King County Metro

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King County Metro

Slogan	We'll Get You There
Parent	King County Department of Transportation
Founded	January 1, 1973
Headquarters	201 S. Jackson St., Seattle
Locale	King County, Washington
Service area	King County, Washington
Service type	Transit bus
Alliance	Sound Transit
Routes	223[1]
Stops	9,549[1] (year-end 2008)
Hubs	13 transit centers
Fleet	1,443[1] (year-end 2008)
Daily ridership	400,457 [2]
Fuel type	Diesel, Diesel-electric hybrid, Electric trolleybus
Chief executive	Kevin Desmond, General Manager
Web site	Metro Online

King County Metro, or Metro for short, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, a division of the King County Department of Transportation. It began operations on January 1, 1973, but can trace its roots to Seattle Transit, founded in 1939, and Overlake Transit Service, founded in 1927. As of 2008, it operated 1,443 buses on 223 routes^[1]. Its annual ridership in 2008 was 118 million^[3]. By first quarter 2009 ridership figures, Metro is the 8th largest agency in the nation^[4]. Metro employs 2,694 full- and part-time operators (year-end 2008)^[1].

History

The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, or Seattle Metro, was created by a local referendum in 1958 authorized to manage regional wastewater and water quality issues in King County^[5]. After two failed attempts to enable it to build a regional rapid transit system, it was authorized to operate a regional bus system in 1972. The bus system was known as Metro and began operations in 1973. Its operations subsumed Seattle Transit, formerly under the purview of the City of Seattle, and the Metropolitan Transit Corporation, a private company serving suburban cities in King County. The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle was overseen by a federated board of elected officials in King County. After its representation structure was ruled unconstitutional in 1990, and a popular vote in 1992, the municipality's roles and authorities were assumed by King County government.^[5] After completion of the downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel project, attention was drawn again to developing a regional rail system. This interest led to the formation of the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, also known as Sound Transit, which holds primary responsibility for planning and building high capacity transit in the counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish, in western Washington state^[6]. Metro Transit continues to provide local and regional transit service connections, primarily within its jurisdictional boundaries. Besides its own transit operations, Metro operates ST Express bus and Central Link light rail service for Sound Transit^[7].

Operations

Metro Buses in Seattle, Washington

Routes

Metro combines service patterns typical of city and suburban bus networks. The city network, descended in large part from the Seattle Transit system of converted streetcar routes, is arranged in a hub-and-spoke pattern centered on downtown Seattle, with lesser amounts of crosstown service. Routes in the city network are numbered from 1 to 79, with special late-night "Owl" routes in the 80s and the waterfront streetcar and its replacement route numbered 99. Because of the scattershot evolution of the system, there is no easily discernible pattern to the route numbers, although there are clusters in certain neighborhoods: for example, the 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, and 49, as well as the 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, and 79 all run through the University District.

The in-city routes with the highest ridership are the 7, traveling from downtown Seattle through the International District and Rainier Valley; the 36, traveling from downtown Seattle through the International District to Beacon Hill; the 43 and 49 (the latter of which was formerly the northern portion of route 7), traveling through Capitol Hill to the University District; the 44, a crosstown route connecting the University District and Ballard; the 48, a very long crosstown route connecting most parts of east and north Seattle to the Central District and Rainier Beach, and the 3 and 4, connecting downtown to Queen Anne, First Hill, the Central District, and Madrona. However, because of the bus-only nature of the system, there are many other heavily used routes.

The suburban system is more numerically organized. Roughly speaking, areas south of the city from Burien and Des Moines through Renton and Maple Valley are served by routes numbered from 101 to 197. Areas east of the city from Renton to Bothell are served by routes numbered from 200 to 291. Areas north of the city from Bothell to Shoreline are served by routes numbered from 301 to 373. Numbers in the 400s and, for the most part, the 800s, are reserved for Community Transit (Snohomish County) commuter routes serving Seattle; numbers in the 500s are used by Sound Transit's Regional Express system, save for Pierce Transit's routes 500 (Federal Way-Tacoma) and 501 (Federal Way-Milton-Tacoma). 600 series routes are general "express" routes that are used for special purposes (the 630, for example, operated between the Kingsgate Park and Ride and Bellevue during construction of the Totem Lake direct access ramps) as well as the Olympia Express Lines operated by Pierce Transit and Intercity Transit, and 900 series routes are reserved for Dial-a-Ride services and for routes serving outlying areas such as Duvall and Carnation.

