King County Metro Transit is shifting five bus routes and moving a busy bus stop to ease congestion and to help improve evening transit travel times for thousands of riders in downtown Seattle.

Beginning Monday, Nov. 5, Metro will shift five bus routes off of Olive Way and onto Pike Street, and move a Fourth Avenue bus stop one block north. The revised routes are 301, 306, 308, 312 and Sound Transit Express 522 – routes that carry several hundred riders on 21 trips during the busiest hour of the evening commute. Maps of the revised routes are posted online for route 301, routes 306, 308 and 312, and ST Express 522.

The route revision means these routes will again serve riders at the stop on Pike Street just west of Sixth Avenue.

The change comes after a month of observations and rider feedback that identified lengthy travel times on Olive Way during the evening commute. On Sept. 29, these five bus routes were revised to travel via Fourth Avenue and Olive Way as part of major changes in the bus network in downtown Seattle. However traffic in the area – buses, general traffic and pedestrians – proved too congested.

With the Nov. 5 routing revision, transit planners hope to see travel times improve by several minutes or better for riders on Olive Way as well as for riders of the routes that will be moved.

To make the route revision work, Metro also will close the bus stop on Fourth Avenue between Union and Pike streets on Nov. 5. All buses that have been stopping at the stop between Union and Pike streets will serve the stop one block north on Fourth Avenue between Pike and Pine streets. This move will help buses and other traffic better make a right turn on Pike Street and head straight to the Interstate 5 express lanes. Other bus routes that continue north on Fourth Avenue also should see improved travel times.

The moved bus stop affects riders on:

• Metro routes 111, 114, 210, 212, 214, 215 and 217
• Community Transit routes 402, 405, 410, 412, 413, 415, 416, 417, 421, 422, 424, 425 and 435
• Sound Transit Express routes 510, 511, 512, 513, 554, 590, 592, 594 and 595.

Rider Alerts will be posted at the bus stop and emailed to route subscribers. Updated information will be online and included in the online trip planner. Metro personnel also plan to be on the street during upcoming evening commutes to help answer rider questions.

Other modifications

Route 301 coming to downtown Seattle also will be revised during the morning commute to improve travel times, and will serve stops along Union Street instead of Stewart Street. A map is available online showing the changes.

Information about trip planning, construction reroutes and other transit information is available at metro.kingcounty.gov.