Metro’s ULink Service Change Page Is Now Live

[Post has been updated with minor clarifications on Routes 24, 28, 33, 48, 62, 73, 75, 78, and 373.]

With ULink launching next weekend and Metro's huge service change happening one week later on March 26, Metro released its official service change information page this afternoon, and County Executive Dow Constantine has issued a media release about the changes. Those familiar with the service change website will notice a number of substantive improvements to the interface, including station area maps and the ability to filter routes to see only additions, deletions, reductions, extensions, and more.

There are a number of ULink related changes we've covered exhaustively, but also a number of grab bag improvements across the system. Wi-fi has now been added to the Downtown Transit Tunnel as a Metro project, with Sound Transit adding cell service in all tunnel stations coming this summer.

Metro's info is clearer and more user-friendly than we've seen, and you should check it out. But here are the basics on one page. Please let me know if I've made any mistakes or left anything out.

Better Frequency

• Route 8 will improve from 15 to 12 minutes.*
• Routes 24 and 33 will be offset to provide 15-minute service from Magnolia to Downtown until 11:30.
• Route 48 will terminate at UW and will improve from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
• Route 49 will improve from 15 to 12 minutes.
• Northeast Seattle Routes 65, 67, and 372 will double from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.
• Route 70 will run every 10 minutes during more of the peak period, instead of just during peak-of-peak today.
• Route 75 will improve from 30 minutes off-peak and 15 minutes peak to 15/10.

Added Trips

• Rapid Ride E will add four peak trips in each direction.
• Route 5X will add one PM peak trip at 4pm.
• Route 27 will add one PM peak trip at 5:14pm.
• Route 36 will have its last two trips through-routed with Route 70 to the University District to provide service when ULink isn't operating. The route will leave Beacon Hill at 12:25 and 12:55am.
• Route 76 will add 3 trips in each direction, running until 10am southbound and until 7pm northbound.
• Route 77 will add one southbound peak trip at 7:17am.
• Route 101 will add a handful of new trips on weekdays and weekends.
• Route 105 will add 3 northbound trips on Saturday morning, bringing frequency up from hourly to roughly half-hourly beginning at 8am.
• Route 120 will add 5 southbound trips that will bring PM peak frequency to 6-8 minutes and extend 15-minute service until 8:15pm.
• Route 179 will add 2 peak trips in each direction.
• Route 190 will add 2 peak trips in each direction.
• Routes 214, 216, 218, and 219 will each add a trip and have some schedule tweaks.
• Route 240 will add 2 southbound trips and 1 northbound trip.
• Route 255 will add 1 morning trip originating in Downtown Kirkland, 1 afternoon trip to Totem Lake, and will move from Tunnel Bay B to Bay A. Yay for single-bay northbound tunnel operations.
• Route 301 will add 1 trip in each direction.
• Route 316 will add 3 morning trips and 2 afternoon trips.

New Routes

• Route 38 will replace Route 8 between Mount Baker and Rainier Beach, running every 15 minutes.
• Route 45 will take over for Route 48 between Loyal Heights and UW Station, running every 15 minutes. It will also move to University Way to form the core service on the Ave alongside Routes 71, 73, and 373.
• Route 62 will be a new mega-route offering new connectivity and unprecedented frequency on NE 65th Street, running every 15 minutes all day from Sand Point to Downtown via Wedgwood, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Green Lake, Wallingford, Fremont, Dexter, SLU, and Belltown. Former Route 16 riders from Wallingford to Downtown will see a frequency boost from 20 to 15 minutes, offset by the marginally slower Dexter routing.
• Route 63 will be a new peak express from Northgate to First Hill, taking over for Route 242 between Northgate and Green Lake, and offering new peak service between Northgate-SLU and between SLU-First Hill. In the afternoons, the route will join Route 64 and 309 using a new routing between First Hill and SLU via 8th Avenue.
• Route 78 will take over for Route 25 between UW and Laurelhurst, running roughly every 35-40 minutes between 6am-7pm on weekdays only. Together with Route 65, the two routes will provide 5 to 8 buses per hour between UW Station and UVillage. Southbound between UVillage and UW Station, riders can also catch routes 31, 32, and 67.

