Bellevue's plans for circulator bus hit early snags

A free downtown Bellevue circulator bus would cost more money and start two years later than city officials want, King County Metro Transit officials said this week.

At its Monday night meeting, the Bellevue City Council said it still planned to move forward with the project but was irritated that the county hasn't found a way to get the bus running sooner.

The projected start time of 2010 for the circulator bus is "disappointing," said City Councilman Phil Noble.

Other council members said the city's aggressive growth downtown makes mobility improvements more important as the population rises.

"What you're hearing tonight is a hunger for transit service," Mayor Grant Degginger told county officials at the meeting. "We see those 14 or 15 cranes in the sky here in downtown and we know what's coming, and hopefully your team knows that as well."

The city and county have been talking since last year about a bus line that would run in both directions in a loop along Bellevue Way, Main Street, 110th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 10th Street. The route would be served by 19-person vans, operating from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays.

The city wants the vans to arrive at each stop every 10 minutes, run on some Sundays, be labeled as Bellevue circulator buses and transport passengers free of charge.

County officials say it will cost an extra $185,000 a year to fulfill all four requests — and it wants the city to pay the extra money.

Costs for the circulator bus would total about $1.3 million a year, with the city pitching in about $550,000, up from $365,000.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com