Seattle Transit Blog

In December 2025, Sound Transit welcomed the first passengers aboard the Federal Way Link Extension. The three new stations on the 1 Line provide improved transit connectivity for many south King County residents. An accompanying bus service change in March 2026 improved frequency on many bus routes and adjusted a few bus routes to better ... Continue reading "How the Federal Way Link Extension Impacted Bus Ridership Patterns"

On March 28, Sound Transit opened the much anticipated Crosslake Connection. This rail connection between Seattle and cities on the Eastside promised fast, frequent, and more reliable connectivity across Lake Washington. The Link 2 Line was designed to replace the hundreds of daily bus trips on I-90, freeing up service hours to improve local bus ... Continue reading "How the Crosslake Connection Impacted Bus Ridership Patterns"

A recap of the Ballard Link controversy that boiled over at the forum Monday. These videos are from three months ago. Light rail to Ballard shouldn't be this hard. (The House of Transit) Why is building transit so expensive anyway? (Yet Another Urbanist) I'm reaching the end of the video backlog again. Do you have ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: Ballard Link Controversy"

Ballots for the November election have been sent to voters in King County. One item on the ballot for voters in Seattle is Proposition 1: Seattle Transit Measure. This renews and expands the Seattle Transit Measure that is set to expire in early 2027. The 0.3% sales tax is expected to generate $138 million per ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Vote Yes on Prop 1 for More Buses!"

Much like route 550 was to Bellevue, route 545 has been Redmond's workhorse route. Redmond has a diverse set of transit options fanning out in every direction, even before it had the distinction of being a Link terminus. But the main regional service has always been route 545, which connects downtown Redmond to downtown Seattle. ... Continue reading "Route 545 doesn't save as much time as you think"

Dan Strauss invited Sound Transit board members, city officials, and state officials to a Ballard Link Extension (BLE) Community Forum Monday to provide the public with information on the Ballard Link extension plans. The Nordic Museum's auditorium was packed with residents from Ballard and along the route as well as from the Eastside and even ... Continue reading "Ballard Link Community Forum"

News and commentary from the past week or so. Survey: Community Transit wants your input on Swift Gold by November 15. News: Commentary: This is an Open Thread.

Neighborhood Residential" (previously called Single-Family") is the most common zoning type in Seattle. It makes up about 2/3 of the land zoned for development in the city. This is where we have the greatest potential for improving population density and affordability in Seattle. Here is a proposal for simple changes that could make a huge ... Continue reading "Changing the Zoning for most of Seattle"

In 2004 California released an excellent service-led plan to expand its state rail network, both the high-speed rail projects and other corridors and a few BRT connectors. This video by nandert goes in-depth on why service-led planning is an important paradigm all agencies should use (5:33), the benefits of California's plan, and how the governing ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: Service-Led Planning in California Rail"

The 2 Line will be replaced by shuttle buses Saturday and Sunday between South Bellevue and Chinatown/International District. The shuttles will run every 10-15 minutes and serve every station. The link has the bus stop locations; the Judkins Park stops are on Rainier Avenue under I-90. The 1 Line will increase to every 8 minutes ... Continue reading "Link Reduction This Weekend"

On Wednesday, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay transmitted RapidRide R Line alignment legislation to the King County Council. The R Line will travel between Rainier Beach station and downtown Seattle on Rainier Ave when it opens in 2032. In August, Metro asked the public for feedback on an initial alignment proposal. While many support the ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Two RapidRide R Line Stops Restored"

News and commentary from the past week or so. News: Commentary: This is an Open Thread.

