Fix the L8

👀 "An entire lane of solo drivers on Denny Way between Seattle Center and I-4 can fit into one articulated Route 8 bus, and a dedicated transit lane would allow that bus to be over four times faster than driving along this section"

Cars just don't scale well, especially in dense cities.

Page 1 of letter from Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda in support of bus lanes on Denny Way

Page 2 of letter from Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda in support of bus lanes on Denny Way

Thank you for your support, @cmtmosqueda.bsky.social!

Hopefully!!

The first bullet point is actually only 2.5x, not over 3x. I-5 S traffic has about a 29% share of people from eastbound Denny at Denny/Stewart/Yale and by brain went "that's less than 1/3 so over 3x" but that's not how math works. I need to get some more sleep 🙃

Jason

Although we disagree with the conclusions from SDOT's traffic study, its traffic counts were very eye-opening:
• Over 3 times as many people use Denny Way to access areas east of I-5 than to access I-5 S
• Of the people continuing east, 35% do so in a car, 34% in a Route 8 bus, and 31% on foot

Probably still a better way to improve reliability than whatever SDOT is doing

We've been asking @seattledot.bsky.social to install east-west bus lanes for Route 8 and their response is to tear one out for the only other route connecting Capitol Hill and the Central District.

Send an email urging them to reconsider: actionnetwork.org/letters/seat...

Nashville installed a bus lane less than a month after advocates outwalked a bus. They raced it again, and to nobody's surprise, it wasn't even close this time.

Your turn @seattledot.bsky.social

Appreciate it!

I misunderstood the context of this sentence in the traffic study. It was citing ridership data east of 2nd but was actually only discussing a bus lane west of 2nd, where SDOT is already planning on adding new bus lanes.

Credit where credit is due and apologies to @seattledot.bsky.social

Jason

One sentence in the study that @seattledot.bsky.social seemed to ignore:

"With this high of ridership, reallocating one lane from general-purpose vehicles to buses would proportionally serve more person-trips on the corridor"

SDOT has updated their post about Denny Way bus lanes and have uploaded the full traffic study, which you can read below.

In short, it's a 516 page document that does not mention mode shift or alternate routing a single time.

seattle.gov/documents/De...

Anyone know any beavers that can build bus lanes?

Stuck on the L8. On a Saturday. Full bus. Barely moving. It’s time for bus lanes @seattledot.bsky.social.

The Seattle Transit Advisory board sent a letter to SDOT in response to their Seattle Transportation Plan 3-year Implementation Plan on Tuesday. It includes scathing language surrounding their traffic study on Denny Way and we wholeheartedly agree with it.

www.seattle.gov/documents/De...

@seattledot.bsky.social director says SDOT is "transit first," but has yet to prove it. Jason @fixthel8.bsky.social with another great OpEd about why bus lanes are integral for a reliable Route 8. Thankfully @councilmember-amr.bsky.social recognizes this is a problem with an obvious solution.

@mattbaume.bsky.social Next step is for AMR to propose a resolution to be voted on. Best way to help that is to reach out to city council in support, whether by email, phone call, or public comment. The Transportation Committee won't meet again until December 2nd though as budget talks ramp up.

Thank you, @councilmember-amr.bsky.social. A transit study that ignores mode shift is grossly negligent and its results cannot be used to guide policy. We question how leadership could have approved an analysis with such a massive oversight and are glad you share our concerns.

We have brought up the idea of piloting bus lanes on Denny for Seattle Center's FIFA Fan Zone multiple times and SDOT always just brushes it off as absurd.

We need fast and reliable ways for ALL Seattleites to participate in the World Cup, not just the ones who can afford a game ticket.

Seattle explaining to us why they can’t build bus lanes

We can fix Seattle's chronically late Route 8 bus. Here's how | Op-Ed It will cause a little short-term pain, but adding a bus-only lane to Denny Way is a way to alleviate congestion and make the bus more efficient.

Check out our latest Op-Ed in @seattletimes.com!

www.seattletimes.com/opinion/we-c...

SDOT’s goal is to shift driving trips to transit. Why do their traffic studies not consider that people might consider taking the bus?

SDOT has confirmed with us that they did not consider mode shift when studying bus lanes on Denny Way. How can Seattle claim to be "transit first" when their traffic studies completely ignore it? We can't effectively build transit if we assume no one will ever use it.

Metro studying transit improvements on Route 106 This post is available in multiple languages. King County Metro, in collaboration with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), King County Road Services, and the City of Renton, is studyin…

If you love them, let them go and SDOT might actually give them some bus lanes (Route 8 used to run to Rainier Beach before it was split and Route 106 took over its southern half)

kingcountymetro.blog/2025/09/09/m...

@nerd4cities.bsky.social Appreciate the shout-out! Also, just a heads-up that the existing bus lane only goes as far west as Minor. 9th is where SDOT was considering extending it to (which we still think isn't far enough) but opted against.

CityNerd's latest video calls out the L8, our race, and SDOT's latest announcement! It's available now on Nebula but should also be available on YouTube in a few days!

CSG Fix Route 8 Image by Francesca Oaksford Fix Route 8! Route 8 serves thousands of riders per day, with the highest ridership per service hour out of all routes King County Metro operates. Demand for the workho...

Tell them to not do that and speed up the bus!

The City of Seattle explaining why they can’t make the bus faster than jumping rope

If you're frustrated about this please consider joining us tomorrow morning at 10 AM in City Hall to give public comment at the Transportation Committee meeting if you can make it. Public comment is the first thing on the agenda and each speaker will have 2 minutes.

During peak travel times the number would be even higher than 40 as well. Each articulated bus can fit 120 people and those buses are PACKED during rush hour.