RapidRide E Line
{{short description|Bus rapid transit route in Seattle, Washington}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox bus line
|box_width = 250
|number = E Line
|logo = RapidRide wordmark.svg
|logo_width = 200
|logo_alt =
|bgcolor = #{{KCMT color|RapidRide}}
|titlecolor = white
|subheader =
|operatorlogo =
|oplogo_width =
|image = Seattle RapidRide E Line NFI XDE60 3rd Ave @ Union St (52229747799).jpg
|image_width = 275
|caption = RapidRide E Line bus on 3rd Avenue in Downtown Seattle
|system = RapidRide
|operator = King County Metro
|garage = North Base
|vehicle = New Flyer articulated buses{{cite web|title=King County Metro Transit's Bus Rapid Transit System|url=http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/NewsCenter/NewsReleases/2009/May/nr050409_RRfactsheet.aspx|accessdate=June 21, 2015|date=May 4, 2009}}
New Flyer XDE60
|livery =
|pvr =
|status =
|open = February 15, 2014
|close =
|predecessors = Route 359, 358X
|night =
|locale = King County
|communities =
|landmarks =
|termini =
|start = Aurora Village Transit Center, Shoreline
|via = Aurora Avenue N
3rd Ave
|end = Pioneer Square, Downtown Seattle
|length = {{convert|12.5|mi|km|1}}
|otherroutes =
|level =
|level1 =
|frequency = Peak: 5-12 minutes
Off-peak: 10-15 minutes
Early morning & night: 24-60 minutes
|alt_frequency = 15 minutes (most times)
|time = 1 hour, 2 minutes
|day = 4:30 am-3:00 am
|zone =
|ridership = 15,800 (weekday average, spring 2015){{cite book|title=2015 Service Guidelines Report|date=October 2015|publisher=King County Metro|page=A-22|url=http://metro.kingcounty.gov/planning/pdf/2011-21/2015/service-guidelines-full-report.pdf|accessdate=December 11, 2015}}
|annualpatronage=
|transfers =
|timetable_link= [http://metro.kingcounty.gov/schedules/675 E Line timetable]
|map_link = [http://metro.kingcounty.gov/schedules/675/map.html E Line map]
|map = {{RapidRide E Line}}
|map_state = show
|map_name = Route diagram
|previous_line = D Line
|next_line = F Line
|notes =
}}
The RapidRide E Line is one of eight RapidRide lines (limited-stop routes with some bus rapid transit features) operated by King County Metro in King County, Washington. The E Line began service on February 15, 2014,{{cite web |url=http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/MetroTransit/TransitNow/RapidRide.aspx |title=RapidRide |publisher=King County Metro Transit |accessdate=March 30, 2009}} running from Aurora Village Transit Center in Shoreline to Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle. The line runs primarily on Aurora Avenue North (State Route 99) and 3rd Avenue. The line's northern terminus connects to the Swift Blue Line operated by Community Transit, which continues north on State Route 99 to Everett Station.
History
Bus service to Aurora Village began in 1979, with the extension of Metro Transit's route 6 to the Aurora Village Shopping Center in Shoreline, on the King–Snohomish county line.{{cite news |last=Copeland |first=Joe |date=August 27, 1979 |title=The changing county transit |page=A10 |work=The Everett Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-herald-the-changing-county-tra/143933273/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=March 22, 2024}} The Aurora Village Transit Center, the route's current terminal, opened in the shopping center's south parking lot in March 1985. Additional service was added with route 359, an express variation of route 6.{{cite news |last=Aweeka |first=Charles |date=April 3, 1985 |title=New transit center boon to Aurora Village |page=H2 |work=The Seattle Times}}
=Aurora Bridge shooting=
On November 27, 1998, Mark McLaughlin, the driver of a southbound bus on route 359, was shot and killed by passenger Silas Garfield Cool as the bus was entering the Aurora Bridge. The passenger then shot himself as the bus careened off the bridge and landed on an apartment building in the Fremont neighborhood, over which the bridge passes before it crosses the Fremont Cut of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. McLaughlin, the attacker, and one other bus passenger died in the crash, and 32 passengers were injured.{{cite web |last1=McRoberts |first1=Patrick |date=December 3, 1998 |title=Metro bus plunges off Seattle's Aurora Bridge after driver is shot on November 27, 1998 |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/734 |website=HistoryLink |accessdate=January 19, 2025}}
The Amalgamated Transit Union organized a memorial service for McLaughlin at KeyArena on December 8. The service was preceded by a procession of buses, including Metro buses and other operators from around the Pacific Northwest, including from British Columbia.{{cite news |last1=Broom |first1=Jack |last2=Clarridge |first2=Christine |date=December 8, 1998 |title=Bus drivers honor one of their own -- Memorial For Mark Mclaughlin |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19981208/2787861/bus-drivers-honor-one-of-their-own----memorial-for-mark-mclaughlin |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=January 19, 2025}} King County Metro honors McLaughlin yearly on the Friday after Thanksgiving, when buses pull over and briefly pause service in his memory.{{Cite news |last=Porterfield |first=Elaine |date=November 23, 2022 |title=King County Metro to pause bus service Nov. 25 to honor transit operator Mark McLaughlin |url=https://kingcountymetro.blog/2022/11/23/king-county-metro-to-pause-bus-service-nov-25-to-honor-transit-operator-mark-mclaughlin/ |work=Metro Matters |publisher=King County Metro |accessdate=January 19, 2025}}
=1999–2013: Route 358X=
File:SB Route 358 crossing GW Memorial Bridge.jpg
