Changes to the Metro bus service on Mercer Island will take effect on Saturday, Oct. 2.
Metro is making fall scheduling and routing revisions to save money, preserve bus service and operate more efficiently.
Route 202, the southbound trip to Mercer Island from 7th Avenue and Bell Street at 3:34 p.m., and the northbound shuttle trip to the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride from the Mercer Village Center at 4:23 p.m., will be discontinued as of Oct. 2.
Other changes include the debut of the first of King County Metro Transit’s six RapidRide lines, along with more new bus routes, and schedule and routing adjustments.
Due to reduced sales-tax revenue for transit, Metro has had to eliminate some trips on designated routes. These trip reductions were chosen to minimize the disruption for bus riders whenever possible.
Bus riders should check fall schedules for the routes that they use most often to see what is new. They can prepare by picking up a new orange timetable, Special Rider Alert brochure, or use the online Trip Planner for some advance research.
RapidRide lines debuting over the next three years, starting between Federal Way and Tukwila, will serve busy transit corridors in West Seattle, Ballard, Bellevue, Redmond, Shoreline, Burien, Tukwila and Renton.
Metro updates its routes and scheduling three times a year to improve service and keep up with the changing needs of transit customers. Bus riders can find all the fall changes detailed in the Special Rider Alert brochure, which will soon be in Metro information racks and has been posted online. New orange timetables will soon be available on buses and in Metro displays. The information is also in the online Trip Planner at www.kingcounty.gov/tripplanner. Enter a travel date of Oct. 2 or later to find the updated service.
Beyond bus service, Metro’s Rideshare Services provides resources for carpooling, vanpooling or vansharing. Carpooling and vanpooling match people traveling to common destinations. VanShare helps those who need to make a connection to or from bus service. Passengers can VanShare from home and connect to a bus, or use VanShare from the bus stop or park-and-ride lot to complete a trip to work.
For information about all the services Metro provides, visit Metro online at www.kingcounty.gov/metro, or call Metro Customer Information at (206) 553-3000.