Special routes numbered 206-208, 219 and 885-890 are used by Metro to serve Bellevue School District students. Special coaches are dispatched around the region to serve as shuttles for local events, including Seattle Mariners baseball games, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Huskies football games, and other special events.

Major all-day Metro routes in the suburbs include the 120, connecting Seattle and Burien; the 124 connecting downtown Seattle and Tukwila; the 174 connecting Tukwila and Federal Way in the busy Pacific Highway/International Blvd. corridor; the 194, connecting Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport, and Federal Way; the 150, connecting Seattle, Southcenter and Kent; the 101 and 106 between Seattle and Renton; the 255, connecting Seattle and Kirkland; the 240, connecting Renton and Bellevue; the 230 and 253, connecting Bellevue, Crossroads, and Redmond; the 271, connecting Issaquah, Bellevue, and the University District; the 347 and 348, connecting Northgate and North City; and the 358, operating on Aurora Avenue N. to Shoreline.

Freeway Express Services

Metro operates many peak-hour commuter routes serving park and rides that use 244.52 miles of the region's network of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes^[8]. This practice was pioneered at Seattle Transit as the Blue Streak express bus service running between Northgate Park & Ride and Downtown Seattle. Special stops called "freeway flyers" or freeway stations were constructed to allow efficient transfer between local and express buses.^[9] The first "freeway flyer" stop opened in 1975 at Montlake Boulevard and State Route 520^[10]. Metro also takes advantage of new HOV direct-access ramps and freeway stations constructed by Sound Transit to improve speed and reliability of its commuter routes.^[11][12].

Ride Free Area

To encourage transit usage, improve accessibility and encourage downtown shopping, a portion of downtown Seattle was cordoned as the "Magic Carpet Zone" in 1973, allowing for zero-fare rides within the area^[13][14]. Today, it is called the Ride Free Area, and fares are not collected between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. within the area. The Ride Free Area extends from the north at Battery St. to S. Jackson St. on the south, and east at 6th Avenue to the waterfront on the west^[15].

On routes that originate in the Ride Free Area and terminate outside of it, passengers pay their fare when they exit the bus at their destination. On routes that originate outside the Ride Free Area and terminate within it, passengers pay their fare when they board.

Flowchart describing when to pay on Metro buses.

Routes 2, 3, 4, 14, 64, 303 begin and end outside of the Ride Free Area, with others changing their route number as they travel through the Ride Free Area. Passengers that board the bus before it enters the ride free area and plan to alight outside of the RFA should obtain a transfer ticket while paying fare upon boarding. The transfer will be shown to the operator as they alight because the bus will switch to collecting fares as passengers exit after exiting the Ride Free Area. Metro routes 116, 118 and 119 are not included in the Ride Free Area^[16].

A King County Auditor's Office report released in September 2009 found that Metro "can neither fully explain nor provide backup documentation for the operating cost savings that offset the fare revenues in the calculation of the annual charges to the City of Seattle for the city’s Ride Free Area" and that some assumptions in the methodology Metro used to calculate the amount of lost fares was "questionable" and have not been updated to reflect changes to the fare structure and fare collection methods^[17].

A 1975 study found that while the Ride Free Area generally reduced bus travel times within the Ride Free Area itself, buses that traveled through the Ride Free Area to other destinations generally did not benefit. It also found that unloading outbound coaches once outside the Ride Free Area took additional time, though not entirely quantified vis-à-vis time saved within the Ride Free Area^{[citation needed]}. During peak hours (6-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. weekdays), bicycles are only allowed to be loaded or unloaded at a route's first and last ride free stop, save for the Tunnel, where bikes can be loaded and unloaded at each station. Metro cites safety as the reason to disallow bicycle loading in the core of the Ride Free Area.^[15]

Skip-stop spacing

Metro uses Skip-stop spacing on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Avenues in Downtown Seattle, whereby each bus skips every other bus stop. On 3rd Avenue, bus routes are grouped into Blue and Yellow stops; on 2nd and 4th Avenues, routes are grouped into Red and White stops. These color groupings, however, are not readily apparent and customers are instead directed to identify their bus stop by looking at the numbers displayed on the flag or kiosk.

