On Oct. 28 during an extended study session, the Bellevue City Council was briefed on the progress made by King County Metro to plan for a new bus rapid transit line running through Bellevue, called the RapidRide K-Line.

The K-Line is expected to enter service in 2025 and would connect the Eastgate Park and Ride along Interstate 90 through downtown Bellevue and Kirkland to Totem Lake.

Chris O’claire, mobility division director of King County Metro, said there are currently six rapid ride lines and those six lines represent 18 percent of ridership in King County. Metro projects there will be seven more lines by 2027.

Mirrored from other transportation projects is happening in Bellevue around that time, East Link in 2023, Interstate 405 bus rapid transit in 2024 and the K-Line in 2025 are a few of the future transportation projects happening.

O’claire said it is important to keep the three major capital investments in mind moving forward to make sure they align together to get as many people in and out of communities more effectively.

“There are a lot of things coming on the Eastside that we need to make sure we are well coordinated for,” O’claire said.

Better shelters, more accessible routes, real-time communication with buses and 15-minute bus intervals are some of the improvements Metro is forwarding on their RapidRide program.

“Customers are saying that they want a service that is easy and they can just show up and go… because people don’t want to schedule,” O’claire said. O’claire also pointed out that during peak periods the buses will come every 10 minutes.

According to Metro, the K-Line will be the second RapidRide route with service through the city. The RapidRide B-Line has been operating since 2011 connecting Redmond, Overlake and Bellevue. The planning process for the K-Line will include integration with the new East Link Light Rail Blue Line currently under construction.