RapidRide G Line

The RapidRide G Line is a future RapidRide bus service in Seattle, Washington, operated by King County Metro on Madison Street between Downtown Seattle and Madison Valley. The line is projected to open for service in 2024 and cost $133.4 million.[1]

G Line
A King County Metro trolleybus on Route 12, which might be replaced by the RapidRide G Line
Overview
SystemRapidRide
OperatorKing County Metro
StatusPlanned
Began service2024 (planned)[1]
Route
LocaleSeattle, Washington
StartDowntown Seattle
ViaMadison Street
EndMartin Luther King Jr. Way in Madison Valley
Length2.1 mi (3.4 km)
Stops21
Route diagram
1st Ave
(Ferries, Streetcar & Water Taxi Connection)
3rd Ave
(Link light rail, C, D, E, & H Line Connection)
 5th Ave
 8th Ave
Terry Ave
Boylston Ave
(Streetcar connection)
 E Union St
 17th Ave
 22nd Ave
 24th Ave E
 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way E
← F Line  {{{system_nav}}}   →

Route

The G Line will travel on Madison Street between Downtown Seattle and Madison Valley, an approximately 2.1-mile-long (3.4 km) route.[2]

The route begins near Colman Dock, the city's ferry terminal, at a station on 1st Avenue shared with the Seattle Streetcar. Within Downtown Seattle, buses will travel eastbound on Spring Street and westbound on Madison Street in transit lanes, stopping near the University Street light rail station at 3rd Avenue and the Seattle Central Library at 5th Avenue. The route crosses over Interstate 5 into First Hill, where the two directions merge after 9th Avenue onto Madison, continuing to run in center transit-only lanes. The G Line crosses Broadway, with a station connecting to the First Hill Streetcar, and passes the campus of Seattle University before transitioning to mixed traffic east of 15th Avenue. The route continues into Madison Valley, serving several curbside stations, before terminating at Martin Luther King Jr. Way near the Washington Park Arboretum.[3]:8–11

The G Line is planned to have 1.98 miles (3.19 km) of dedicated transit lanes and 1.14 miles (1.83 km) of mixed-traffic business access and transit lanes.[3]:18

Stops and stations

The G Line is planned to serve 21 total stops on its route, including 10 stops in each direction and the western terminal near Colman Dock.[3]:8 Stations will be approximately 60 feet (18 m) long and feature off-board fare payment (including ticket vending machines), raised platforms for level boarding, branded shelters, real-time arrival information, and other features.[3]:10[4]

Station[3]:8–9 Layout Notes
1st Avenue Side platform Western terminus, shared with Seattle Streetcar. Connection to Colman Dock (Washington State Ferries), King County Water Taxi, and Kitsap Fast Ferries.
3rd Avenue Side platforms Connection to Link Light Rail and RapidRide C, D, E, & H Lines.
5th Avenue Side platforms
8th Avenue Center platform (Westbound)
Side platform (Eastbound)
Terry Avenue Center platform
Summit Avenue/
Boylston Avenue		 Center platform Connection to Seattle Streetcar.
12th Avenue/
13th Avenue/
Union Street		 Center platform
17th Avenue Side platforms
22nd Avenue Side platforms Connection to future 23rd Ave RapidRide Line.
24th Avenue Side platforms Connection to future 23rd Ave RapidRide Line.
27th Avenue/
Martin Luther King Jr. Way		 Side platforms Eastern terminus

Service

The G Line is planned to run 20 hours per day, with a headway of 6 minutes on weekdays and 15 minutes during weekends, and weekday mornings and evenings.[3]:14 Travel times from Downtown Seattle to Madison Valley are projected to improve from 16 minutes to 10 minutes with the G Line.[5] The line is projected to carry 12,000 to 18,000 daily passengers.[1]

Fleet

The G Line is planned to be operated by 60-foot-long (18 m), articulated, hybrid buses with low floors and doors on both sides. Plans to purchase new trolleybuses for this line were dropped in March 2019[6] after New Flyer Industries stated that the desired model would not be available in a single vehicle.[7] Metro was unable to find another North American manufacturer willing to build articulated trolleybuses that could handle the very steep grades on the westernmost portion of the line (18–19%).[6]

