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RapidRide E Line

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E Line
RapidRide E Line bus on 3rd Avenue in Downtown Seattle.
Overview
SystemRapidRide
OperatorKing County Metro
GarageNorth Base
Central Base
VehicleNew Flyer articulated buses[1]
New Flyer XDE60
Began serviceFebruary 15, 2014
PredecessorsRoute 359, 358X
Route
LocaleKing County
StartAurora Village Transit Center, Shoreline
ViaAurora Avenue N
3rd Ave
EndPioneer Square, Downtown Seattle
Length12.5 miles (20.1 km)
Service
FrequencyPeak: 5-12 minutes
Off-peak: 10-15 minutes
Early morning & night: 24-60 minutes
Weekend frequency15 minutes (most times)
Journey time1 hour, 2 minutes
Operates4:30 am-3:00 am
Ridership15,800 (weekday average, spring 2015)[2]
TimetableE Line timetable
MapE Line map
Route diagram
Swift Blue Line to Everett
Aurora Village
Transit Center
 N 200th St
N 192nd St
(Shoreline Park & Ride)
 N 185th St
N 180th St
N 175th St
N 170th St
N 165th St
N 160th St
N 155th St
N 152nd St
N 145th St
N 135th St
N 130th St
N 125th St
N 115th St
N 105th St
N 100th St
N 95th St
N 90th St
N 85th St
N 80th St
N 76th St
N 72nd St
N 65th St
N 46th St
Aurora Bridge over
Lake Washington Ship Canal
 Lynn St
Galer St
Harrison St
Denny Way
5th Ave
to Ballard
 Bell St
to South Lake Union
 Virginia St
1 Line
to Northgate
Pike St
(Westlake station)
Seneca St
(Symphony station)
 Columbia St
to West Seattle | to Burien
Yesler Way
(Pioneer Square station)
 3rd Ave S
1 Line
to Angle Lake via Airport
Key
station
northbound only station
southbound only station
stop
northbound only stop
southbound only stop
This diagram:
← D Line  {{{system_nav}}}  F Line →

The 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,[3] running between Aurora Village Transit Center in Shoreline and Pioneer Square, Seattle in Downtown Seattle. The line runs mainly via Aurora Avenue N and 3rd Ave.

At the Aurora Village Transit Center passengers can connect to Community Transit's Swift Bus Rapid Transit to Everett Station.

History

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This corridor was previously served by King County Metro route 359 and the 358 express which carried an average of 11,730 riders on weekdays during the last month in service[4] making it King County Metro's second busiest route.[5][self-published source] These routes were preceded by Route 6, which was extended north to Aurora Village in 1979.[6]

1998 Aurora Bridge shooting

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In November 1998, Mark McLaughlin, the driver of a southbound 359X bus, 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. Though there were dozens of passengers on board at the time, most reported only minor injuries, with only one additional passenger deceased (not counting the shooting deaths of the driver and the attacker).[7]

1999–2013: Route 358X

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In response to the incident and the general unsavory reputation the route had experienced even prior to the incident, route 359 was retired and replaced three months later by route 358. In spite of the rebranding, the safety issues persisted; in 2011, drivers on route 358 wrote up 333[8] "security incident reports", leading the Seattle Weekly to give the route the title of "Most Dangerous Bus Route in Seattle"[9] 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

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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.[10] 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.[11][self-published source]

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).[12][self-published source]

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.[11]

Since the implementation of RapidRide on the corridor, ridership has grown 35 percent and the E Line served an average of 15,800 riders on weekdays in spring 2015, the most of any Metro bus route.[2] In 2023, the E Line carried 3.7 million total passengers.[13]

Service

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Headways[14]
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

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  1. ^ "King County Metro Transit's Bus Rapid Transit System". May 4, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  2. ^ a b 2015 Service Guidelines Report (PDF). King County Metro. October 2015. p. A-22. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  3. ^ "RapidRide". King County Metro Transit. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  4. ^ Lindblom, Mike (July 7, 2014). "RapidRide use is way up". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  5. ^ "New Routes Coming Online for RapidRide". The Northwest Urbanist. January 7, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014. After a delay from 2013, on February 15th the E line will replace Aurora Avenue's route 358, Metro's second busiest route, between Seattle's downtown and its northern neighbor of Shoreline.
  6. ^ Copeland, Joe (August 27, 1979). "The changing county transit". The Everett Herald. p. A10. Retrieved March 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ McRoberts, Patrick (December 3, 1998). "Metro bus plunges off Seattle's Aurora Bridge after driver is shot on November 27, 1998". Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  8. ^ Humbert, Jon (February 2, 2012). "Recent attacks have Metro riders worried about bus safety". Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  9. ^ Conklin, Ellis E. (February 1, 2012). "Route 358 Is the Most Dangerous Bus Route In Seattle". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  10. ^ "Metro preps for the arrival of the RapidRide E Line along Aurora Avenue North". King County Metro. June 27, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  11. ^ a b Nourish, Bruce (March 18, 2013). "Metro Delaying RapidRide E & F". Seattle Transit Blog. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  12. ^ Lawson, David (February 7, 2014). "Metro and ST Service Changes: Feb. 15". Seattle Transit Blog. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  13. ^ King County Metro [@KingCountyMetro] (February 15, 2024). "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!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 28, 2024 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "RapidRide E Line Schedule". Retrieved April 2, 2014.
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