King County Metro route 16 'Northgate / Wallingford / Downtown Seattle'

16 Northgate/Wallingford/Downtown
New Flyer D60LF 2898 leaving via the "ferry terminal" routing in Downtown on route 16.
Service Area	Northgate, Green Lake, Wallingford, Downtown Seattle
Termini	Northgate TC Downtown Seattle (Ferry Terminal) Aurora Village TC(Historic) Haller Lake(Historic)
Operations	Ryerson Base
Vehicles	MAN Americana NFI D60HF NFI D60LF Orion VII NFI XDE60
Branches	16 Northgate 16 Downtown Seattle 16X Northgate 16X Downtown Seattle 16 Aurora Village 16 Haller Lake 16X Aurora Village 16X Haller Lake
2015 Route Diagram(latest)
2000 Route Diagram(with express)

16 Northgate / Wallingford / Downtown Seattle was a bus route operated by King County Metro in Seattle, Washington State.

Route details

Route 16 Southbound departed Northgate TC to go east on 103rd St, north on 5th Ave NE, west on N Northgate Way, south on Meridian Ave N, west on N 92nd Street, south on Wallingford Ave N, east on N 80th St, south on 1st Ave NE, south on Woodlawn Ave N, south on Kirkwood Pl NE, west on N 55th St, south on Meridian Ave N, west on N 45th St, south on Stone Way N, south on Bridge Way N, south on Aurora Ave N, west on Wall St, south on 3rd Ave, west on Seneca St, south on 1st Ave, east on Cherry St, south on 2nd Ave, and east on S Washington St.

Route 16 Northbound began on Jackson St and Occidental Ave S to travel north on 1st Ave, east on Madison St, north on 3rd Ave, north on Battery St, north on Aurora Ave N, east on Bridge Way N, N on Stone Way N, east on N 45th St, north on Meridian Ave N, east on N 55th St, north on Kirkwood Pl N, north on Woodlawn Ave N, north on 1st Ave NE, west on N 80th St, north on Wallingford Ave N, east on N 92nd St, north on College Way N, north on Meridian Avenue N, east on N Northgate Way, south on 5th Ave NE, west on N 100th St, and north into Northgate TC.

Frequency

Branch	Weekdays							Saturday						Sunday
	Early AM	AM Peak	Midday	PM Peak	Early PM	Late PM	Overnight	Early AM	Morning	Afternoon	Early PM	Late PM	Overnight	Early AM	Morning	Afternoon	Early PM	Late PM	Overnight
16 Downtown Seattle	20-30	15-20	20	20	20-30	30-60	N/A	20	20	20	20	30	N/A	30	30	30	30	30	N/A
16 Northgate TC	20-30	20	20-30	15-20	15-20	30	30-50	20	20	20	30	30-60	N/A	30	30	30	30	30-60	N/A

Route History

Route 16 was one of the first historic Metro bus routes derived from the Seattle Streetcar netowrk. During the cities transition from streetcars to buses, the route 16 was one of the many lines that remained, terminating at the northern Seattle city limits in the Green Lake neighborhood, near N 85th St.

In 1954, when the city of Seattle expanded the city limits to N 145th St, the 16's terminal was moved to the top of the city limits, and in 1973, when Seattle Transit became the Municipality of Seattle Metro, the route was extended again to a bus loop at Ashworth Ave N and N 200th St, giving the destination name "Aurora Village".

At this time, there were many variants, ranging from North Seattle College-Downtown, to Aurora Village-Downtown. On weekdays, these branches combined for frequent service, however, on weekends, almost every trip was from Haller Lake to Downtown Seattle, running with consistent 30 minute headways from 5 AM to 1 AM.

The route was eventually split in June of 1981, with the then-new 317 running between Aurora Village and a park-and-ride in the Northgate Area, where the 16 also ended. The routing largely remained the same until it was deleted in 2016, and replaced by a then-extended route 26X.

16 Express

The "blue streak" branding for freeway-running buses that Seattle Transit created in the late 60s included a Green Lake/Meridian "blue streak" to run along the existing route 16. In January 1978, the "blue streak" branding was removed, and the 16X was created to run alongside the 16, under similar conditions as before. The 16X remained but was shortened at the same time as the 16, in 1981. The 16X lasted until 2003, when it was deleted in a North Seattle restructure and replaced with a new peak only route 316..

Route Details

The 16X followed the same southbound routing as the local, until the intersection of Woodlawn Ave NE and NE Ravenna Blvd, where it travelled south, served a stop near Green Lake Park & Ride, then entered I-5. It exited at 5th and Cherry, then looped onto Northbound 3rd Ave via Terrace St and terminated.

The 16X northbound (towards Aurora Village, Haller Lake, and eventually Northgate TC) originated on 9th Ave and Stewart St, then travelled southbound on 3rd Ave and looped via Yesler Way and 5th Ave to enter the I-5 express lanes. The next stop was one of Metros original branded "flyer" freeway stops near 45th st. The route served that stop and continued on I-5 then exited at Ravenna Blvd, where it travelled westbound to continue its regular route.

Frequency

Before 1981, express trips serving Aurora Village and Haller Lake were combined, both variants running from 6 AM to 8 AM, and 4 PM to 6 PM.

Branch	Weekdays
	AM Peak	PM Peak
16X Downtown	15-30	N/A
16X Aurora Village/Haller Lake	N/A	10-15

After the route was shortened, the 16X still remained with a similar peak service span, running from 7 AM to 9 AM, and 3:30 PM to 5:30P PM.

Branch	Weekdays
	AM Peak	PM Peak
16X Downtown	15-20	N/A
16X Northgate TC	N/A	20-30

Points of Interet

• Northgate Transit Center
• Northgate Mall
• North Seattle College
• Green Lake
• Wallingford
• Belltown
• Ferry Terminal
• First Hill Streetcar terminal