This March, when Seattle City Light took to social media to celebrate the groundbreaking of King County Metro’s first bus base solely dedicated to battery electric buses in Tukwila, many transit advocates raised an eyebrow at the wording of the post. “Have you seen an electric bus around Seattle? If not, you will!” the post read. It was an odd choice of wording because electric buses have been crisscrossing Seattle for 84 years, with electric trolleybuses taking over routes that had been served by the city’s streetcar and cable car networks in 1940.
Metro’s new Tukwila bus base is seen as a ground zero in its mandate to become an all-electric transit agency by 2035, a goal promoted and embraced by the top echelons of county leadership. But the idea that electric buses on Seattle streets are brand new illustrates the degree to which trolleybuses have faded into the background despite being the absolute workhorses of King County Metro network. The 14 routes that make up the trolley network, all of which run entirely within Seattle city limits, carried 19.5% of riders systemwide in 2023 while accounting for only 16% of the agency’s platform hours.
In June, the King County Auditor released a report digging into obstacle facing Metro’s electric vehicle transition. The report noted “significant risks that may impede reaching the goal” and spelled out some significant headwinds that Metro will face if it tries to convert its entire fleet to battery-electric buses as fast as possible. Those risks include a bus market in the US with a dwindling number of manufacturers, and the fact that battery-electric buses don’t currently perform as well as diesel-hybrid buses.
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