Sound Transit expands night-owl service to Lakewood, Redmond – not Everett

Route 570 will be discontinued and replaced by Route 597. (Wes Mills)

Sound Transit's expanded night-owl bus service is starting on August 29 with service between Redmond-Seattle and Lakewood-Seattle. In 2025, the agency originally proposed three night-owl routes that would provide service to most Link stations while trains are not running. While two of these routes will start this month, the north route to Everett has been delayed until 2027. Sound Transit declined to share the cause for the delay, stating: We are continuing to work with our partners to expand ST Night Bus service but do not have specific updates about Everett to Seattle service to share at this time".

Sound Transit contracts ST Express route operations to King County Metro, Pierce Transit, and Community Transit. These three agencies generally, but not always, operate the routes that serve their counties (King, Pierce, and Snohomish, respectively). For the night-owl routes, Metro will operate the route to Redmond and Pierce Transit will operate the route to Lakewood. Sound Transit is expected to contract the Everett route to Community Transit, though negotiations between the two agencies may be taking longer than expected.

The two new night routes starting on August 29, 547 and 597, will help provide 24/7 transit service between cities across Puget Sound. Sound Transit's current night-owl bus between downtown Seattle and the airport, Route 570, will end service on August 28.

Route 547Route 547 Map (Transit Times)

Route 547 is a new night-owl route between Seattle and Redmond. Running every 30 minutes between midnight and 4:30am, the route will stop near every 2 Line station in this section except for East Main. Passengers traveling to/from Judkins Park, Wilburton, Spring District, Bel-Red, and Overlake Village will need to walk a short distance from the station to bus stop.

Route 597Route 597 Map (Sound Transit).

Route 597 is a significant extension of the current Route 570. The route will run every 30 minutes and primarily follow I-5 between Lakewood and Seattle, via Tacoma. South of SODO, Route 597 will skip 1 Line stations in the Rainier Valley and serve Tukwila, Sea-Tac, Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown. From Federal Way it will continue south where it will stop at Tacoma Dome station and Lakewood station.

Other Night-Owl Service

King County Metro provides night bus service at a few other Link stations, including Shoreline South, Northgate, Roosevelt, U District, UW, Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, and Angle Lake. Route 7 runs overnight and stops within a 10 minute walk of Columbia City, Othello, and Rainier Beach stations.

Diagram of other night bus services. (Alex Kvenvolden)

Sound Transit's expanded night-owl bus network could lead to shorter Link service hours by cutting early morning and late night train service. The agency is exploring this option to allow for more overnight maintenance work on the tracks.