(May 4 photo, taken as first RapidRide bus was shown off)
Confirmed by King County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s office: During a hearing this afternoon, it was revealed that Metro is proposing pushing back the start of West Seattle RapidRide bus service by a year – that would mean it debuts in the second half of 2012 instead of 2011. But it’s not a budgetary matter, according to Constantine’s chief of staff Chris Arkills – it’s because of the construction that will be under way as part of the “South Portal” package of projects related to the Highway 99 corridor, and Metro wouldn’t want to unveil a service as “rapid” when it may well not be, in the midst of construction and changes. Arkills stresses that the increased bus service levels promised as part of mitigation funding for the Viaduct construction WILL still kick in by then, so West Seattle WILL still have more service – including the 54 corridor that RapidRide is to follow. The Constantine team has arranged for us to speak with Metro tomorrow morning to get more details on the proposal and what happens next – so look for a followup.
West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
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