Demonstrating Community Leadership – Planning and design of the new RapidRide H Line involved thorough outreach and engagement with the community, which ultimately helped to inform routing, stop locations, station amenities, and safety and access improvements.  The project team first partnered with local organizations to identify community stakeholders, and then conducted several phases of multilingual public outreach — including surveys, interviews, polls, and more — to identify the most concerning issues along the H Line route. This stakeholder involvement significantly contributed to the project’s overall success. For example, station stops and shelters were revised to provide the most equitable access for vulnerable communities to economic opportunities, healthcare, and other community services.

Improving Community Mobility – This project serves to advance equity and social justice in King County by investing in faster, more frequent, and more reliable public transit service in an area representing Metro’s priority populations: communities of color and those with lower incomes, limited English proficiency, and high transit dependency. One of the main objectives of Metro’s bus rapid transit service, including the new RapidRide H line, is to increase transportation capacity so that a rider can arrive at a bus stop at any time and quickly get on a bus, eliminating the need to rely on or interpret a schedule. The RapidRide H Line creates new connections that expand King County’s public transit network, providing better access to the Burien Transit Center, other bus routes, and bicycle and multi-use trails. The project also reduces disparities with respect to sidewalk infrastructure and pedestrian safety along the project’s corridor.

Preserving Water Resources – King County Metro Maintenance and Facilities has an established program to minimize bus zone cleaning times while still providing adequate cleanliness for customers. Bus station shelters were therefore designed to minimize maintenance and water usage, while maintaining the desired function and aesthetics. By designing the bus shelters with smooth glass roofs, power washing efficacy was increased while water use for cleaning was decreased. The project team also aimed to reduce water irrigation needs by specifically choosing drought tolerant plants, so no permanent irrigation was installed. Finally, the overall reduction of impervious surface in the project area led to decreased stormwater runoff and lower impact on water quality.

Stimulating Economic Prosperity – The RapidRide H Line was a unique opportunity to directly benefit neighborhoods in its service area, as studies have shown a link between bus rapid transit projects and economic development in the communities they serve. It achieved this not only by providing faster, more reliable and connected public transit, but also through the generation of living wage jobs and the development of skills and capabilities throughout the construction and operation of the line­­. As an example, the project team (with support from King County Central Procurement and Contracting Staff) leveraged County apprenticeship and training programs, particularly for construction trade workers and disadvantaged communities, throughout the development of the project.

Designing Resilient Infrastructure – The project team hosted a workshop to assess vulnerability to climate change and explore strategies for resiliency. Climate risks identified included wildfire, heat waves, and wetter winters, but projected impacts to the RapidRide H Line are deemed minimal. However, since riders may be exposed to these conditions, the bus shelters were designed to provide greater protection from the sun and hazardous weather conditions, while the increased frequency of service reduces wait time, allowing riders to limit their exposure. The project also partnered with other transit agencies in the region to create trip planning tools that better integrate routes and empower communities along the RapidRide H Line by improving access to services and thereby increasing quality of life. The project will continue to monitor rider capacity, bus delays, and other metrics to further improve rider access, mobility, and wayfinding.