King County Metro route 73 'Jackson Park / Cowen Park / UW Station'

73 UW Station / Maple Leaf / Jackson Park
King County Metro 7216 on route 73's revised routing near Roosevelt Station
Service Area	Jackson Park, Maple Leaf, Roosevelt, Cowen Park, Ravenna, U District, Eastlake, Downtown
Termini	Jackson Park (NE 143rd St & 17th Ave NE) Cowen Park (NE 65th St and 15th Ave NE) University of Washington Station International District / Chinatown Tunnel Station
Operations	Atlantic Base Central Base North Base
Vehicles	MAN SG 220 MAN SG 310 Breda ADPB 350 Gillig Phantom NFI DE60LF NFI DE60LFR NFI XDE40
Branches	73 Jackson Park 73 Cowen Park 73 U District 73 Downtown 73X Jackson Park 73X Downtown
Latest Route Map
Local and Express Route Map to Downtown
I-5 Express Peak Directional Route Map (EX)
I-5/45th(ER) and Eastlake Express Route Map (EL)

73 Jackson Park / U District was a bus route operated by King County Metro in Seattle, Washington State.

Route Details

This north-south route runs between Jackson Park and the University District. Service runs from 5:45 AM to 9:45 PM on weekdays and from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM on weekends.

Westbound trips depart University of Washington Station west on NE Pacific Street, north on University Way NE, west on NE Ravenna Blvd, north on 12th Avenue NE through Roosevelt Station, north on Lake City Way NE, east on NE 80th Street, north on 15th Avenue NE, east on NE 145th Street and south on 17th Avenue NE to NE 143rd Street.

Southbound trips depart 17th Avenue NE & NE 143rd Street west on NE 143rd Street, south on 15th Avenue NE, south on Lake City Way NE, south on Roosevelt Way NE through Roosevelt Station, east on NE Ravenna Blvd, south on University Way NE and east on NE Pacific Street to University of Washington Station.

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

73 Northbound

30

15-30

30

15

30

N/A

N/A

N/A

30

30

30

N/A

N/A

N/A

30

30

30

N/A

N/A

73 Southbound

30

15

30

15

30

N/A

N/A

N/A

30

30

30

N/A

N/A

N/A

30

30

30

N/A

N/A

Route History

Route 73 is derived from the northern most branch of the historic route 7, which was originally part of a streetcar network before the Seattle Transit System took over in the 1940s and turned it into a trolleybus route. This route ran to the U District via Eastlake, then as north as NE 85th St and 15th Ave NE.

The routes northern terminal was expanded after the City of Seattle annexed the area north of 85th St, allowing routes to run all the way to Jackson Park at NE 145th St, but a limited service turnback at NE 65th St was made.

The route remained a trolleybus until trolley wire north of NE 45th St was removed, and the Jackson Park branch became motorized. The northern terminal was expanded to loop on 17th Ave, 137th and 135th St via 20th Ave.

On January 1978, the three north Seattle branches of route 7 were split into their own routes, including the 73. The routes all connected with each other in their runs. An old "blue streak" express service branch of the 73 was made into the 73X.

The 77 was created 5 years later to supplement peak express service to Jackson Park, running along the 73 until NE 80th St, where it would enter I5 and exit at James St in Downtown Seattle. The 73X still remained, running all day while the 73 local and 77 express ran during peak. The 77 would eventually extend north to 175th St in 2003 but continued to run peak express service.

In September 1990, the 73 became one of the first to operate in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, and ran on Breda dual-mode buses out of Atlantic Base.

The route transferred to running on hybrid buses when the transit tunnel closed for 2 years in 2005. It then returned to the tunnel using hybrid buses from Central Base when the tunnel re-opened in 2007.

Before 2016, the 73 ran all day half-hourly weekday and weekend service to Downtown, along with the 71 and 72. It ran from 5 AM to 1 AM on weekdays, and 6 AM to 12:30 AM on weekends.

The local route (since its beginning) ran from Jackson Park to U District, then to Downtown via Campus Parkway, Eastlake and Fairview Ave, and would enter the transit tunnel if it was open.

The Cowen Park and Jackson Park trips combined during middays to provide twice as frequent service.

The layover location and terminal routing was shortened in June 2015 to loop on NE 145th St, 17th Ave NE, and NE 143rd st to the layover.

Frequency

Branch	Weekdays						Saturday					Sunday
	Early AM	AM Peak	Midday	PM Peak	Early PM	Late PM	Early AM	Morning	Afternoon	Early PM	Late PM	Morning	Afternoon	Early PM	Late PM
73X Downtown	30	30-20	10-25	10-15	30	N/A	N/A	30	30	30	N/A	60-30-10	20-30-10	50-60	60
73X Jackson Park	30	30	30	30	30-60	60	N/A	N/A	30	30	N/A	30	60	30-60	60
73X Cowen Park	N/A	30	30	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	60	N/A	N/A

Branch	Weekdays		Saturday		Sunday
	Early AM	Late PM	Early AM	Early/Late PM	All Day
73 Downtown	30	30-60	30	60	60-20-60
73 Jackson Park/Cowen Park	60	30-60	30	60	60-20-60

73 Express

The 73 had multiple express variants that ran throughout weekdays and weekends.

The 73X ran to Downtown Seattle on weekday mornings via NE 42nd St and I-5 express lanes (EX) to the DSTT, and in the afternoons ran via Eastlake Ave E, and ran express until Stewart St (EL), then entering the DSTT.

The 73X ran to Jackson Park on weekday mornings via I-5, NE 45th St, and Roosevelt Way (southbound to Campus Pkwy)(ER), and in afternoons via I-5 express lanes to NE 42nd St to Campus Pkwy (EX).

Cont'd History + Reduction / Deletion

Route 73 was shortened from Downtown Seattle to U District in March 2016, with the opening of the University of Washington Link station, and the 73X was deleted. The Cowen Park turnback was also removed.

Route 73 moved to North Base, and became grouped with the existing 373. The 77 and 373 to UW Station replaced service along 15th Ave NE during peak hours. Sunday service on the 73 was removed, but was reinstated the next shakeup, with all day 30 minute frequencies similar to Saturdays. The 373 later gained expanded service hours during peak, and bidirectional service, allowing it to replace the 73 in both directions during AM and PM peak.

The route was shifted to serve Roosevelt Station on its opening 2021. The 373 was deleted, providing the 73 with all day service. Later, in 2023, the route was reduced to hourly all day service, rather than half hourly.

The 73 was deleted in September 2024, with the opening of Lynnwood Link, and route 67 was recommended as an alternative.

Points of Interest

• Jackson Park
• Maple Leaf
• Roosevelt Station
• Ravenna
• Cowen Park
• U District
• University District Station
• University of Washington Station
• Eastlake
• South Lake Union
• Westlake Center
• Downtown Seattle
• Convention Place Tunnel Station
• Westlake Tunnel Station
• University Street Tunnel Station
• Pioneer Square Tunnel Station
• International District / Chinatown Tunnel Station