Wi-Fi

As of November 2008, Metro provides free Wi-Fi service to its passengers on the following routes:

• 197 (Twin Lakes P&R/University District)
• 255 (Downtown Seattle/Kirkland, Brickyard P&R)
• 644 (temporary route, replaced by 244: Overlake/Kenmore)
• 952* (Kennydale, Auburn/Boeing Everett)

*Available on last AM peak hour trip and last PM peak hour trip

Metro uses a cellular air card from Sprint which is plugged into a Junxion Box. The system is currently set up on 48 coaches. Metro advertises that the SSID is KingCountyMetro; however on many coaches it is Junxion_Box (possibly due to an extended loss of power to the Junxion Box). Initially these coaches had exterior markings, however many of these have been replaced with advertisements. Coaches continue to sport large stickers on the ceiling near the front of the coach^[18]. ^{[19] [20] [21]}

In the February 2009 service change, there is no longer any mention of free Wi-Fi service in timetables for the above routes. It is unknown whether Metro has discontinued the service.

Operating Costs

The cost per boarding for Metro was $4.10 in 2005, compared to $2.50 among the 15 largest national agencies and $2.97, the national average. Metro's cost per boarding is 38% above the national average.^[22]

In 2007 it cost $3.64 per boarding to deliver service in the West (Seattle) subarea, $4.79 in the South subarea and $7.27 in the East subarea of King County^[22]. At the end of 2008, the systemwide cost per boarding was $3.70^[1].

Facilities

Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel

University Street Station

A major Metro operations facility is the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, or DSTT. The DSTT, a 1.3-mile-long, five-station tunnel through the center of downtown Seattle, was completed in 1990 at a cost of $455 million.^[23] Planned from the outset to be convertible to light rail operation, the tunnel was outfitted with rails and overhead trolley wire. A fleet of 236 dual-propulsion buses were produced by Breda of Italy, powered by electric traction in the tunnel, and diesel on city streets. Mode changes occurred at the north and south portals.

The tunnel suffered some significant problems in operation, as the Breda buses proved overweight and unreliable. The original plan to have up to 489 dual-powered buses using the tunnel by the mid-1990s never materialized; the 236 Breda buses were the primary buses to use the tunnel until Metro acquired its hybrid fleet in 2004.^[23][24]

The tunnel was closed in 2005^[25] to replace the rails, lower the track bed for Central Link's modern ADA-compliant light rail vehicles, and complete a stub tunnel for the University Link extension to the north. The tunnel finished its retrofit and returned to service on September 24, 2007.^[25]

In addition to Central Link Light Rail, the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel currently serves the following bus routes during tunnel operating hours: King County Metro bus routes 41 (Northgate, Lake City), 71 (U-District, Wedgwood), 72 (U-District, Lake City), 73 (U-District, Jackson Park), 74 Express (U-District, Sand Point), 101 (Renton), 102 (South Renton, Fairwood), 106 (Rainier Beach, Renton), 150 (Southcenter, Kent), 194 (Sea-Tac, Federal Way), 212 (Eastgate), 217 mornings only (Eastgate, N Issaquah), 225 (Eastgate, Crossroads, Overlake), 229 (Eastgate, Phantom Lake, Overlake), 255 (Kirkland, Brickyard P&R), 256 (S Kirkland, Overlake), and 301 (Richmond Beach, Aurora Village), and Sound Transit Express route 550 (Bellevue).^[26]

Transit Centers

Transit Centers act as smaller regional hubs that are served by many bus routes. Some transit centers are located in a park-and-ride lot. While Downtown Seattle is Metro's main transit hub, Metro operates out of thirteen transit centers^{[verification needed]} located throughout King County^[27]:

