Starting Saturday, Feb. 5, King County Metro Transit is updating its bus service. This includes routing and bus stop changes for approximately two dozen bus routes from various areas of the county that pass through downtown Seattle.

The downtown changes are designed to keep people moving during the long-term construction along the Seattle waterfront and SODO area.

Here are the highlights of the February changes for bus riders in the Highline area:
Select trips will be deleted on routes 21, 23 and 131. Check the blue timetables or online Trip Planner for details.

One trip on Route 192 that currently leaves downtown Seattle at 5:34 p.m. will be deleted.
In downtown Seattle, there are bus routes shifting from First Avenue to Third Avenue; from Third Avenue to Second/Fourth avenues; and new bus stop locations on Third Avenue for several routes - some of which could affect local routes traveling into downtown.

Route 99 will loop to travel north on First Avenue and south on Alaskan Way in Seattle, and buses will no longer be "wrapped" to look like the old waterfront streetcars.

That's not the only change coming up in February. Bus riders across Metro's service area should check winter schedules for the routes they use most often to see what's new. They can prepare by picking up a new blue timetable and the Special Rider Alert brochure, which is also posted on Metro Online. Or, use the online Trip Planner for some advance research. Be sure to input a date of Feb. 5 or later, when using the Trip Planner.

Metro updates its routes and scheduling three times a year to improve service and keep up with the changing needs of transit customers.

Beyond bus service, Metro's Rideshare Services provides resources for carpooling, vanpooling or vansharing. Carpooling and vanpooling match people traveling to common destinations. VanShare helps those who need to make a connection to or from bus service. You can VanShare from home and connect to your bus, or use VanShare from the bus stop or park-and-ride lot to complete a trip to work.

For information about the services Metro provides, visit Metro Online at www.kingcounty.gov/metro, or call Metro Customer Information at 206-553-3000.