Throughout King County, 200 Metro buses were either stuck on streets or stalled in traffic at the height of Monday's traffic nightmare, from 5 to 10 p.m., said Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke. The problem, she said, is that service trucks couldn't get through the gridlock to bring aid to the stranded buses.

Metro has a fleet of 1,400 buses.

By Wednesday morning, when service began at 4 a.m., about 75 buses remained stuck or stranded, Thielke said, adding that many of the drivers stayed with their buses all night.

Since then, more have become stuck on county streets and roads, but she said the total number is likely fewer than 100.

The worst areas, said Thielke, were Highway 520 eastbound near Medina, West Seattle, Interstate 5 southbound near Boeing Field, the east side of Capitol Hill and north Ballard.

What's making things smoother Tuesday, said Thielke, is that traffic volumes are smaller and buses are better able to get around.