	Location	Year Opened	Notes
	Auburn	2000[28]
	Aurora Village	1985[29]
	Bellevue	1985[29]	Owned 51% by Sound Transit, 49% by Metro[27]
	Burien	2009[30][31]	5 electric vehicle recharging stations[32]
	Eastgate	2004[33]	3 electric vehicle recharging stations[34]
	Federal Way	2006[35]
	Issaquah	2008[36]
	Kirkland	1986[37]
	Mount Baker	2009[38]	Connection to Mount Baker Station
	Northgate	1992[39]
	Overlake	2002[40]
	Redmond	2008[27]
	Renton	2001[41]
	Totem Lake	2008[42]	At Evergreen Medical Center

There also exist transfer points which are transit hubs that lack their own facilities.

Park and Rides

In King County, Metro has 132^[1] Park and Ride facilities containing a total of 24,524^[1] parking stalls. Half of the lots are leased from other property owners such as churches.^[27]

Bases

Metro operates out of seven bases spread throughout its 2,134-square-mile (5,530 km²) operating area:

	Name	Location	Year Opened	Notes
	Atlantic	1555 Airport Way S, Seattle[43]	1941[44]	Only base that serves electric trolley buses[44]
	Bellevue	1790 124th Ave NE, Bellevue[43]	1983[citation needed]
	Central	640 S Massachusetts St, Seattle[43]	1941[44]
	East	1975 124 Ave NE, Bellevue[43]	1977[10]
	North	2160 N 163rd St, Shoreline[43]	1992[45][46]	Built mostly underground[45]
	Ryerson	1220 4th Ave S, Seattle[43]	1987[29]
	South	12100 East Marginal Way S, Tukwila[43]	1978[10]	More coaches here than any other base[47] (as of Sep 2003)

Atlantic, Central, and Ryerson Bases are located close together near Safeco Field south of downtown Seattle and are known as the Central Campus^[47]. East and Bellevue bases comprise the Bellevue Campus^[47] and are located nearby each other in north Bellevue. The South and East transit facilities finished an ADA retrofit in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

Other

	Name	Location	Year Opened	Notes
	Atlantic Maintenance	1555 Airport Way South, Seattle[48]
	Central/Atlantic/Ryerson[47] Operations	1270 6th Ave S, Seattle[48]
	Central Maintenance	640 South Massachusetts, Seattle[48]
	Communications Control Center	1505 6th Ave S, Seattle[48]	2007[49]
	Component Suppy Center	12200 East Marginal Way South, Tukwila[48]
	Employee Parking Garage	1505 6th Avenue South, Seattle[48]
	Marketing Distribution Center	1523 6th Ave South, Seattle[48]
	Tire and Millwright Shop	1555 Airport Way South, Seattle[48]
	Power Distribution	2255 4th Avenue South, Seattle[48]
	Redmond Van Pool Center	18655 NE Union Hill Road, Redmond[48]	2002[50][verification needed]	Van Pool van storage[51]
	South Facilities	11911 East Marginal Way South, Tukwila[48]
	Training and Safety Center	11911 East Marginal Way S, Tukwila[52]		Operator training, new equipment qualifications, and retraining. Across the street from the South Base.

Transit Now

Metro and four other transit organizations in the Puget Sound region use the same type of monthly passes, which can be issued in various configurations.

In April 2006, King County Executive Ron Sims announced a program entitled "Transit Now" that, if approved by voters, would provide for a 20 percent increase in transit service by the end of 2016 over 2006 service levels, measured in annual operating hours. In order to realize this growth, Transit Now proposed an increase in the local option sales tax for transit of one-tenth of one percent. The Transit Now ordinance^[53], passed by the King County Council on 5 September 2006 and signed by Executive Sims on 11 September 2006, forwarded the tax proposition to the voters and identified the programs to which operating revenue generated from the sales tax increase could be appropriated. The measure was approved by 56.62% of King County voters in the November 2007 general election. The service programs identified in the ordinance are as follows:

1. Implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service called RapidRide in five arterial corridors.
2. Increase service on high ridership routes that provide frequent, two-way connections throughout the agency's service area.
3. Service for growing areas in outlying sububuran/[exurban] areas.
4. Partnerships with cities and major employers to provide more service than could otherwise be provided through typical resources.
5. Additional improvements such as expanded ride-share and paratransit services in King County.

