Project Overview

About Route 40

Route 40 is 13.5 miles long and serves Northgate, Crown Hill, Loyal Heights, Ballard, Fremont, South Lake Union, Downtown Seattle, and Pioneer Square. Route 40 is one of King County Metro’s top highest ridership routes, steadily recovering from the pandemic, and serving an average of over 7,500 customers each weekday.

Project Goals

Route 40 is currently scheduled to arrive every 10 minutes or sooner, but buses on this route can be slow and unreliable. On average, Route 40 is late approximately 20% of the time. At busier times of the day, it can be late up to 35% of the time.

Through the Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor program, improvements are being made to this vital corridor, specifically in Westlake, Fremont, Ballard, and Crown Hill. Project goals include:

  • Reduce bus travel times by 5–10% during peak traffic hours
  • Make it safer and easier to get to and on the bus
  • Improve service reliability to:
    • Make the timing between buses more consistent
    • Ensure that trips during peak and off-peak traffic hours take a similar amount of time

Project Map

An illustrated map of the Route 40 corridor. Project areas include Holman Road between 3rd Avenue Northwest and Greenwood Avenue North, Leary Way Northwest between 15th Avenue Northwest and 24th Avenue Northwest, Northwest 36thStreet between Fremont Avenue and 3rd Avenue Northwest, and Westlake Avenue North between 9th Avenue and the Fremont Bridge.

Click image to enlarge.

Route 40 Improvements

  • 3 total miles of BAT or FAB lanes
  • 5–10% transit travel time reductions
  • 47 upgraded curb ramps
  • 8 new bus bulbs
  • 6,000+ feet of upgraded sidewalks
  • 3 new or upgraded crosswalks

Legend

 Route 40. Makes all regular stops.

 Northbound Freight-and-Bus (FAB) Only Lanes

 Southbound Freight-and-Bus Only Lanes

 Northbound Business Access and Transit (BAT) Lanes

 Southbound Business Access and Transit Lanes

 Street improvements (striping and some street repairs)

 Existing bus priority signal

 New bus priority signal

 Curb ramp upgrades

 New signalized crosswalk

 Upgraded signalized crosswalk

 New bike connections

To download the map and legend, click here.

Funding

This project is being funded by the 9‑year Levy to Move Seattle, approved by voters in 2015 to improve safety for all travelers, maintain our streets and bridges, and invest in reliable, affordable travel options for a growing city. According to the Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee Report additional sources include $4 million federal grants, state grants, King County Metro funds, and Vehicle Licensing Fees from the Seattle Transportation Measure (formerly known as Seattle Transit Benefit District). Want to learn more? Visit the Levy website.

 
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