Information on the North and East subareas is available on the 2024 Service Plan website.

The ongoing staffing shortages have affected our ability to increase frequency for routes serving South King County and Pierce County, as approved in the 2022 Service Plan. However, we are continuing to research ways to improve and optimize service with the resources currently available. This includes asking riders about their travel needs so we can weigh the trade-offs.

In May 2023, we surveyed riders, focusing questions on how often buses arrive, potential new transfers, the importance of overall travel time and what routing specific buses use. Our goal was to determine if there was a preference to deliver more frequent service, but with the trade-offs of adding additional stops or a transfer. We heard from over 750 ST Express riders whose answers will help us develop future service changes.

After reviewing our riders’ input and anticipated staffing capacity for next year, we have decided not to propose changes to existing routes in South King County and Pierce County. In the near term, we’ll focus on refining current service schedules to deliver reliable service. Looking forward, we’ll continue to review for potential future changes.