost in transit service since the deep cuts of the great recession, putting buses where they are needed to address greater-than-ever demand and improve reliability,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine in a media release. “It’s about increasing access to jobs, education, and all this region has to offer. This latest service expansion also includes broadening our Night Owl service to help night and airport workers reach their jobs dependably, and offer safe alternatives to people enjoying a night on the town.”
Together, the planned changes deliver the second round of improvements approved in King County’s 2017-2018 budget. Metro Transit’s two-year budget invests $30 million in better service and better schedules, including improving some transit schedules which provide transit operators with improved restroom access.
Service improvements by the numbers includes 240 more trips each weekday; 100 more Saturday trips; 153 more Sunday trips; about 13,500 total weekday bus trips – a new Metro service record.
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