RapidRide A Line will have stop #61170 Pacific Hwy S & S 224th Street (Southbound) relocated from Friday, January 3 at 10 p.m. to Monday, January 6 at 5 a.m.;
Route 3 will have stop #13390 Bellevue Avenue E & Bellevue Place E (Southbound) closed on Saturday, January 4 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
Routes 43 and 48 will have stop #29249 24th Avenue E & Boyer Avenue E (Southbound) relocated from Saturday, January 4 at 9 a.m. to Sunday, January 5 at 3 p.m.;
Routes 44 and 62 will have east-bound stop #29232 and west-bound stop #29530 on N 45th Street & Woodlawn Avenue N closed on Saturday, January 4 and Sunday, January 5 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
It takes a lot of people to keep a transit system running smoothly across 150 routes and over 300,000 boardings a day.
Bus drivers are the most visible part of any transit system, but there are people behind the scenes who are just as vital in the day-to-day operation of King County Metro.
We’d like to introduce you to the staff that help keep the wheels on the bus going “round and round” every day.
Debra Freeman, Communications Coordinator
Supervisor Debra Freeman joined King County Metro in 1989 and has been a Supervisor since 2001. Debra started out in Base Operations, moving to Service Quality, the Transit Control Center (TCC), and Tunnel Control (buses), then Training. She is one of the few people to have worked in all five sections.
To stay motivated day-to-day, Debra shared her operators keep her on her feet. They make her laugh and show her their integrity by how they handle things. The operators show up every day and try their best in a tough environment, so she says she has to show up for them too.
Debra works to ensure that Metro’s Bus Operations Vision Statement: “Safety comes first for us and our customers. We serve with pride, respect each other, and solve problems together. We are one team” is put into practice every day.
“The experience of the people who have been on the ground for a long time with Metro should not be ignored,” Debra said. “The information and experience they provide is valuable. Would love to see it incorporated in what we do now.”
Gil Anselmo, Communications Coordinator
Gil’s journey to Metro started with a newspaper ad.
Born and raised in the Bataan province of the Philippines, Gil was the last of his family to move to the United States in 1985. He worked for an import company located on the northeast corner of 6th Ave. S. and Royal Brougham St. While there, he saw a newspaper ad for part-time drivers for Metro. He applied for the job and started at Metro in 1991.
In his words, “It was the only time in my career that I’ve seen the whole city all come out at the same time to cheer for every single Metro employee.”
When not coordinating immediate responses from the Transit Control Center (TCC), Gil enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and gardening. He is married and has two sons and a daughter.
Reflecting on Metro’s vision statement, Gil shares, “Respect for one another brings people together. It allows everyone to serve with pride and creates an environment where every member is as important as the next one, which is the key to a great team. When people feel respected, they feel safe – safe to formulate, establish, and practice safety protocols for themselves and for the customers”.
King County Metro signs landmark deal to welcome new bus manufacturer to North America, expanding zero-emission fleets
King County Metro has contracted with European bus builder Solaris to buy up to 16 zero-emission buses. This marks Solaris’ first contract with a U.S.-based transit agency and represents the company’s effort to expand its presence in the North American market.
The partnership also reflects a broader push to diversify the number of transit suppliers in the region. Metro’s procurement will help increase the bus manufacturing competition in the U.S. market, where bus manufacturing shortages have created supply chain challenges for all transit agencies.
Poland-based Solaris has been a supplier of zero-emission buses for over a decade and provides battery-electric buses, hydrogen fuel cell buses, and electric trolleys. Solaris buses are in service in over 30 countries and Solaris-built buses were recognized in 2017 and in 2024 as Europe’s Bus of the Year.
Metro will initially buy four battery-electric buses, with the option of purchasing a total of 16 vehicles.
Metro’s current zero-emission fleet includes battery-electric buses manufactured by New Flyer. The first of 89 new battery-electric buses purchased from GILLIG are scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year and are expected to go into service in 2026 when Metro’s Tukwila Base is scheduled to open.
King County Metro Vanpool to add 120 more electric vehicles
King County Metro is taking another step toward a more sustainable future by adding 120 electric vehicles to our vanpool fleet.
The new seven-passenger vehicles will join our nearly two dozen electric compact vanpool cars already on the road. Following this procurement, almost 10 percent of Metro’s vanpool fleet will be electric.
What is a vanpool?
Vanpooling is similar to carpooling. Commuters share the driving and have a common schedule and route to work. With a Metro Vanpool, all costs are included in one low monthly fare. This includes the van, fuel, insurance, maintenance, roadside assistance, tolls and even an emergency ride home if you need to leave work early.
Metro boasts one of the largest public vanpool programs in the country. Every workday, almost 1,000 Metro vanpools hit the roads of King County, keeping thousands of single-car trips off our congested roads.
Metro Vanpool’s newest electric vehicle
Our procurement process concluded that the Tesla Model Y is the only currently available, seven-passenger electric vehicle that meets county electrification requirements and federal rideshare vehicle specs for FTA grants. As such, the first procurement will be for the Tesla Model Y. Metro will be exploring and considering all available EV options for future vehicle purchase.
The purchase price of the Model Y is about the same as gasoline-powered minivans. The vehicle also fits within Metro’s cost-recovery vanpool fare model and meets King County electrification, federal grant, and employer transportation benefit eligibility requirements.
Safety features include lane assistance and collision avoidance assistance. Auto-pilot features will not be activated for vanpool vehicles.
Charging and range
This all-wheel-drive subcompact crossover SUV has an expected range of 330 miles when fully charged.
The average home’s 110-volt service can support up to 75 miles a day. About 90 percent of Metro’s current Vanpool round trip mileage is 75 or fewer daily miles.
The Model Y also has access to Tesla’s supercharger network, adding quick-charge capability.
The vanpool of the future
Metro is creating the vanpool of the future. This will include attracting new commuters into the program, modernizing and electrifying our fleet, and partnering with communities—especially in lower-income neighborhoods—to expand the availability of charging infrastructure.
Metro also works with employers seeking to expand their employee transit benefits to cover vanpool commutes.
