Bellevue Transfers in 2030

Several Eastside transit projects will open over the next six years and converge in Bellevue for transfers between them:

• The full 2 Line (2025): Lynnwood, downtown Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond
• bus restructure (2025): Metro and ST Express (STB routes list)
• Stride S1 (2027/2028): Lynnwood, Bothell, Kirkland, Bellevue
• Stride S2 (2027/2028): Burien, Renton
• RapidRide K (2030): Totem Lake, Kirkland, Bellevue, Bellevue College, Eastgate

What will each neighborhood have access to with a one- or two-seat ride? How good will their transfers be? This determines how many choices they have for work, errands, shopping, and recreation within a reasonable travel time. That set of choices is the their freedom to get around without a car. This is the core of why I participate in STB: to ensure that the most people have the most choices in their convenient transit circle. Factors include where the routes go, how frequent they are, and how long the transfer walk is between them. It's worth measuring what the 2030 network's impact will be to the people living in it: how many areas have good transit freedom, and what lower-income areas will have.

This article focuses on the transfers, because that's one of those emergent phenomena that can't be seen in the individual routes so it can easily be missed. I'm defining a good" transfer walk as less than 2 minutes, a mediocre" walk as 2-5 minutes, and a bad" walk as more than 5 minutes. Below are my initial impressions of the total 2030 network. Let's crowdsource this in the comments to make any corrections or add details I missed. This will also help identify issues for feedback on the RapidRide K open house and its alternatives.

There's one piece we don't know: a RapidRide K restructure. It may be like Metro's long-range plan (Metro Connects Interim and 2050 visions) but we don't know how much. I haven't had time to compare the East Link restructure to Metro Connects, but maybe somebody else can. Another thing we don't know is whether the B will be split: the the RapidRide reprioritization report and Metro Connects plan have concepts for it, but they aren't yet approved or funded, and the earliest they could happen is sometime after 2030. So I'm just taking what we know: the East Link restructure minus duplications; i.e., the K will replace overlapping parts of the 250 and 220. If you want to go further and analyze transfers in the long-term concepts, just clearly distinguish which network environment you're assuming.

Without further ado, here's my impressions of the transfers.

North

RapidRide K from Kirkland. One-seat ride to downtown Bellevue, Bellevue College, and Eastgate. Good transfer to all bus routes at Bellevue TC. Medicore transfers to Link at Wilburton or Bellevue Downtown. Good transfer to Link at East Main with option 2, but that's after passing three Link stations (Spring District, Wilburton, Bellevue Downtown).

Stride S2 from Lynnwood/Bothell/Kirkland. Good transfer to all bus routes at Bellevue TC. Mediocre transfer to Link at Bellevue Downtown.

East

2 Line. Good transfer at South Bellevue to 111 (northeast/east Renton express), 203 (Factoria, Newport Way, Issaquah), 226 (Eastgate, Lake Hills), 240 (Eastgate, Factoria, Newport Hills, Renton), 249 (meandering infrequent East Link shadow), 554 (Issaquah express). Mediocre transfers at Bellevue Downtown, Wilburton, Overlake Village to various routes. Good transfers at Redmond Tech. Unknown transfers at Marymoor Village and Redmond Downtown to bus routes. (All downtown Redmond bus routes will serve one or both of these stations.)

RapidRide K from Eastgate. Bellevue College. One-seat ride to Bellevue TC. Good transfers to all bus routes at Bellevue TC. Good transfer to Link (the 2 Line) at East Main. Mediocre transfer to Link at Bellevue Downtown.

RapidRide B. One-seat ride to Redmond, Crossroads, NE 8th Street, Bellevue TC. Good transfer to all bus routes at Bellevue TC. Good transfers to the 223, 226, and 245 on 156th. Good transfer to Link at Redmond Tech (less so if the bus stops detouring into the station). Mediocre transfers to Link at Wilburton and Bellevue Downtown. Bad transfer to Link at Overlake Village. (The B currently detours into Redmond Tech and goes to 152nd near Overlake Village. If it stays on 156th both of these will be worse.)

245 from Lake Hills (156th). One-seat ride to Eastgate, Crossroads, Redmond Tech, NE 70th Street, Kirkland. Same transfers to Link at Redmond Tech and Overlake Village as RapidRide B.

223 from Lake Hills (156th). One-seat ride to Eastgate and Redmond. Mediocre transfer to Link at Overlake Village, unless Metro moves the 152nd stop closer to Link.

226 from Lake Hills (164th). One-seat ride to South Bellevue Station, Eastgate, Bel-Red Road, north Bellevue hospitals, Bellevue TC. Good transfer to Link at South Bellevue Station, but that's probably a half-hour ride from Lake Hills. Mediocre transfers to Link at Wilburton and Bellevue Downtown. Bad transfer at Overlake Village - a 20 minute walk. Probably bad at Spring District.

South

Stride S1 from Renton/Burien. Good transfer to all bus routes at Bellevue TC. Mediocre transfer to Link at Bellevue Downtown.

111 from north/east Renton. Good transfer to Link at South Bellevue (and to other bus routes listed in the 2 Line" item.)

240 from Renton. Same as 111.

Far East/West

Mercer Island. One-seat rides on the 2 Line, 204 (south Mercer Island), 215 (Issaquah/North Bend express), 218 (Issaquah express), 269 (Issaquah/Sammamish express), 630 (First Hill peak express). Mediocre transfer on Link at Bellevue Downtown to Stride S1 and S2 and other routes.

Issaquah. One-seat rides on the 215, 218, 269, and 544 (each serving different parts of Issaquah). Good transfers at South Bellevue and Mercer Island to the 2 Line. Good transfer on the 554 at Bellevue TC to Stride S1 and S2 and other routes. Unknown transfer on the 269 at Marymoor Village and Redmond Downtown to the 2 Line.

215 from North Bend/Snoqualmie. One-seat ride Issaquah Highlands P&R and Mercer Island. Good transfer at Mercer Island to the 2 Line. Three-seat ride to Stride S1 or S2 destinations.

So which neighborhoods have a lot of destination choices with good transfers? Which have a lot of choices with mostly mediocre transfers? Which have few choices? Are there any surprises? Do any particular neighborhoods fare disproportionately better or worse than they should?