We (well, at least incorrigible transit nerds) have been waiting with bated breath since the passage of Seattle’s Proposition 1 in November to see the contract between the City of Seattle and King County Metro which is required under the text of Prop 1. It’s finally here, posted to the King County Council’s website as an attachment to the ordinance through which the Council will most likely approve it.

There are all sorts of interesting details in the contract language which we will probably poke at in future posts. But for now we wanted to share the good stuff: specific service improvements. The improvements affect most routes in the city of Seattle. About half of them will be implemented in June, and the other half in September. Many of the June improvements are subtle schedule changes to improve reliability (mostly increasing run time and recovery time), while the September improvements are a bit more visible.

The City of Seattle chose the improvements in two ways. First, all of the reliability and overcrowding improvements identified as necessary in Metro’s 2014 Service Guidelines Report were included. Second, once those needs were taken care of, city staff selected improvements after analysis applying the county’s Service Guidelines, the city’s Transit Master Plan, and Metro route performance data. Broadly, the improvements fit into two categories: 1) reliability improvements on existing service, and 2) new trips on existing routes, including both peak and off-peak frequency improvements. There are no restructures in this initial round of improvements, for obvious reasons of speed and ease of implementation. Nevertheless, these improvements will make the system significantly easier to use, especially nights and weekends. They should also relieve some dysfunction during rush hours. Specifics below the jump.

Reliability Improvements

The following routes will see schedule changes to improve reliability, nearly all in June: C Line, D Line, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 21X, 24, 25, 26, 26X, 27, 28, 28X, 29, 31, 32, 33, 37, 40, 41, 43, 44, 48, 49, 55, 56, 57, 60, 64, 66, 70, 71, 72, 74, 76, 83, 99.

A larger reliability improvement will come to riders of Routes 7, 43, 44, and 49. These routes are currently through-routed evenings, nights, and Sundays (7 with 49, and 43 with 44). Both through-routes will be broken evenings and Sundays, and will remain in place only at night after 10 p.m.

Frequency Improvements

The following are the frequency improvements included, listed by route. In general, “evenings” means 7:00 to 10:00 p.m, while “nights” means after 10:00 p.m, generally through midnight or 1:00 a.m.

C Line and D Line (June): This is the costliest, most substantial improvement in the whole package. Peak frequency to 7-8 minutes. Weekday midday and weekend daytime to 12 minutes. Weekday and weekend nights to 15 minutes.

Route 2S (September): Weekday and Saturday evenings to 15 minutes.

Routes 3/4 (September): Weekend nights and early mornings to 30 minutes.

Route 5: Weekday and Saturday evenings to 15 minutes in June. Sunday evenings to 15 minutes in September.

Route 5X: 4 new peak trips in both directions.

Route 7 (September): 2 new peak trips in both directions. Weekend daytime to 12 minutes.

Route 8: 1 new peak trip in both directions in June. Longer span of 15-minute service on Saturdays in September. Weekend late nights to 30 minutes in September.

Route 9 (September): Peak frequency to 20 minutes.

Route 10 (June): Weekday late nights/early mornings, weekend evenings, and Sunday daytime all to 15 minutes.

Route 11 (September): Weekday midday and Saturday daytime to 15 minutes.

Route 12 (September): Weekday and Saturday evenings to 15 minutes.

Route 14 (September): Weekday nights to 30 minutes.

Route 15 (June): 2 new peak trips in both directions.

Route 16: 3 new afternoon peak trips in June. Weekday and weekend evenings and Sunday daytime to 20 minutes in September.

Route 17 (June): 1 new morning afternoon peak trip.

Route 18 (June): 1 new morning peak trip.

Route 19 (June): Restored, with 5 morning and 6 afternoon trips.

Route 24 (June): 1 new afternoon peak trip. Weekday evenings to 30 minutes.

Route 25 (September): Peak frequency to 30 minutes.

Route 27 (June): Weekday midday and evening service restored at 30-minute frequency.

Route 28 (June): 1 new morning peak trip.

Route 30 (September): 2 additional hours of span extending toward the midday. This should result in morning service until about 10:00 and afternoon service starting around 2:00.

Routes 31/32 (September): Weekday nights to 30 minutes.

Route 33 (September): 2 new peak trips in both directions. Weekday evenings and weekend daytime to 30 minutes.

Route 40: An unspecified number of new peak trips in June. Weekday and Saturday evenings to 15 minutes in June. Sunday daytime to 15 minutes in September.

Route 41: 1 new peak trip in both directions in June. Weekday evenings to 15 minutes and weekday nights to 30 minutes in June. Sunday daytime to 15 minutes in September.

Route 43 (September): Saturday daytime to 15 minutes.

Route 44: Weekday middays to 12 minutes in June. Peak frequency to 10 minutes and Saturday daytime to 12 minutes in September.

Route 47 (June): Restored, with 30-minute peak and 45-minute midday frequency, weekdays only.

Route 48: 1 new peak trip in both directions in June. Sunday daytime and Saturday evenings to 15 minutes in September.

Route 49 (September): Weekday nights to 15 minutes.

Route 55 (June): 4 new peak trips in both directions.

Route 60 (June): Weekday evenings to 30 minutes.

Routes 66/67 (September): Saturday daytime to 15 minutes (presumably by operating Route 67 on Saturday). Weekday night service on Route 66 to 30 minutes.

Route 68 (September): Saturday 30-minute daytime service over a longer span. New Sunday daytime 30-minute service.

Route 70 (September): 1 new morning peak trip. New 15-minute service Sundays, evenings, and nights (in conjunction with all 71/72/73 trips being converted to express trips).

Route 71: 1 new afternoon peak trip in June. All local trips converted to express in September.

Route 72: 1 new afternoon peak trip in June. All nights and Sundays to 30 minutes in September. All local trips converted to express in September.

Route 73 (September): All nights and Sundays to 30 minutes. All local trips converted to express.

Route 74 (June): 1 new morning peak trip.

Route 120 (June): 3 new morning peak trips originating at White Center.

Route 125 (June): Weekend daytime to 30 minutes, including restored Sunday service.

Full Weekday Service: The City of Seattle will pay for Metro not to implement “Reduced Weekday” schedules on Seattle routes. The “Reduced Weekday” schedule is typically operated on inconsistently observed holidays like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Veterans Day. It cancels selected trips on high-ridership routes, and has typically resulted in large schedule gaps, overcrowded trips, and lots of inconvenienced riders.