King County Metro is restoring some hyper-local bus service throughout the county, starting today. A total of 79 additional trips will be allocated to six routes that function as DART (Dial-A-Ride) service.
The routes use smaller single-door buses and are operated by Hopelink, the agency’s contractor for this type of service. DART can come in fixed-route and flexible service varieties, sometimes with both characteristics in a service area or corridor.
Staffing levels have been a sticking point in more DART service, but the situation is improving. “We are glad to be restoring trips for riders in several communities thanks to the increased availability of drivers on these DART routes,” Jeff Switzer, a spokesperson for Metro, told The Urbanist.
Riders in Mercer Island, Federal Way, Tukwila, Renton, Auburn, and Enumclaw will benefit from the improved service. Changes to service will shake out as follows:
In March, Metro implemented its regular biannual service change, which covers the bulk of routed service modifications. It was a fairly narrow set of service changes and didn’t come with much in the way of notable service improvements, but at least wasn’t a bringer of system cuts like last fall. With more stable and improving staffing levels, perhaps riders can expect more service restoration this fall.
