Friday Roundtable: FAB Lane in SODO

Last week, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews installed the first Freight and Bus (FAB) lane in Seattle on 4th Ave S. The new lane runs northbound from S Walker St to under the Edgar Martinez Dr S overpass. Metro routes 131 and 132 serve stops along this segment of 4th Ave S.

The bus lane stops under Edgar Martinez Dr S overpass, leaving an 800ft gap before the existing northbound bus lane starts after S Royal Brougham Way. Traffic from the overpass merges onto 4th Ave from the right in this gap.

Freight and bus lanes could be the solution for improving bus reliability on key freight corridors. SDOT is planning on piloting FAB lanes on Westlake Ave once the Route 40 Transit Plus Multimodal Corridor project is complete.

The new FAB lane just north of S Massachusetts Street

In 2019, SDOT installed a temporary Freight and Transit (FAT) lane on southbound Alaskan Way between S Main St and S King St. A study of this FAT lane from UW's Urban Freight Lab found that some drivers were confused about the lane and were unsure if they could use it. As most SUVs sold today are legally light trucks", the Trucks OK" part of the FAB signs could be applied to a wider range of vehicles than expected. The UW study grouped vehicles into ten categories and clarified which were permitted. Permitted vehicles included public buses, bicycles, semi-trailer trucks (loaded or unloaded), waste and construction trucks, commercial box trucks, and emergency vehicles. Work vans and pickup trucks, cars, private busses (school buses, company shuttles), and other vehicles (such as RVs) were not permitted. As of this writing, SDOT has not published clear guidelines that cover which vehicles are permitted in FAB lanes.

FAB Lane on 4th Ave S looking north from S Holgate Street

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