New bus lane on NE 45th Street improves transit for King County Metro riders

King County Metro Transit buses are now using a new Business Access and Transit (BAT) lane and buses are rolling more smoothly eastbound on Northeast 45th Street in the University District. 

This was a collaborative project between King County Metro and the city of Seattle, improving five key blocks from Roosevelt Way Northeast to 15th Avenue Northeast. 

Thanks to this effort, riders now have faster, more reliable trips on Routes 20, 31, 32, 44, 49, 70, 167, 372 and Sound Transit Express Route 586 (as well as Route 48 on Saturdays.) The new BAT lanes will save time for an estimated 20,000 bus riders on the average weekday. 

The bus lanes were first identified by King County Metro and Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) through the Route 44 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor Project. In addition to the BAT lanes recently added on Northeast 45th Street, King County Metro and SDOT also installed new BAT lanes on 15th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 40th and 45th streets in August 2021. 

More improvements are in the works this year in the Ballard, Wallingford and Phinney Ridge neighborhoods. The rest of the Route 44 improvements will be constructed through 2022. More information about improvements can be found on the Route 44 project page.