RapidRide G Restructure

The RapidRide G (Madison) restructure is finally here. Construction is 50% complete, and the line is expected to launch in Fall 2024. Metro has a survey until May 8 about changes to other routes around it. Metro proposes to reroute the 10, 11, and 12, and to delete the currently-suspended 47.

The G will run along Madison Street between 1st Avenue downtown and Martin Luther King Way in Madison Valley. The stations will be at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, Terry, Boyleston, 12th, 17th, 22nd, 24th, and MLK. West of 8th Avenue will be a one-way couplet on Madison and Spring Streets. The middle section between 9th and 13th will have center transit-only lanes with left-side doors (like the First Hill streetcar on Jackson Street). East of 13th it will run in mixed-traffic lanes.

Metro wants to exchange the 10 and 11 between Bellevue Avenue and 15th. The 10 would return to Pine Street like it was before 2016. The 11 would move to Olive-John to replace it. The 12 would move from Madison Street to Pine Street to reduce duplication with the G. The 47 would be deleted. (It has been suspended since 2020.) Routes not listed will remain as is. The 49 would continue to be a Pine-Broadway route, and the 8 a Denny-John-Madison-MLK route.

The 10 and 12 would overlap on Pine Street between 3rd and 15th and alternate evenly, giving full-time 15-minute or better service to the top of Capitol Hill. On Olive-John, the 8 and 11 would overlap between Summit Avenue and MLK. Transfers between the 12 and G would be at 17th & Madison. Transfers between the 8, 11, and G would be at MLK & Madison.

Here's a map of what it all would look like:

Source: Metro. Click for a full-sized version.

Routes 10 and 12 would run at least every 30 minute.. Route 11 would run at least every 20-30 minutes. That's before any additions by Seattle's Transit Benefit District (TBD), so actual frequency may be higher. Current service with TBD additions are: Route 10: 10-15-15-15-30 (peak-midday-Saturday-Sunday-evening). Route 11: 15-20-30-30-30. Route 12: 10-15-30-30-30.

Routes 10 and 12 would remain trolleybus routes. A 1 .5 block gap in trolley wire would be filled in between 15th & Pine and 16th & Madison.

The 11 is the most useful route in the area I think, because it connects the most largish activity centers: Pike Place Market, the retail core, southwest Capitol Hill, 15th, Madison Valley, and Madison Park. If I were king I'd make it the most frequent route. But Metro has prioritized it lower than the 49 and 10, and I don't think that will change.

I like the restructure because it groups routes to similar destinations on the same street. Pine-Street would have full-time frequent service east to 15th rather than just to Broadway. The 8 and 11 would overlap between Summit Avenue and Madison Valley, rather than splitting to different streets like they do now, so you could take either one from the same stops. I'll miss the 47, but if something has to give, that should be it.

I was one of the people who pressed Metro to move the 10 to Olive-John when the 43 was reduced. But when the change occurred, many 10 riders switched to 11 to remain near Pine Street. So that's where the 10 should be. The 10 would lose direct access to Capitol Hill Station, while the 11 would gain it. This is appropriate because not a lot of 15th Ave E riders are using it and they can more easily walk to it, whereas coming from Madison Valley and Madison Park it's a longer distance and more hills and more people, so they need a stop at the station more.

This restructure was smaller than I expected. Metro had previously published concepts involving the 2, 8, 49, 60, and 106. I had expected those to be in this restructure, but they aren't. I still think it would be worthwhile to combine the 49 and 60 into a U-District - Broadway - Beacon Hill route; to combine the 2 and 49 into a Pine-12th-Union route; and to reroute the 106 to Boren Avenue and South Lake Union. But I don't want to lose the proposed 10 and 11. I'm afraid that moving the 2 might lead to deleting the 11. I wouldn't want that because the 11 is more useful, as I argued above.

This is the first round of proposals and feedback. The second round will be this fall. The third and final round will be next spring when Metro submits it to the County Council. Metro anticipates this fall responding to feedback on routes 10, 11, 12, and 47, and making minor schedule adjustments to other routes in the area. But your feedback can be about anything. I included a plug for the U-District - Beacon Hill corridor above. If enough people request the same thing, Metro might listen. So think about your feedback, and submit it by May 8th.