In response to the incident and the general unsavory reputation the route had experienced even prior to the incident,{{cn|date=January 2025}} route 359 was retired and replaced three months later by route 358. The new route 358 also replaced portions of routes 6 and 360, which were also retired.{{cite news |last=Schaefer |first=David |date=February 5, 1999 |title=Metro adds routes, buses tomorrow |page=B2 |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19990205/2942596/metro-adds-routes-buses-tomorrow |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=January 19, 2025}} In 2005, Metro began installing "crowns" atop bus shelters on Aurora Avenue to commemorate the installation of transit signal priority at intersections and other service improvements for route 358.{{cite press release |date=January 12, 2005 |title=Metro 'crowns' Aurora bus stops |url=http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/archives/2005/aurora.html |publisher=King County Metro |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20100529192653/http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/archives/2005/aurora.html |archive-date=May 29, 2010 |accessdate=January 31, 2025}}
Safety issues persisted on the corridor; in 2011, drivers on route 358 wrote up 333 "security incident reports",{{cite web|last1=Humbert|first1=Jon|title=Recent attacks have Metro riders worried about bus safety|url=http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Recent-attacks-have-Metro-riders-worried-about-bus-safety-138618294.html|accessdate=August 25, 2014|date=February 2, 2012}} leading the Seattle Weekly to give the route the title of "Most Dangerous Bus Route in Seattle"{{cite web|last1=Conklin|first1=Ellis E.|title=Route 358 Is the Most Dangerous Bus Route In Seattle|url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/928777-129/transportation|work=Seattle Weekly|accessdate=August 25, 2014|date=February 1, 2012}} After route 358 was replaced by the RapidRide E Line, security cameras were installed on all RapidRide buses and lighting was improved at stations, in part to address this problem.
=2013–present: RapidRide development=
In early 2013 King County Metro began construction on new enhanced bus stops, new bus stations and making upgrades to traffic signals along Aurora Ave N.{{cite web|title=Metro preps for the arrival of the RapidRide E Line along Aurora Avenue North|url=http://kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/NewsCenter/NewsReleases/2013/June/06272013_elineprep.aspx|publisher=King County Metro|accessdate=September 6, 2014|date=June 27, 2013}} Service on the RapidRide E Line was scheduled to start in Fall 2013 but the opening was delayed until February 15, 2014, to give crews more time to finish construction.{{cite web|last1=Nourish|first1=Bruce|title=Metro Delaying RapidRide E & F|url=http://seattletransitblog.com/2013/03/18/metro-delaying-rapidride-e-f/|publisher=Seattle Transit Blog|accessdate=August 25, 2014|date=March 18, 2013}}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=June 2015}}
File:3x BRT Swift & RapidRide E & E (13211438685).jpg (left)at Aurora Village Transit Center in 2014]]
The only change made to the routing during the conversion to RapidRide was in Green Lake. Route 358 exited Highway 99 to serve stops on Linden Ave N, but a new bus stop on Aurora Ave N allows southbound buses to stay on the highway (northbound buses must still deviate).{{cite web|last1=Lawson|first1=David|title=Metro and ST Service Changes: Feb. 15|url=http://seattletransitblog.com/2014/02/07/metro-and-st-service-changes-feb-15/|publisher=Seattle Transit Blog|accessdate=September 6, 2014|date=February 7, 2014}}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=June 2015}}
King County Metro planned to begin service on the RapidRide E Line in September 2013, but the opening was pushed back several months to February 2014 due to delays in construction.
Before its conversion to RapidRide, route 358 carried 11,730 passengers per weekday on average. After the introduction of the E Line, ridership increased to 15,800 riders per weekday in spring 2015, the most of any Metro bus route.{{cite news |last1=Lindblom |first1=Mike |date=July 7, 2014 |title=RapidRide use is way up |url=http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/07/rapidride-use-is-way-up/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714180830/http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/07/rapidride-use-is-way-up/ |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |accessdate= |work=The Seattle Times}} In 2023, the E Line carried 3.7 million total passengers.{{cite tweet |author=King County Metro |date=February 15, 2024 |user=KingCountyMetro |number=1758281930297249931 |title=Fast, frequent and reliable connections for the past 10 years and counting. Thanks for riding RapidRide E Line, connecting communities and riders from Downtown Seattle to Shoreline and beyond! |accessdate=February 28, 2024}}
Service
| class="wikitable"
! Time !! Monday-Friday !! Weekend/Holidays | ||
| 4:30 am – 6:00 am | 25 | 20 |
| 6:00 am – 9:45 am | 5-10 (inbound) 12 (outbound) | 12 |
| 9:45 am – 4:00 pm | 10 | 12 |
| 4:00 pm – 6:15 pm | 5-10 (outbound) 12 (inbound) | 15 |
| 6:15 pm – 8:00 pm | 12 | 15 |
| 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm | 20 | 20 |
| 11:00 pm – 12:30 am | 30 | 30 |
| 12:30 am – 3:00 am | 60 | 60 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://metro.kingcounty.gov/travel-options/bus/rapidride/e-line/ E Line website]
- [http://metro.kingcounty.gov/travel-options/bus/rapidride/ RapidRide website]
- [http://rapidride.wordpress.com RapidRide Blog]
- [http://metro.kingcounty.gov/ King County Metro]
{{Puget Sound Transit}}
Category:Bus transportation in Washington (state)
Category:Transportation in King County, Washington
Category:Transportation in Seattle