(Seattle, WA) New Buses!

In with the new, and out with the old!

This topic will be focused on the brand new King County Metro Rapid Ride service, launched just over 2 weeks ago on October 2nd! The Rapid Ride A-Line will replace the former route 174, following the exact same route between Tukwila LINK and Federal Way TC. I have never personally rode the 174 or photographed the route before, so I am really not in a position to make comparisons between the old and the new service. Based on what I gathered among my friends, the new Rapid Ride A eliminated a few stops along the route, increased the frequency from every 30 to 15 minutes during weekends and weekday off-peak hours; every 10 instead of 15 minutes during weekday rush-horus; implementation of automated stop announcement system onboard buses; last but not least.......the introduction of fancier equipments, as part of Metro's long-term marketing strategy. In terms of changes of infrastructure, new fancy shelters have replaced the good ol' bus stop poles, with real-time indications informing passengers about the ETA of the next bus, and transit-priority traffic signals (light changes green when bus approaches intersection). Please correct me if I have been mistaken about the changes brought by the introduction of the Rapid Ride, or help me out in case I missed something crucial!

Make and model of the Rapid Ride buses: New Flyer DE60LFA, diesel-electric hybrid bus with the restyled "BRT" front.

Just outside Federal Way TC at around 3pm, perfect sunlight angle!



At Federal Way TC at night............not exactly the best neighborhood to stay after dark!



Tukwila / International Blvd LINK station, photo taken at approximately 4:30pm.



And while we are on the topic of rapid transit services around Seattle, the next set of photos will definitely be quite relevant..........

Community Transit (Snohomish County) SWIFT BRT (Everett Station - Aurora Village)





I do have more photos available on my website, of both KCM Rapid Ride and Community Transit SWIFT BRT.

Comments are more than welcome.......if you happen to have relevant photos, be sure to share 'em!

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Dave

I shall take a ride on these services when I am back in Seattle for vacation next year.

Btw, does the new route still go through Sea Tac?

原帖由 art0925 於 2010-10-21 18:36 發表
Btw, does the new route still go through Sea Tac?

No it doesn't.......this route basically runs straight along Pacific Highway S / International Blvd, between 154th Street (Tukwila / Intl Blvd LINK) and 316th Street (Federal Way TC) which takes approximately an hour to complete the journey. Passengers travelling to SeaTac Airport are expected to transfer to LINK light rail at Tukwila.

原帖由 NewFlyer 於 2010-10-22 12:39 發表

No it doesn't.......this route basically runs straight along Pacific Highway S / International Blvd, between 154th Street (Tukwila / Intl Blvd LINK) and 316th Street (Federal Way TC) which takes appr ...

Maybe we can say like this: RapidRide A Line is a semi-express version of the original route 174, that still needs to serve 50 stations plus stops