Major Route Revisions

• Rapid Ride C will join Route 40 in South Lake Union. Combined with the South Lake Union Streetcar, peak service from SLU to Westlake will improve from 12 trips per hour to as many as 22 trips per hour. Westlake Avenue will have new bus-only lanes as well, though they've been watered down in places to allow right turns at Denny Way. Newly uncoupled from the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Rapid Ride D will now serve Pioneer Square.
• Routes 26 and 28 will run their 'express' routing at all times, skipping Fremont and using Aurora instead of Dexter to access Downtown. Route 26 will also take over for Route 16 between Green Lake and Northgate with frequency reduced from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Route 28, meanwhile, will use 39th instead of 46th to access the Aurora bridge, getting service a bit closer to Fremont.
• Route 43 will become peak-only, running 9 southbound trips and 7 northbound trips (pink-shaded trips below go all the way Downtown). In addition, Route 44 deadheads will run in service signed as Route 43 between Montlake and Boren/Yesler, leading to a bizarre service pattern where there is one mid-day trip at 3:55pm, a handful of evening trips, and 4 night owl trips between UW Station and Capitol Hill after Link is out of service.

Screenshot from OneBusAway for Southbound Route 43 at UW Station

• Route 67 will shift from 5th Ave NE to Roosevelt Way NE, taking over Maple Leaf service from deleted Route 68.
• Route 71 will no longer run Downtown, but will offer local service between Wedgwood, Ravenna, Roosevelt, The Ave, and UW Station, running every half hour on weekdays and Saturdays between 7am-10pm, with no Sunday service.
• Route 73 will no longer run Downtown, but will offer local service on 15th Ave NE between Jackson Park and UW Station, running every half hour on weekdays and Saturdays between 7:30am-10pm, with no Sunday service. Southbound from 6:00am-9:30am and northbound from 1:45pm-6:45pm, Route 373 will replace Route 73.
• Route 74 will no longer run on the Ave, but will run via NE 50th Street and Roosevelt Way before hitting the I-5 express lanes. It will also add a handful of trips and be the sole remaining tunnel bus between Downtown and the UDistrict.

Deleted Routes

• Route 16 will be deleted and replaced by Route 26 between Northgate and Green Lake, and by Route 62 between Green Lake and Downtown. Riders between Northgate and Green Lake will see a frequency cut from 20 minutes to 30 minutes, while riders from Green Lake to Downtown will see a boost from 20 minutes to 15 minutes.
• Route 25. Most able-bodied Route 25 riders can use routes 47, 49, 70, or 78. Riders on Boyer and Lakeview will have no service.
• Route 30. Added trips on Route 74 will compensate during peak periods, as will increased frequency on all adjacent arterials.
• Route 66. Peak-period riders can use Route 63 between Northgate, SLU, and Downtown. Southbound riders headed to Eastlake will need to transfer to Route 70 in the University District.
• Route 68. Service on 25th Ave NE will be replaced by doubling service on Route 372, and service on Roosevelt Way NE will be replaced by Route 67.
• Route 72. Riders in Lake City headed to Upper Roosevelt or Downtown should use Route 522, which will have an added stop at Lake City Way and NE 85th St. Riders on Ravenna Ave should use more frequent route 372. Riders from Roosevelt to the UDistrict will have Routes 45 and 71.
• Route 242. While most trip pairs on Route 242 are met by other routes (including Routes 63, 247, 541, 542, 545, or 555), riders riding all the way from Ridgecrest/Northgate to Overlake will need to transfer.

*Though in the case of Route 8, it may be more accurate to say that 5 bunched buses will come at once instead of 4 each hour. </snark>