An animated rendering of West Seattle Link. (Sound Transit) A conservative vision for urbanism. (The Atlantic) David From interviews Reihan Salam. I've been following Frum since he was on Left, Right, and Center in the 2000s; I consider him the most thoughtful conservative analysist nowadays. They discuss housing, education, street parking, blue cities, and their ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: West Seattle Link & Conservative Urbanism"

The leaves are finally starting to fall and there is no better place to admire King County's incredible scenery than from a historic Metro bus. The annual Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association (MEHVA) Fall Foliage Tour is back this year on October 25. Ride on one of the historic buses in MEHVA's fleet through the ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Fall Foliage"

Reminder: Buses replace Link trains between Westlake and Northgate after ~10pm from Oct. 6-8 as part of Sound Transit's rotating monthly maintenance program. News and commentary from the past week. News: Commentary: This is an Open Thread.

We're about a month into the Fall shakeup, where a substantial number of service changes were implemented to improve connections to Link. This is a recurring playbook that Metro has used ever since light rail service began: identify duplicative services and restructure existing bus routes to connect to Link stations rather than running all the ... Continue reading "Duplicative services and commuter route truncation, again"

Seattle City Councilmember (District 6) and Sound Transit Boardmember Dan Strauss is hosting a community form discussing the Ballard Link Extension alongside several other elected officials and Sound Transit representatives. The forum will be held in the Osberg Great Hall at the National Nordic Museum on Monday, October 19, from 6-8pm. In a newsletter emailed ... Continue reading "Ballard Link Community Forum on October 19"

Why are there no freeways in Vancouver? (Undercouver) This is an open thread.

Every year, thousands of salmon travel though creeks, rivers and lakes in King County on their return trip from the ocean. These adult salmon return to fresh water to spawn the next generation. The county's Salmon SEEson program, now in its 20th year, highlights the habitat restoration, stormwater management, and community stewardship that ensure the ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Salmon SEEson"

Today I'm taking you on my monthly bus trip to Lake Hills. I went on Saturday, September 26. I feel so lucky riding Link across the late. No more express buses with congestion and turns and stoplights. Mt Rainier was visible, and a row of clouds looking like they're sitting on an air shelf. Westbound ... Continue reading "Lake Hills Bus Trip"

New Link station and new Amtrak trains! Pinehurst Station opens today, and Amtrak Cascades has begun running new Airo trains. Week Without Driving is October 1-8, 2026. Transit Trekker and King County Parks are leading a Transit Trek on Maury Island tomorrow. News and commentary headlines from the past week. News: Commentary: This is an ... Continue reading "Midweek Roundup: Block Party"

The newest trains in Amtrak's fleet, Amtrak Airo, will welcome their first customers tomorrow on the Cascades route. To celebrate the launch, Amtrak invited Seattle Transit Blog and other media organizations to tour and ride one of the new trains this past Saturday. The event kicked off with a marching band and speeches from leaders ... Continue reading "Amtrak Airo Sneak Peak"

On September 18, Sound Transit released the Environmental impact Statement for the Everett Link extension. This light rail extension will extend the Link light rail system north towards Everett from Lynnwood. The first phase plans to build the West Alderwood, Ash Way, Mariner, and finally the SW Everett Industrial Center by 2037. The second phase ... Continue reading "Everett Link Draft EIS Review"

CityNerd (Ray Delahanty) analyzes East Link and its station areas. He also visits Lynnwood Link, and discusses the transit sagas and urban potential in West Seattle and Ballard. This is an open thread.

2026 has been a big year for trains in Puget Sound. In January, the Federal Way Link Extension completed its first full month of operation. Simulated service on the 2 Line began in February, providing 4 minute frequencies for the first time between Seattle and Lynnwood. In March, the Crosslake Connection finally connected the 2 ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: New Train Day!"

News and commentary headlines from the past week. News: Commentary: This is an Open Thread.

Not Just Bikes finally has something good to say about Toronto transit. Not 100% good of course. This is the Eglington line that opened in February. Not to be confused with the Finch West line (slow), or the Ontario line (under construction, and we presented as an automated model for Ballard). Here's Toronto's current map ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: Toronto Eglington Line"

On August 24, 2026, Kent's long-awaited Quiet Zone took effect along the BNSF Railway mainline through downtown. This designation, granted by the Federal Railroad Administration in June, no longer requires trains to sound their horn when approaching an at-grade crossing. Over the past 14 years, the City of Kent has worked to meet the necessary ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Quiet Zone in Kent"

News and commentary from the past week. Transit & streets: Housing: Miscellaneous: This is an Open Thread.

