Back in August of last year, Gary wrote about the possible elimination of #20 bus service which, then, never happened. However, the drama continues.
Wallyhood was contacted by neighbors several weeks ago concerning the elimination of #20 bus service in September as part of a reduction and consolidation of bus service as the Link light rail Lynnwood extension opens this Fall. The #20 serves the northern and eastern extremes of Wallingford. (See Metro’s map here.)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.wallyhood.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/final_network_areamap_lg_en.jpg?resize=259%2C400&ssl=1)
It is surprisingly difficult to substantiate this. Metro’s own blog detailing bus route changes, published in May, notes merely service reductions for the 20. At the same time, their “final network map” on this King County website showing bus routes after the realignment has no evidence of the 20 bus anywhere. This lack of transparency alone has raised the ire of neighbors. Folks tell us that they have met with Dan Strauss who acknowledged the service elimination. (Strauss is the city council representative for that area.) In addition, Metro insiders have confirmed to them that the 20 is going away.
I contacted Strauss’ office as well as Metro for confirmation. That was way back on June 11, and I’m still waiting to hear back. If I do, I’ll update this story.
In the meantime, neighbors are not waiting around to see what happens. A petition is circulating in support of retaining #20 service, and you can fill it out here. There’s even a video which we’ve embedded below.
Some details from Rosanne:
The #20 bus that runs down Latona Avenue is scheduled for elimination in the fall of 2024. We got wind of a possible elimination more than a year ago but after going door to door with fliers and garnering support from the community, the bus continued running, so we thought we had succeeded. But it turns out the elimination was simply delayed until this year when the light rail opens its Lynnwood station in the fall. This means that local neighborhoods from Northgate to University District, West of I-5, will become a transportation desert (Licton Springs, Green Lake & East Wallingford). The nearest buses will entail a walk of several blocks–more than a person who might be elderly, disabled or a person shopping for groceries, or a person with young children will undertake.
No effort was made by King County Metro to reach out to people in this area in advance of their decision. No notifications were put up at bus stops for comment. It has been a well-kept secret until we found out about it almost by accident. Since then, we (neighbors) have undertaken an awareness campaign. We have collected more than 500 signatures [Editor’s note: the number is now over 1000.] of those who want to save bus #20. They include people from the University of Washington, North Seattle College, Robert Eagle Middle School and Bishop Blanchett High School.
We encourage the support of Wallingford residents who may value having the #20 bus as an option to get to light rail (U-District and Northgate) as well as to schools, churches and grocery shopping. We concerned neighbors are in the process of setting up meetings to lobby King County Metro to save our #20 bus. Please consider signing our list: http://tinyurl.com/SaveBus20.
The changes are scheduled to take place in September, so the time to act is now.