After pivoting away from an aggressive schedule for battery-bus adoption, King County Metro plans to focus attention on the tried-and-true trolley network. But limited staff, delays obtaining materials and permit timelines mean that trolley expansions will be some time coming.
King County Metro is in the middle of an electrification reset, as county leaders recalibrate on the question of how best to move the agency toward a zero-emission future amid a precarious funding landscape. As part of that reset, Metro is set to give some attention to an old standby: electric trolleybuses. But while the agency’s proposed biennial budget includes a funding boost to advance a slate of trolley projects, those plans are coming with timelines that are likely to give Seattle transit advocates heartburn.
Metro’s electric trolley network is the second largest in the U.S. and a quiet workhorse of the bus system. Seattle’s trolley network has been operating continuously for 85 years. The 14 trolley lines include some of the busiest routes in the city like the Route 7 and 49, though only 12 of those 14 routes are currently operating. In recent years, as Metro has grappled with an ambitious goal handed down from the King County Council to fully electrify its fleet by 2035, trolleybuses have taken a backseat to battery-electric buses that are expected to be more versatile.
