This project provides facilities, buses and service hours to implement Bus Rapid Transit on SR 99 north between Aurora Village Transit Center to downtown Seattle and SR 99 south between the Federal Way Park-and-Ride and the end of Light Rail Transit (South 154th Street, SeaTac or South 200th Street) with a possible extension to Southcenter in Tukwila. BRT service would operate every ten minutes in both directions. This project also includes additional bus service across Lake Washington on SR 520 and I-90 to take full advantage of the investments planned for those corridors. In addition, this project will extend the E-3 Busway from Spokane Street to Industrial Way and constructs ramps to/from the I-5 center HOV lanes. This project was rated as one of the most highly effective HOV direct access projects in WSDOT's Puget Sound HOV Pre-Design studies.

Benefits:

• Service would be frequent with limited stops, stopping at BRT stations that feature upgraded passenger facilities.
• Would increase transit speed into Seattle from north and south.
• Connection to Light Rail Transit continues transit link in south King County.
• All busway routes using the E-3 Busway, including Metro routes from Renton, Kent, Tukwila, SeaTac, and Star Lake, along with Federal Way and Sound Transit routes from Pierce County, would save 3-5 minutes of travel time per trip, benefiting more than 17,000 daily Metro users.

Updated: Sept. 23, 2003