RapidRide G and Bus Restructures

Center-running RapidRide G station (SDOT)

King County Metro's RapidRide G, Seattle's first center-running bus rapid transit (BRT) line, will start running this Saturday, September 14. The route features 24/7 service with all-door buses enabling boarding on both sides allowing transit riders to access the new center stations, bus only lanes, transit signal priority, and off-board payment with ORCA card readers at stations. The route will also be the only route with a stop on 1st Avenue in Downtown since service there was cut in 2020.

Here's a summary of the route's planned service frequencies:

Period	Peak & Midday 5 am to 7pm	Evenings 7 pm to 10 pm	Night 10 pm to 5 am
Weekday & Saturday	6 min	15 min	15-40 min
Sunday	15 min	15 min	15-40 min

Simplified version of Metro's RapidRide G timetableTrue BRT

Rapidride G, sometimes referred to as Madison BRT, has been in the works for over 12 years and represents a $133.4 million investment in new roadways, utility upgrades, and custom new 5-door articulated buses. Although the RapidRide lines were originally imagined in 2006 (pdf) as a set of BRT lines on key travel corridors" to supplement the rest of Metro's network, RapidRide G represents Seattle's first true" BRT service with almost 1.5 miles of two-way center-running bus lanes featuring stations in the middle of Madison Street.

RapidRide G connects Downtown Seattle to Madison Valley via Madison Street. In Downtown, the bus will run eastbound (uphill) on Spring Street, and westbound (downhill) on Madison. The dedicated center-running bus lanes and stations start where Madison crosses I-5, and end approximately 1.4 miles later at 15th Avenue East. The route continues to 18th Ave in dedicated bus lanes, then on to Madison Valley in general traffic lanes. Along the non-dedicated portions of the route, there are some queue jumps" which let the bus skip to the front of the line at intersections.

The bus also represents the only transit service on First Avenue since the pandemic and the first frequent service on First in a long time. One of the key benefits is the connection to the ferries at Colman Dock. Riders will be able to ride a ferry, cross over the Marion Street Pedestrian Bridgeto First and then walk a short way to the RapidRide station between Spring and Madison. This avoids the steep incline up to Third for those trying to get up to First Hill.

Bus RestructuresRapidRide G bus restructures (King County Metro)

With the opening of RapidRide G, Metro is restructuring bus service to leverage this new service. Here is the approximate frequency on the weekdays:

Time period	Peak & Midday 5 am to 7pm	Evening 7 pm to 10 pm	Night 10 pm to 5 am
Route 3	30 min	30 min	None
Route 10 and 12	20 min	30 min	30 / 60 min
Route 11	20 min	30 min	30 / 60 min
Route 49	20 min	20 min	20 min
Route 60	12 min	20 min	20 min

Route with approximate weekday frequencies

For the 10, 11, 12 and 49 the service is the same weekdays as weekends. For the 3 and 60 it is a bit different. Weekend service:

Time period	Peak & Midday 5 am to 7 pm	Evening 7 pm to 10 pm	Night 10 pm to 5 am
Route 3	30 min	None	None
Route 60	15 min	30 min	30 min

Route with approximate weekend frequencies (if not listed it is the same as weekday)

These are approximate. The specific schedule is accessible via the appropriate link. Other altered timetables can be found at the Metro service change page. Unfortunately, much of this restructure represents a degradation in service for major swaths of Capitol Hill which will hopefully be improved in future restructures as ridership patterns on RapidRide G take shape.

Shared Sections

Many of the routes share a moderate section with another route, creating greater frequency along the corridor than it would have by itself. Unfortunately, one potential hiccup with combining routes like this is the actual frequency experienced isn't as great if the routes aren't coordinated.

Pike and Pine Street

The Route 10 and 12 are branched for alternating buses to combine for higher frequency. Combined with the rerouted Route 3 and Route 11 will enable even higher frequency on the Pine / Pike Street segment closer to downtown, albeit at the expense of frequency further east.

Pike/Pine	3rd Ave to Bellevue Ave	Bellevue Ave to Broadway	Broadway to 15th
Routes	10+12, 11, 3, 49	10+12, 49	10 + 12
Shared Peak+Midday	~6* minute (14 bph)	~9* minute (9 bph)	10 minute (6 bph)
Shared Evening	~8* minute (11 bph)	~14* minute (5 bph)	15 minute (4 bph)

Street segments with multiple bus routes will technically have a certain number of buses per hour (bph), but frequencies may not be as good as implied. For example, if one route runs 5 bph (every 12 minutes), and a second route on the same street runs 5 bph, that would total 10 bph and average to a bus every 6 minutes, but if the two routes arrive at the same time, the real frequency may be 2 buses every 12 minutes, or something less predictable. The schedules for Route 10 and Route 12 are the only ones which will be timed to try to avoid bunching.

Meanwhile, the frequency on the Pike and Pine corridor is will increase to the point where waiting for a bus at the Convention Center to Westlake station might be generally worthwhile as opposed to walking. Further east in Capitol Hill, the frequency will greatly depend on how well the Route 10 and Route 12 can coordinate. Assuming the schedule holds well, the 10-minute frequency serves decently well to 15th Avenue.

E John St and E Thomas

The combined east-west section of Route 8 (4 bph) and Route 11 (3 bph) from Bellevue Avenue to MLK Way on John and Thomas, covering about 1.5 miles. With a total of 7 bph, that segment could ideally have a bus every 8.5 minutes, but in practice would more hover around 10-minute frequencies.

Shared StopsEast Madison Street / 28th Street bus stops from Seattle.gov

The G will share several stops with buses like the 2, 8, 11 and 12. Specifically on Spring at 4th and 8th and on Madison at 17th, 22nd, 24th, and 28th (shown above). This stop will be shared by RapidRide G, Route 11 and Route 8 which means that heading westhbound a rider could use any route to reach a Link station without waiting very long for a bus. These shared stops are a mixed blessing. While they increase effective frequency, they also increase the chance that the RapidRide G (which has off-board payment and rear-door boarding) could be delayed by a regular bus.

The 60 and G will both run on Madison. But for the area in which they overlap the G will use a center bus stop while the 60 will stop curbside.