Downtown Seattle bus stops close due to rising crime, safety concerns

An area of Seattle has gotten so dangerous that King County Metro is closing bus stops, citing safety concerns for drivers and riders, according to KOMO news.

The agency announced Monday the immediate closure of the bus stops at the intersection of 12th Avenue and Jackson Street, due to rampant illegal activity. For years, the area has been notorious for open-air drug use, the sale of drugs and stolen goods, and recently was even the location of a mass stabbing.

King County Metro said in an alert to riders, “Due to the current daily environment in the surrounding area, our customers are often unable to comfortably use the stops to board or exit. As a result of these conditions, Metro made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend serving all the stops at 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street in all directions.”

The agency claimed the closure is temporary, but has no estimate on when the bus stops will resume service. The affected routes are the 1, 7, 9, 14, 36, 60 and 106 and will remain on their regular routes but are serving riders at other nearby stops. King County Metro added, “We will continue to provide updates on when they will reopen as safety concerns are reduced.”

Passenger assaults have jumped by over 53 percent on Seattle’s light rail, while attacks on transit workers have spiked over 80 percent since 2023.

Seattle Police are so understaffed that they will no longer respond to calls from alarm companies unless there is supporting evidence of a crime. 911 response times have continued to grow and SPD is still seeing more separations than new hires and is at its lowest staffing levels since the 1950s.

Crime has continued to rise in the Seattle area despite a decrease in nearly every other major city, according to an analysis by the Seattle Times. Last month, the King County jail finally resumed booking offenders for misdemeanors including petty theft, criminal trespass, and public drug use after a four-year hiatus.

In October, King County, Washington was named as the worst market for retail theft in the US by Nordstrom CEO Erik Nordstrom. Multiple retailers including Goodwill, Target, Nike, Lululemon, and Starbucks, have cited losses from theft when closing stores in downtown Seattle. 

Earlier this year, Washington State was revealed to be the most affected by retail crime and held the highest burglary rate and copper wire theft rate in the US.