The H Line is a

RapidRide RapidRide is a network of limited-stop bus routes with some bus rapid transit features in King County, Washington, operated by King County Metro. The network consists of eight routes totaling that carried riders on approximately 64,860 trips o ...

bus route in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Burien Burien ( ) is a suburban city in King County, Washington, United States, located south of Seattle on Puget Sound. As of the 2020 census, Burien's population was 52,066, which is a 56.3% increase since incorporation in 1993, making it the 25th m ...

King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county 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 List of counties in Washington, most populo ...

, United States. It is 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 ...

and incorporates bus rapid transit features, including

transit signal priority Bus priority or transit signal priority (TSP) is a name for various techniques to improve service and reduce delay for mass transit vehicles at intersections (or junctions) controlled by traffic signals. TSP techniques are most commonly associa ...

, exclusive lanes, and off-board fare payment at some stations. Service began on March 18, 2023, replacing Route 120 after the construction of new stations and bus lanes at a cost of $154 million. The route begins in

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 by ...

and travels south on Delridge Way and Ambaum Boulevard through

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of List of neighborhoods in Seattle, neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the List of neighborhoods in Seattle, thirteen districts, Delridge, Seattle, Delridge and Southwest, ...

and White Center before terminating in Burien. The line runs every 7 minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes off-peak, with service until midnight on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends. The H Line is the seventh RapidRide line to open and features stations with digital

e-ink E Ink (electronic ink) is a brand of electronic paper (e-paper) display technology commercialized by the E Ink Corporation, which was co-founded in 1997 by MIT undergraduates JD Albert and Barrett Comiskey, MIT Media Lab professor Joseph J ...

screens for real-time arrivals information,

ORCA card The ORCA card (standing for One Regional Card for All) is a contactless smart card, contactless, Stored-value card, stored-value smart card system for public transit in the Puget Sound region of Washington (state), Washington, United States. The ...

readers, and larger shelters. It is the first RapidRide line to open under the Move Seattle program, which was funded by a levy approved in 2015.

History

The Delridge Way corridor was previously served by King County Metro route 120, which was consistently one of the most highest-ridership routes in the system. Prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Route 120 saw about 9,200 passengers per weekday, and in 2022 ridership fell to 5,300. Development of the route into RapidRide service, alongside other improvements to the corridor, began in late 2017. The planned design would include bus-only lanes, bicycle lanes, and sidewalk improvements along the corridor. Improvements to bus service include more frequent service, with typical headways of 10 minutes on weekdays; increased wheelchair accessibility at each stop; construction of new sidewalks; and updated pedestrian crossings. Dedicated bus lanes were installed on Delridge Way, and a median was constructed to allow for the planting of two new trees for every tree that had been removed during construction. 150 new trees were planted along the route as part of the construction. The H Line opened on March 18, 2023. It had an average weekday ridership of 6,900 passengers in its first year of operation.

Route

The route has 65 stops. The northern terminus of the H Line is in

at 3rd Avenue and Virginia Street. Between Downtown Seattle and West Seattle, H Line buses travel nonstop via State Route 99 and the

West Seattle Bridge The West Seattle Bridge, officially the Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge, is a Cantilever bridge, cantilevered segmental bridge that serves as the primary connection between West Seattle, Seattle, West Seattle and important highways such as Was ...

. The route continues down Delridge Way and Ambaum Boulevard through

and White Center, and terminates at the

Transit Center.

Stations

Service

The H Line runs at a maximum frequency of seven minutes during rush hours in the peak direction and ten minutes during mid-day on weekdays. During evenings and on weekends, buses run every fifteen minutes.

References

External links

Official websiteRoute schedule and map
{{Puget Sound Transit Bus transportation in Washington (state) Transportation in King County, Washington Transportation in Seattle 2023 establishments in Washington (state) 2023 in transport King County Metro King County Metro bus routes