The E Line is one of seven RapidRide lines (

limited-stop In public transit, particularly bus, tram, or train transportation, a limited-stop (or sometimes referred to as semi-fast) service is a trip pattern that stops less frequently than a local service. Many limited-stop or semi-fast services are a com ...

routes with some

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

features) operated by

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the List of the most populous counties ...

. The E Line began service on February 15, 2014, running between Aurora Village Transit Center in

Shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past ...

and

Pioneer Square, Seattle Pioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of Downtown Seattle, Washington, US. It was once the heart of the city: Seattle's founders settled there in 1852, following a brief six-month settlement at Alki Point on the far side of ...

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west b ...

. 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

This corridor was previously served by King County Metro route 358 express which carried an average of 11,730 riders on weekdays during the last month in service making it King County Metro's second busiest route. In 2011, drivers on Route 358 wrote up 333 "security incident reports", leading the ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976. The newspape ...

'' to give the route the title of "Most Dangerous Bus Route in Seattle" Security cameras were installed on all RapidRide buses and lighting was improved at stations, in part, to address this problem. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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.

Service

References

External links

E Line websiteRapidRide websiteRapidRide BlogKing County Metro
{{Puget Sound Transit Bus transportation in Washington (state) Transportation in King County, Washington Transportation in Seattle 2014 establishments in Washington (state) 2014 in transport King County Metro