County Council Approves September Service Change

Supporters of new route 106

The King County Council unanimously approved Metro's September service change at its meeting Monday afternoon.

Public testimony is from 36:17-51:35 of the video. Debate and action on the item is at 1:07-1:10 in the video.

A line-up of eight speakers from various Asian immigrant communities testified in favor of proposed route 106, which creates a one-seat ride between Renton, Skyway, MLK Way, Rainier, and Jackson. Among their concerns and reasons for wanting a one-seat ride were the lack of sufficient shelter at transfer bus stops, safety, and avoiding jay-running to catch connections.

A couple points they raised were outside what the restructure accomplishes. One speaker mentioned Harborview Medical Center as a desired destination. Another talked about having more frequency along MLK Way.

Bruce Kelly, Principal of Raisbeck Aviation High School, testified on the utility of more frequency on route 124, which will be upgraded to 15-minute headway during weekdays. The school has 10 students and one staffer who ride route 124, and some of them have tardiness problems resulting from taking the bus.

County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove said, "I was particularly struck [by testimony from Tukwila] about the value of increasing the frequency of route 124." Route 124 has been toward the top of the list of routes needing frequency investment in Metro's annual Service Guidelines reports.

Councilmember Claudia Balducci said "It was really important to do all the updates that the community had been asking for."

The council then passed the service change unanimously.