Friday Roundtable: Boren Ave Route Idea

One of the most significant transit gaps in Seattle is on Boren Ave between Jackson Street and Denny Way. Boren Ave is aligned with the downtown grid and runs through the heart of First Hill. The avenue is unique as it is the only road connects South Lake Union (SLU), First Hill, and Little Saigon. The current transit network in the area is still focused on getting people to and from downtown Seattle. Over ten Metro and Sound Transit routes intersect Boren Ave, heading to and from downtown. A route along Boren would connect these many routes and provide a direct route between the International District, First Hill, and South Lake Union.

Downtown Seattle Transit Map with Boren Ave Circled (Screenshot from Seattle Transit Map)

Running a bus on Boren is not a new idea. Today, peak hour express routes 193, 303, 322, and 630 have stops on Boren. This proposal is focused on adding an all-day, frequent bus route. Over the past 15 years, several STB posts have proposed rerouting a bus to Boren Ave, including Route 7 and Route 106. These proposals are still valid ideas; however, today's route proposal focuses on a different route: Route 40.

Travel Times

Route 40 connects Northgate, Crown Hill, Ballard, Fremont, South Lake Union, and downtown Seattle. It is great for traveling between the listed neighborhoods. For traveling to downtown, it is not the only route from any of the neighborhoods and it is often not the fastest route. Consider the following travel times to 3rd Ave & Pine St from the listed starting location. Travel times are based on the scheduled time on a weekday around noon.

Starting Location	Route 40 Travel Time	Alternative Travel Time
Northgate (Northgate Station)	61 minutes	1 Line: 17 minutes
Crown Hill (NW 85th St & 15th Ave NW)	41 minutes	D Line: 34 minutes
Ballard (NW Market St & Ballard Ave NW)	30 minutes	D Line: 40 minutes
Fremont (Fremont Ave N & N 34th St)	18 minutes	Route 62: 19 minutes
South Lake Union (Westlake & Thomas)	8 minutes	C Line: 8 minutes

Based on the travel times above, the only concern with not running Route 40 downtown is for trips to/from Ballard. The longer alternative travel time is due, in part, to the starting location. In reality, not everyone is starting their trip directly at the existing Route 40 stop, so the alternative travel time will vary, and may even be faster. In exchange for a slightly longer trip downtown, Route 40 passengers will now have a quicker, one seat ride to Capitol Hill, First Hill, the International District, and Rainier Valley. Ridership patterns for Route 40 were discussed in a previous post.

Routing

The proposed Route 40 will start an inbound trip from Crown Hill (using the existing D Line layover spot). The trip will start with the same routing as today via 24th Ave NE, Leary Way NW, and Westlake Ave. In South Lake Union, the bus will turn left onto Denny Way. After just 2 blocks it will make a slight right turn onto Boren Ave. The trip will continue on Boren Ave until 12th Ave S, where the route will stop at 12th Ave S & S Jackson St. From there it will continue south as an express (stopping only at the stops served by Route 9) along Rainier Ave to Graham St. Outbound trips will follow a similar routing in the reverse direction.

The interactive map below shows the modified Route 40 (purple) and sections of nearby routes. Click the square icon in the top right to view the map in full-screen.

To accommodate the modified Route 40, several other routes will be adjusted.

• D Line: Extended to Northgate station (following the current Route 40 path)
• 9X: Removed, replaced by the express service by Route 40 between Graham St and Jackson St.
• 60: Removed the detour on Madison St and 9th Ave. Instead, it will run on Broadway north of Yesler Way. The 9th Ave service will be replaced by the Route 40 service on Boren Ave.
• 106: North terminus moved to Mount Baker Transit Center. This is not strictly necessary for the new route, but truncating Route 106 will keep the proposed restructure service hour neutral.

Southern Terminus

There are a few possible locations where this route could start/end in Rainier Valley. Mount Baker Transit Center is a strong option. This would allow passengers to transfer with the Link 1 Line at Mount Baker and 2 Line at Judkins Park. Additionally, Mount Baker TC also serves routes 7, 8, 14, 48, and 106. Terminating the route in Mount Baker has two downsides. There is limited layover space as routes 8 and 48 already terminate at the transit center. Also this option would still require most Rainer Valley residents to take a two or three seat ride to First Hill.

The new Route 40 could continue further south on either MLK or Rainier to terminate in Columbia City. This would increase the number of passengers with a one seat ride to First Hill and SLU, and provide another option for people traveling to the shops and restaurants in Columbia City's historic downtown. If the route were to take MLK, it could layover on 32nd Ave between Angeline St and Edmunds St. If it uses Rainier Ave, there is a layover space on 37th Ave between Ferdinand St and Hudson St.

A third possible layover spot is located on 46th Ave between Graham St and Rainier Ave. As Route 9 currently runs as an express between Graham St at Jackson St, Route 40 could do the same. This option would provide also additional connectivity to Hillman City. Of course, any Route 40 service south of Jackson St would be duplicating existing routes. That said, an express route on Rainier would be appreciated by many riders of Metro's second busiest route, at least until Route 7 is upgraded to the RapidRide R Line.

Transit Priority

Between Crown Hill and South Lake Union, the updated Route 40 would run the same as today. SDOT recently installed new bus lanes along Westlake Ave, and these would still be used. On Denny Way, bus lanes would be (and already are) needed. Between Denny Way and Yesler Way, Boren Ave has two travel lanes per direction. Bus only lanes on this segment would be great, but SDOT may require data from Metro on route reliability before making any changes to the road. Further south, the new route will take advantage of the recently extended northbound bus lane on Rainier Ave, and will bolster the case for extending the bus lane north of I-90 and for adding a southbound bus lane.

Facing northwest on Boren Ave at Columbia St

Do you think Metro should add all-day service to Boren Ave? Share your route ideas below.

This is an open thread.