King County Metro to reduce routes due to staffing shortages

KING COUNTY, Wash. — Bus riders will start seeing fewer bus routes starting Sept. 17 as part of a service change by King County Metro but also the result of staffing shortages. Jada Mears is a mom of five who heavily relies on the metro to get to important appointments, she worries the reduced bus trips will set her back.

“If we have to leave at a certain time and the buses end up not coming or we have to wait longer than that also gets in the way of the appointment or the schooling that they have to get to, anything like that anything important,” said Mears.

King County Metro officials tell us about 200 trips have been removed but share that the effect is minimal. Bus riders like Mears said she’s already been dealing with long wait times and don’t want them to continue.

“If you’re reducing the buses then that also means there's going to be more time that we have to wait for more buses to come around,” said Mears.

The weekday trips that were removed were also due to staffing shortages. Al Sanders with King County Metro said in a statement “We are facing the same staffing challenges that all industries are currently dealing with. We are working to rebuild our workforce and are recruiting to fill part-time operator and mechanic positions,” he said.

The service updates happen twice a year by king county metro. Sanders said some of the routes no longer needed as many trips, while other areas saw more riders. Now that school has started they do expect to see an increase in ridership. Some students share their frustration with the change.

“I go to Garfield right now so it’s going to be pretty hard to obviously go to school and come back. They should increase the number not decrease it,” said Farus Kiflom, a student and frequent metro rider.

King County Metro said they are offering more than 11,000 daily trips. The next schedule change will happen in March 2023.