Metro to impose 25% service cut Monday; details still unclear
On Wednesday, Councilmember Rod Dembowski was the first to share the news of upcoming Metro service cuts, made in recognition of sharp drops in both ridership and sales tax revenue during the COVID-19 crisis. Late yesterday, Metro told us that those cuts would start Monday, and that the agency would cut about 25 percent of its service, affecting nearly every route in the network. The cuts are intended to be temporary. Service will ramp back up whenever the COVID-19 situation allows King County residents to resume normal activities. Metro indicates that they will not be laying off operators for now.
We are still waiting for details on which trips will be cut, and how the cuts will affect frequency and span of service. As soon as Metro provides us with more detail, we'll tell you about it. But you don't get to 25 percent without major pain, and it's reasonable to expect substantial frequency reductions and likely some span-of-service reductions as well. For now, we only know the following:
Routes entirely canceled. The following routes will not operate at all, starting Monday (UPDATE: Metro's latest information moved route 309 off this list):
- 9. Use route 7, with a transfer to route 60 or the First Hill Streetcar.
- 29. Use route 2.
- 47. Walk to route 10.
- 78. Walk to routes 65 and 75.
- 125. Walk to route 120 or 131, whichever is more accessible.
- 200. Most destinations on this route will not be open. For service to Swedish Issaquah, walk from Issaquah Highlands P&R.
- 208. No replacement service.
- 237. Use Sound Transit routes 532 and 535; park at Kingsgate P&R.
- 308. Use route 312 or 77. No replacement service to Horizon View.
309. Use route 312 and transfer to local service to First Hill.- 330. Use local services serving Northgate, and transfer there.
- ST 541. Use ST 542.
Routes with no cuts. There are a few routes with no cuts at all: 22, 105, 118, 119, 154.
Every route not on one of the above two lists will have some sort of service cut, probably substantial. Again, we don't know yet what those cuts entail. Given the sudden onset of these cuts, we've asked Metro to share that information as soon as possible. Once we have it, we'll pass it along.