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Metro Rolls Out Changes To Bus Routes This Weekend

caption: Metro's Chris O'Claire says the transit agency will hand out free Orca cards loaded up with free trips to those who haven't tried them yet. Flag down someone dressed like this, especially Monday and Tuesday.
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Metro's Chris O'Claire says the transit agency will hand out free Orca cards loaded up with free trips to those who haven't tried them yet. Flag down someone dressed like this, especially Monday and Tuesday.
KUOW Photo/Joshua McNichols

King County Metro bus routes change this weekend. Some of the biggest changes happen in northeast Seattle.

TRANSCRIPT

Lots of people are riding light rail, since the new Sound Transit stations opened up, and so King County Metro rerouted its Saturday buses to serve the rail stations.

Buses that run over Capitol Hill have shifted their stops closer to the Capitol Hill station.

O’Claire: “We actually just changed the alignment of several routes in those areas, and we were able to provide a connection to the station.”

That’s Chris O’Claire, with King County Metro. She says the reorganization isn’t just about feeding riders to the rail system.

O’Claire: “And at that station, they also have a great connection to the streetcar. The new streetcar that’s now connecting from Capitol Hill, all the way through First Hill, and down to Pioneer Square.”

Here’s another change: Lots of buses in Seattle’s north end used to go downtown. Now, they terminate at the University of Washington Station. Those shorter routes save money. That money goes to push buses farther and more reliably into other neighborhoods.

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