The buses are planned to have a total of five doors, three on the right and two on the left, for boarding at stations in the center and side of the roadway.[3]:14

Funding

The G Line project is expected to cost $120 million, and will be funded by a mix of sources.[8] Funding will be provided by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the 2015 Move Seattle levy, and the 2016 Sound Transit 3 ballot measure.[9][10][11]

History

The Madison Street corridor was identified as a bus rapid transit candidate in the 2012 Transit Master Plan, adopted by the city of Seattle with input from King County Metro.[12] While other routes were given feasibility studies for streetcars, as part of a new municipal system, Madison Street was considered too steep to support rail transit.[13] The Madison Street corridor, from Downtown Seattle to Madison Park, was historically served by cable car service from 1890 until 1940, when they were scrapped and replaced with motor buses and trolleybuses on modern-day routes 11 and 12.[13][14]

A design concept for the service was first presented for public comment in 2014, featuring two options for the eastern terminus, at 23rd Avenue or Martin Luther King Jr Way (MLK Way). A public survey was conducted and found higher support for the MLK Way terminus, as well as preferences for station locations and transfers to other transit routes.[15] In February 2016, the Seattle City Council approved a locally preferred alternative for the project and endorsed it to pursue federal funding.[16]

Residents of a condominium building on the line opposed the construction of a traction power substation that would be needed for the trolleybuses, citing possible health risks from exposure to electromagnetic fields.[17]

As of 2017, construction on the project was planned to begin in mid-2018, with the line scheduled to open in 2019.[8] However, it was later reported that uncertainty around federal funding was expected to delay construction.[18] Reflecting those delays and following an FTA review, in March 2020 the projected opening date was pushed back to 2023.[19] A further delay to 2024 and a budget increase to $133.4 million was announced in August 2020 due to an updated consultant review amid potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

References
  1. Groover, Heidi (August 12, 2020). "Promised Madison bus line will open later than expected". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  2. "Fact Sheet: Madison Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Study" (PDF). Seattle Department of Transportation. March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  3. Madison Corridor BRT Study Final Report (PDF) (Report). Seattle Department of Transportation. February 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 2, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  4. "Madison by bus or car". Madison Street Bus Rapid Transit Online Open House. Seattle Department of Transportation. March 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  5. Lindblom, Mike (November 16, 2015). "Showdown brewing over bus lanes on Madison". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  6. "Trolleynews [regular news section]". Trolleybus Magazine. Vol. 55 no. 345. UK: National Trolleybus Association. May–June 2019. p. 117. ISSN 0266-7452.
  7. Lindblom, Mike (August 27, 2018). "An uphill battle to get electric trolleybuses on Madison RapidRide route". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  8. "Madison Street Bus Rapid Transit". Seattle Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  9. "Madison Street Bus Rapid Transit Open House" (PDF). Seattle Department of Transportation. August 2016. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  10. Lindblom, Mike (November 9, 2015). "Move Seattle passage means $930M to hit the streets; repaving, school zones first". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  11. Lindblom, Mike (November 14, 2016). "Where Sound Transit 3 projects could speed up or slow down". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  12. "Chapter 3: Corridors" (PDF). Seattle Transit Master Plan (Report). Seattle Department of Transportation. April 2012. pp. 3–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  13. Lindblom, Mike (November 12, 2012). "Seattle to spend up to $10 million to study new streetcar lines". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  14. Duncan, Don (November 28, 1982). "The end of a line: Cable cars historically clattered up and hurtled down Seattle's hills". The Seattle Times. p. A2.
  15. Nelson\Nygaard (March 2015). "Madison Street Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Study: Survey Summary Report" (PDF). Seattle Department of Transportation. p. 2-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  16. "City of Seattle Resolution 31647". Office of the City Clerk of Seattle. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  17. Nash, Daniel (February 27, 2017). "As Madison BRT hits next design milestone, residents beg and bargain over bus stop locations". Madison Park Times. Seattle. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  18. Giordano, Lizz (December 1, 2017). "2018 Brings a Slight Increase to SDOT's Budget". Seattle Transit Blog. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  19. "Madison St BRT – RapidRide G Line: Downtown Seattle to First Hill to Madison Valley". Seattle Department of Transportation. March 2, 2020. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
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