On Saturday, King County Metro bus service will be severely cut on the Island. To learn more about the specific routes and schedules to be cut or modified and in order to address serious community concerns about future mobility, the City Council is exploring various options to ‘buy back’ certain services.

Metro is now preparing to cut bus service beginning Sept. 27, to address its on-going budget shortfall.  Although the size of the cuts was recently scaled back slightly due to more favorable sales tax revenue projections, the impact on Mercer Island will be severe.

Several of the routes identified for elimination are important circulators that loop around the Island, or offer transport between key locations such as the Community Center, City Hall, and the Park and Ride lot. The City may consider using circulator vans, on-demand buses, and other means to make up the difference.

Citizens are encouraged to watch City’s homepage for more information on this topic. As part of its necessary research on current bus usage, the City has launched a survey of current riders in partnership with King County Metro. The data gathered from this survey will help inform Council where and when reduced replacement service is needed most.

In the coming days, surveys will be distributed on the Island’s bus routes, or residents can visit www.mercergov.org.

Of the 16 routes that circulate on or traverse across the North-end of the Island, 13 will be reduced or eliminated entirely.

The following list summarizes the cuts currently planned for Sept. 27 (note that once routes are deleted, they are not expected to return, even if funding begins to recover):

Deletions: Routes 202, 203, 205, 210, 211, 213, 215, 217

Reductions: Routes 204, 212

Beginning Sept. 29, 2014, a new bus route, 894, will replace routes 203 and 205 serving Mercer Island High School. Go to www.mercerislandschools.org for more information.