Spot Improvements

Updated December 2025

The Transit Spot Improvement Program makes small and medium investments to make transit service work better. Our goal is to make riding transit faster, safer, and more reliable for everyone.

We work with King County Metro, Sound Transit, and local community members to find out which projects are needed to improve travel around the city.

The program is paid for by the Seattle Transit Measure and the Seattle Transportation Measure, which voters approved in 2020 and 2024.

Program Goals

1. Reduce delays in travel time and increase reliability for bus operations.

2. Improve safety for transit riders, bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers.

3. Improve passenger experience by making passenger facilities more accessible and comfortable.

In 2024, the team delivered 45 improvements to transit safety and access across the city. These accomplishments fall into the following types:

11 Bus-Only Lanes

22 Bus Stop and Rider Amenities

Rear Door Pads and Benches

2 Traffic Signal Upgrades

3 Streetcar Safety Improvements

1 Safety and Maintenance Improvement

6 Roadway Improvements

Asphalt overlays, curb space and channelization updates

Project Highlights

Aurora Avenue Bus Lanes

Busses running along Aurora Avenue with new bus lanes

The Transit Spot Improvement Team upgraded the bus-only lanes on Aurora Avenue between Downtown Seattle and N 145th Street to operate 24/7. This is a vital step towards improving reliability for buses that operate on this critical transit corridor that serves over 14,000 riders daily.

Red Bus Lane Refreshes

Examples of refreshed red bus lanes.

Left: 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 41st, Right: Westlake Avenue and Republican Street

The Transit Spot Improvement Team has worked to refresh the paint on bus lanes across the city, like at 15th Avenue Northeast / Northeast 41st and at Westlake Avenue / Republican Street. The vibrancy of red bus lanes is essential for reducing bus delays by ensuring compliance from drivers.

West McGraw Street & Queen Anne Avenue North

Left is a before picture with a very broken sidewalk, right is the after with a wide and finished sidewalk.

This project repaired the bus pads and adjacent sidewalks of a bus stop in Queen Anne, restoring transit access to seniors and people with disabilities.

Northeast 130th Street Overlay and Curb Ramps

Examples of new curb ramps

This project installed a new layer of asphalt on 130th Street from Meridian Avenue to 1st Avenue and added eight new curb ramps. This improved bus reliability in the corridor as well as supported universal access to the street’s transit facilities.

Westlake Avenue and Stewart Street

Left: the intersection without any treatment. Right: The intersection after installation of a yellow area with hatching and flex posts to provide more security.

This project added hatching and ‘candlesticks’ to a multi-modal intersection in Downtown Seattle, near Westlake Station. This treatment helps to prevent drivers coming out of the nearby parking garage from colliding into the streetcar.

5th Ave N and Republican Street

A crosswalk with parking crossing signs going over a bicycle lane to a transit island.

The Transit Spot Improvement team has installed signage that alerts bicyclists about bus riders crossing a bike lane to access a transit boarding island. This was done to improve safety for both bicyclists and bus riders.

16th Ave SW and SW Graham St

Before: treatment there is a wooden bench next to a bus sign and a small bit of gravel. After: a large marked concrete sidewalk with a large ADA compliant landing area and a permanently affixed bench.

This bus stop was not ADA-compliant and was the only stop on Route 125 that the neighborhood could access. To correct this, SDOT installed a concrete sidewalk including an ADA-compliant front door landing area and a bench.

15th Ave E between E Thomas and E John St

Before: a street with faded markings. After: refreshed markings with right turn except buses signage

The pavement markings had faded at this location, and the “right turn only” signage was out of date. SDOT refreshed the pavement markings and installed new “Right turn only except buses” signs.

Upcoming Work

E John St & 10th Ave E

Next year, SDOT will install a plastic hardened centerline, tuff curbs, and OmegaPosts at this site to deter people driving cars from using the oncoming lane to pass the bus. This is to address the existing issue of cars using the oncoming lane to pass the bus. This issue leads to bus operators having difficulty re-entering traffic as well as merging into the bus-only left turn lane at the next intersection. This was brought to SDOT’s attention by a constituent on May 1st of this year.

S Jackson Street and 20th Place

The Transit Spot Improvement team is working on a project to address speeding on S Jackson St, improve Route 14 bus reliability, and improve transit access to the area. This project will be undertaken in partnership with the Safe Routes to School and Vision Zero programs as well as Washington Middle School, who brought the issue to SDOT’s attention. The team is looking at alternatives for a transit boarding island or full curb bulb out to lane in order to address the concerns at the site while also accommodating the multimodal (car, bike, pedestrian, transit, parking) needs of the street.

Sand Point Way and 62nd

The Transit Spot Improvement team will add a new pedestrian half-signal, marked crossing, and sidewalk segment to this site. As of right now, there are no safe crossings across Sand Point Way that allow the neighborhood to access bus stops for Routes 79 and 75. This project seeks to rectify that and improve safe community transit access.