RapidRide

The RapidRide corridors are:

• A Line (Opening June 2010^[54]) - Pacific Highway South. This line will connect with Sound Transit's Central Link light rail beginning at SeaTac, Washington SeaTac and travel along Pacific Highway South to Federal Way.
• B Line (2011) - Bellevue-Redmond. The line will serve downtown Bellevue, Crossroads Mall area, Overlake and downtown Redmond.
• C Line (2011) - West Seattle. The line will run from West Seattle Junction over the West Seattle Bridge to downtown Seattle.
• D Line (2012) - Ballard-Uptown. The line will serve Ballard, Uptown and the downtown Seattle Stadium Area.
• E Line (2013) - Aurora. This line will run from Pioneer Square, Seattle in downtown Seattle to the Aurora Transit Center in Shoreline by way of Aurora Avenue North.

All lines will use new, low-floor, articulated buses that feature an identifiable look distinct from other Metro coaches. Stops will be farther apart than typical Metro service to increase speed and reliability and create "stations" more akin to what is found on light rail lines. Stations will have real time information signs to communicate estimate arrival times of RapidRide buses.^[55] Some form of off-bus fare collection would be considered.

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS)

Collaborating with several local jurisdictions, Metro was an early experimenter with Transit Signal Priority (TSP), a system to extend green lights to allow buses to get through. The system can boost average speeds as much as 8%, and is in use on several of the city's busiest corridors, including Aurora Avenue N, Rainier Avenue S, and Lake City Way NE^[56]

In 2010, Metro will rollout a new IP network based ITS infrastructure for its RapidRide service. Buses will communicate with roadside equipment using 802.11 wireless technology on the 4.9 GHz public safety band. A fiber optic backhaul connects access points and roadside equipment together to Metro's Communication Center. The system will extend the legacy RFID-based TSP system. It will also be used in conjunction with GPS technology to provide frequent and accurate location updates for next bus arrival signs at RapidRide stations. Those signs are a component of what Metro calls a "Tech Pylon", a free standing wireless-capable kiosk, that also has an ORCA Card validator and other rider information.^[57][58]

Metro is a participating agency in the regional smart card program called ORCA (One Regional Card for All). It was launched for public use on April 20 2009, along with six other transit agencies in the region.^[59]

Metro plans to have automated stop announcements on buses beginning in late 2009 as part of its on-board communications system update.^[60]

In 1998 the fleet was updated with a Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system that utilizes battery-powered beacons located at some stops. Metro is currently in the process of replacing it with a GPS-based system as part of a system-wide radio update by 2010.^[61]

The extent of Metro's application of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) for transit information available for customers has been limited to a few projects:

• An early project called MyBus by the University of Washington (UW) utilized the tracking data to provide real-time bus information. This is now hosted by Metro under the name Tracker. An improved version of MyBus called One Bus Away, developed by a UW graduate student, combines Tracker information with Google Maps.
• Transit Watch displays, like those found in airports and major train stations, are installed at some transit centers and transfer points to show real-time bus arrival information.
• A pilot project provided bus information displays along a city arterial. Metro discontinued the project in 2005, citing the cost of maintenance and technical problems.^[62]
• Metro has a regional trip planner that provides itineraries for transit trips within King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, including those on Sound Transit services, Washington State Ferries, the Seattle Center Monorail, and the Seattle Streetcar. Google Maps also provides trip planning using schedule data as part of their Google Transit service but it is limited only to Metro bus routes.

