Chelsea Asplund August 12, 2014 6:13am

To my fellow Greenlaker bus commuters, I too held my breath last April when voters rejected the proposed sales tax and car-tab fee increases, and the future of our bus routes hung in the air. Well, it’s time to face the music as we are less than one month away from the inevitable route eliminations.

This September, approximately 28 Seattle Metro bus routes will be deleted and 13 will be revised.  The King County Council also approved cutting up to 188,000 more service hours in February 2015, with details to be considered in September. These routes were on the chopping block for low ridership, according to the website.

So, how many route eliminations will affect Green Lake and surrounding neighborhoods? The good news: not a ton.  Below are the routes that could affect those living in Green Lake, Greenwood, Ravenna and University District areas:

• Route 48X, Loyal Heights/Green Lake/ Mt. Baker: This route will be eliminated. See below for route modifications.
• Route 48, Loyal Heights/Green Lake/Mt. Baker: During the morning peak period, three southbound trips will begin at 32nd Avenue NE and Loyal Avenue NW instead of First Avenue NW and NW 90th Street to help offset the deletion of Route 48 Express service.
• Route  243, Lake City/Ravenna/Montlake/Bellevue: This route will be eliminated. Metro recommends routes 65, 68, 75, 372 and 373 for stops to the University District.

As reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal, these changes will result in the loss of 161,000 annual hours of service. In February of next year  another 188,000 annual hours of service will be cut. Another 201,000 hours of service could be cut as well, but won’t be decided upon until fall of 2015. Currently, Metro provides about 3.6 million annual hours per year. 

For a full list of King Country Metro route eliminations and deductions, click here. Be sure to follow @kcmetrobus on Twitter for the latest updates, and we will keep you posted on how these on-going cuts might affect our neighborhood.