SDOT Tweaks Metro Night Owl Proposal, Adds Service to NE Seattle

Bruce Qu (Flickr)

Last October we reported on a partnership between Metro and SDOT to overhaul the last remnants of the vestigial night owl network (defined as service between 2:15-4:30am). The plan announced then would eliminate Routes 82/83/84 while beefing up service on a number of key corridors:

If approved by the County Council, the proposal would boost total overnight service by roughly 50%. The proposal would:

• Replace Route 82 with Night Owl trips on Routes 3 (to Seattle Pacific), Route 5, and Route 62 (to Roosevelt only).
• Replace Route 83 with Night Owl trips on Route 70
• Replace Route 84 with Night Owl trips on Routes 3 and 11
• Add Night Owl trips on Route 120
• Upgrade RapidRide C, D, and E to hourly overnight service, up from 75-90 minute frequencies currently
• Extend Route 124 to SeaTac Airport when Link isn't running.

In response to public feedback, and because SDOT money is funding 80% of the new service hours, SDOT and Metro have since worked together to tweak the October proposal. Some of the most prominent feedback from the first round was the omission of overnight service in NE Seattle, particularly in Lake City and Northgate. In revisions released today, the new plan adds trips on a number of additional corridors, including Routes 44, 48, 65, and 67. Doing so not only provides NE Seattle with all-night service, but also considerably beefs up service to the UDistrict and UW Station area in the hours in which Link isn't running.

The new proposal includes one deletion, Route 62. Originally slated to do 4-5 short trips only as far as Roosevelt, SDOT and Metro are paying for NE Seattle service in part by deleting these trips. There would be no Owl service across the Fremont bridge, though Route 5 would still operate, providing access to Fremont for those willing and able to walk down the hill from 39th/Fremont. Wallingford would no longer see Owl service from Downtown or Fremont, but would see service added from Ballard and the UDistrict on Route 44.

The historic Night Owl network has been strictly radial, providing overnight service from Downtown to the pre-1954 Seattle city limits. But in this new proposed network, routes might be able to be timed to provide late-night transfers outside of Downtown, exponentially multiplying the number of trip pairs accessible overnight. New transfer points could be 15th/Market (D/44), 46th/Aurora (E/44), 15th/Campus Parkway (44/70/65/67), 23rd/Madison (11/48), 23rd/Cherry (48/3), and Mount Baker Transit Center (7/48).

Other concepts from the original proposal remain, including overnight service on Routes 3, 5, 7, 11, 49, 70, C, D, and E. Routes 120 and 124 (with an extension to SeaTac) also remain, as these are Metro-funded additions ineligible for a Prop 1 boost from SDOT.

Check out the slides below from the presentation last month at the Seattle Transit Advisory Board. The proposal will now move to the County Council, and if approved the new network would be implemented in September. King County's media release is reprinted after the jump.

King County Executive Dow Constantine submitted to the King County Council legislation that expands and improves late-night bus service in the City of Seattle.

Late-night Metro ridership increased 20 percent in the last five years. This proposal more than doubles the City of Seattle's investment in late-night bus service, through the City's voter-approved Seattle Transportation Benefit District.

Metro and the Seattle Department of Transportation developed the late-night service expansion package after a public outreach process last year that drew more than 4,500 responses and identified better late-night transit options for:

• Workers in jobs with late-night or early-morning work shifts such as health care and many segments of the service industry.
• Travelers and workers heading to and from downtown to Sea-Tac Airport after 1 a.m.
• People enjoying Seattle's nightlife, including music and arts venues.
• Low-income and vulnerable populations.

"We live in a fast-growing region, and late-night mobility is critical for nightshift workers to support their families, for travelers on early-morning flights, and for those out enjoying Seattle's arts and music scene," Constantine said. "Metro's partnership with the City of Seattle makes our late-night transit network easier to use and more accessible for everyone at all hours."

"Giving people affordable, reliable, and convenient transportation choices is key to Seattle's top two priorities - equity and sustainability," Mayor Ed Murray said. "This is particularly important for working families and people of color who are hit disproportionately by the increasing cost of transportation, which is nearly $10,000 a year on average."

Metro currently has about 40 routes with some level of late-night service, including three Night Owl routes that loop through some Seattle neighborhoods between 2:15 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. and operate only during those hours. The City of Seattle fully funds the Night Owl routes.

The proposal invests about 11,000 annual service hours, 8,800 of which are funded by the City of Seattle, and replaces current Night Owl routes 82, 83, and 84 by adding late-night trips to existing all-day routes.

The City's investment includes:

• Two additional late-night round trips on the following routes: 3, 5, 11, 70, serving neighborhoods such as Capitol Hill, Central Area, Eastlake, Fremont, Green Lake, Phinney Ridge, Queen Anne, and University District. Other routes already provide late-night service to areas such as South Seattle and West Seattle.
• Additional late-night service on routes 65 and 67 serving Northeast Seattle areas such as Lake City, Seattle Children's Hospital, and Northgate for the first time.
• Cross-town (non-downtown) connections through added service on routes 44 and 48, creating a grid pattern that expands late-night bus travel options without having to go through downtown and diversifying travel options to, from, and through the University District.

Metro will add 2,000 service hours, which include:

• Additional late-night service at about 2 a.m. on Route 120 serving Delridge, White Center and Burien.
• Hourly all-night service on the RapidRide C, D, and E Lines, which currently operate all night but with less than hourly frequencies.
• Extend Route 124 from Tukwila to Sea-Tac Airport after 1 a.m., increasing transit options for travelers and workers.
• Added time to allow bus drivers adequate restroom breaks.

Metro and its partners invest about $7.7 million for all bus routes system-wide between midnight and 5 a.m. This proposal increases that total by $730,000, with $500,000 from the City of Seattle.

If approved, the late-night service plan would take effect in September 2017 with Metro's semi-annual service change.