Programs

• Adopt-A-Stop
• Bus Shelter Mural Program
• Move It! Youth Project
• Partners in Transit
• Poetry on Buses^[63]
• Recycling Program
• School Program
• Central Puget Sound Regional Fare Coordination Project (Smart Card)
• On-Board Systems/Communications Center System Project

Fleet

Metro operates one of the largest bus-only fleets in the country^{[citation needed]}. Metro has a high concentration of articulated buses—almost half its current fleet and the largest articulated fleet in North America.^[64] Metro's use of articulated coaches dates back to 1978, when it was the first large agency in the country to adopt the technology^{[citation needed]}. The other half of the fleet consists of mostly Gillig Phantom high-floor coaches and New Flyer low-floor coaches, the latter of which are used mostly on routes within the Seattle city limits.

The agency pioneered technologies in widespread use today. In 1979, the AMG trolleys were ordered with some of the first wheelchair lifts in the nation^{[citation needed]}, promising a completely new level of independence for disabled residents. Early lifts were severely flawed, but by the mid 1980s the lifts were generally reliable and were ordered on all new buses. With the retirement of the 1400-series buses in 1999, the entire fleet became wheelchair-accessible—again, the first fleet its size to do so^{[citation needed]}. Metro was reluctant to adopt low-floor buses, not buying any until 2003. Low-floor coaches have slightly reduced seating capacity (because the wheelwells intrude further into the passenger compartment) which may have been a concern as many of Metro's routes are frequently "standing room only"^{[citation needed]}. Whatever the reason for the delay, Metro has now embraced low-floor buses, and all new fleet additions since 2003 have been low-floor. Like Golden Gate Transit and SamTrans in the Bay Area of California (and unlike most transit agencies), almost all of Metro's fleet has highback non-reclining seating as opposed to lowback seating that is used by most other transit agencies on local routes. These buses operate on both local and express routes.

Trolleys

A Gillig Phantom trolley on route 4

Metro maintains a fleet of 159 electric trolley buses (ETBs) that serve 14 routes^[65] along almost 70 miles^[1] of two-direction overhead wire. This is the second largest^[66] ETB fleet (by ridership) in the country. The ETBs are valued by Metro both as zero-emission vehicles,^[67] and as vehicles well adapted to Seattle's hilly terrain. In Seattle, ETBs are traditionally referred to simply as "trolleys". Occasionally Metro will use diesel or diesel-electric hybrid coaches on trolley routes. Reasons for doing this include construction (weekends only^[68]), overhead wire maintenance or events that require coaches to go off-route (since none of Metro's ETBs have emergency power units), "coach changes" (replacing a bus in service that has developed a problem), or to add temporary additional capacity. The latter two cases sometimes lead to diesel buses' being used, in order to get the replacement or supplementary vehicle into service as quickly as possible; diesel buses can reach the point of entry into service faster, as they do not need to follow the overhead wires when deadheading.

In 2002, Metro replaced its 109 AMG trolleys with 100 new trolleys using new Gillig Phantom shells. The drive train of the AMG coaches was retained with new electronics, saving approximately $200,000 per coach. Metro rebuilt 59 of the 236 now retired dual-mode Breda "tunnel buses", converting them to electric-only operation and refurbishing them to replace aging MAN articulated ETBs. The rebuild included new Vossloh-Kiepe current-collection equipment, new interior upholstery, a completely new driver's compartment, and new ADA-compliant signage.

Diesel-Electric Hybrids

Metro operates the largest fleet of articulated hybrid buses in the country, the fleet of 235^[1] New Flyer DE60LFs it purchased to replace the Bredas (Sound Transit bought an additional 21 similar buses). Metro's hybrids were purchased to run in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, where they operate together with Sound Transit's light rail vehicles. Metro purchased 213 hybrids in 2004, and by March 2006, Metro had accumulated nearly 13 million miles on its 235 hybrid buses.^[69]. On May 16, 2007, Metro awarded its biggest contract ever to New Flyer for the purchase of 715 more 60-foot (18 m) hybrid buses.^[70] 93^[71] 40-foot hybrid coaches from Daimler Buses North America were ordered in 2009 with delivery expected in 2010.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a one-year comparative study between conventional diesel and GM hybrid-powered buses operating on a typical King County drive cycle. Results showed that the GM-hybrid powered buses lowered fuel consumption by 23%; NOxby 18%; carbon monoxide (CO) by 60%; and total hydrocarbon (THC) by 56% when compared to conventional diesel buses.

