SEATTLE — King County Metro's new RapidRide G Line service connecting downtown Seattle with the Central District and Madison Valley began Saturday, Sept. 14.
Buses run every 6 minutes most of the day along the new rapid line, which was designed to improve reliability and make transit more accessible in the area.
"Frequency gives you the ability to not have to make a plan according to a bus schedule, but make a plan according to your life," King County Metro General Manager Michelle Allison told KING 5.
The project was one of the Seattle Department of Transportation's largest and most complex projects. Planning began in 2012 as part of the Seattle Transit Master Plan. Construction began in late 2021 and was mostly complete by August.
The city added 1.4 miles of dedicated transit lanes. A total of 21 new RapidRide stops were installed.
"It will save me about 10 minutes every day," commuter Pengfei Zui told KING 5.
The project also included either building or replacing nearly 4 miles of sidewalks, as well as completing about 9 lane miles of concrete roadway and 2.3 lane miles of new asphalt overlay.
Bequest Coffee Company moved into its Capitol Hill location just over a year ago, while the area was still a construction zone.
"Now that the parking lots are open we get a little bit more diverse business people parking and staying a while," said Aidan Jarrett, manager at Bequest.
About $80.5 million in funding for the project came from the Federal Transit Administration. The rest of the money came from the Move Seattle Levy, Sound Transit ST3, King County and state funds.