Hush Mode

A special mode was designed by GM Allison engineers to allow the buses to operare solely on electric power, reducing tailpipe emissions and noise^[69]. Before entering the tunnel, the operator pushes a button that charges the batteries to their maximum charge. Before entering the tunnel, the operator puts the coach into "Hush mode". In the bores between the tunnels, the bus uses electric traction to get to 15 mph (24 km/h); after 15 mph a combination of electric and diesel is used. The operation of the diesel engine allows the batteries to charge. Inside the stations, the coaches operate solely on electric propulsion. While the doors are closed, the engine still rotates in order to operate auxiliary loads (such as the air compressor). Hush mode is deactivated after the coach has traveled a certain distance or can be manually deactivated by the operator.

Roster

	Model	Motor	Length	Purchased	Retired	Qty.*	Fleet Numbers
	New Flyer DE60LFA	Cummins ISL/GM Hybrid	61'	2009	testing	16	6000-6015
	Workhorse/StarTrans	Duramax[72]	27.5'[72]	2009	in service, testing		1900-
	New Flyer DE60LF	Cummins ISL/GM Hybrid[73]	61'[74]	2008[74]	in service	22	6813-6834[74]
				2009		16	6835-6850
	New Flyer DE60LF	Cat C9/GM Hybrid[75]	61'[74]	2002	Inactive 2009	1	2599
				2004	in service	213	2600-2812
	New Flyer D60LF	Caterpillar C9	60'	2004	in service	30	2870-2899[76]
	New Flyer D40LF	Cummins ISL 280[77]	40'	2003	in service	100	3600-3699 [78]
	New Flyer D60	Cummins M11/330	60'	1998-2000	in service	274	2300-2573[79]
	Ford/Champion Van	Navistar T444E (branded as Ford Power Stroke)	25'	2003	in service	35	1200-1234[80]
	Gillig Phantom ETB	GE/Alstom (reman)	40'	2002	in service	100	4100-4199 [81]
	Gillig Phantom	Cummins ISC 250	30'[82]	1999-2000[82]	in service	95	1100-1194[82]
	Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11/280	35'	1997[83]	in service	15	3185-3199[83]
	Gillig Phantom	Cummins M11/280[84]	40' [83]	1996-1999 [83]	in service	395	3200-3594[83]
	Breda ADPB 350	AEG/Westinghouse	60'	Converted 2004-2006	in service	59	4200-4258 [85][86]
	Breda ADPB 350	DDC6v92TA/ AEG/Westinghouse	60'	1988-1991	2005	236	5000-5235
	MAN ETB	Siemens[citation needed]	60'	1987	2007	46	4000-4045[87]
	MAN Americana	MAN	40'	1986-1987	2004	157	3000-3146; 3150-3159[88]
	MAN SG-310	MAN	60'	1983	2001	202	2000-2201[89]
	MAN SG-220	MAN	60'	1977	1999	151	1400-1550[89]
	Flyer D900	Cummins VTB903	40'	1979	1997	224	1600-1823[90]
	Flyer D900	Cummins VTB903	35'	1980	1997	35	1850-1884[90]
	AMG 10240T	GE	40'	1979	2003	109	900-1009 (no 911)[91]
	AMG 10240B8	DDC 8V71	40'	1976	1996	323	1100-1313; 1340-1349[91]
	GMC T8H-5305	DDC 8V71	40'	1968	1987	70	700-769[92]
	Flxible		40'	1963	1985	100	500-599[93]
	Brill Trolley		40'	1940	1963[94]

* at time of fleet purchase

References

External links

• Media related to Metro Transit (King County) at Wikimedia Commons
• Metro Transit
• One Bus Away
• Seattle Tunnel on History Link
• Metro Tracker Applications
• mybus.org
• Bus Monster
• Central Puget Sound Regional Fare Coordination
• Metro/Sound Transit Smart Bus Project
• Comparative study between Diesel and GM Hybrid bus fleets operating in Seattle (King County)
• Elliott Bay Water Taxi