The downtown tunnel will close early at 11 pm September 15-17 for planned maintenance. This is only in the evenings and won't affect daytime service. The last Link trains through the tunnel each direction will be: Or looking at the entire train runs: 1 Line shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Capitol Hill ... Continue reading "Link Evening Closure Tuesday-Thursday"

Kitsap Transit's Fall 2026 service change began yesterday, September 12. This change brings significant increases to bus service around the County and the expected reductions in ferry service for the winter months. Route 108 is now Kitsap Transit's first frequent bus route with buses running every 15 minutes during the day on weekdays. This service ... Continue reading "Kitsap Transit adds bus service, reduces ferry service in Fall service change"

J-Man Explores rides the Red and Green Vine BRT lines in Vancouver, Washington, after taking MAX and an interstate C-Tran route from Portland. He argues they aren't BRT but they are frequent. He also takes a walking tour of the upcoming Purple line corridor, which is expected to open next year, in downtown Vancouver and ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: The Vine"

Yesterday, a coalition of transit advocates launched Hop On Board!", the official campaign urging Seattle voters to pass the renewal and expansion of the Seattle Transit Measure this November. Speakers at the event included Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, ATU 587 President Greg Woodfill, Nondrivers Alliance founder Anna Zivarts, Transit Riders Union ... Continue reading "Hop On Board!" Campaign Kicks Off"

On Wednesday, SDOT announced four new speed cameras will be installed across Seattle in 2027. These four cameras are the first of 10 cameras that will be installed by March 2029, per Mayor Wilson's Vision Zero executive order. The selected locations were chosen as they are some of the most dangerous sections of Seattle's road ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: New Speed Cameras"

After a disastrous race last year, Route 8 called for a rematch. Since then, Mayor Wilson issued an executive order to build bus lanes on Denny Way, SDOT designed an eastbound bus lane, and the bus lane was installed. This year, Route 8 actually stood a chance. The race kicked off at Denny Way & ... Continue reading "Race the Gr8"

News and commentary from the past week or so. This is an Open Thread.

The transcontinental railroad, explained. (Daniel Steiner) Why Amtrak's long-distance trains exist. With a trip on the Empire Builder to Seattle. (The Flying Moose) Where are American's trains? A satirical look at the past and present of American passenger trains. (Climate Town) Musical interlude: Trans Europa Express and Trans Europe Express, by Kraftwerk, 1977. The 1991 ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: The Amtrak Compromise"

The L8 is not so late anymore since an eastbound traffic lane was converted to a bus lane in August. On Tuesday, September 8th, Fix the L8 is organizing another race against Metro's bus Route 8 along Denny Way. Unlike the previous event, the group is expecting to lose as the buses bypass traffic via ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Race the L8 again... and lose?"

Today Sound Transit announced Pinehurst station will open September 30, 2026. Located between Shoreline South and Northgate stations, Pinehurst is the first ever Link infill station. The area around the station has been slow to develop as it is primarily occupied by Jackson Park Golf Course and I-5. The new King County Metro Route 77 ... Continue reading "Pinehurst Station Opens September 30"

This article is brought to you by the numbers 269 and 111. Those were the first routes I wanted to try in the August 29th service change last Saturday. I'd never seen Sammamish except once or twice in a car because it had little bus access, and I'd never been to northeast Renton. So on ... Continue reading "Sammamish and Renton Bus Trip"

News and commentary from the past week. Reminder: most transit agencies will be running Sunday service on Labor Day (Sept. 7). Check your local agency's rider alerts. News: Commentary: This is an Open Thread.

At 9:59am last Friday, I boarded Everett Transit Route 29 at Everett Transit Mall Station. While the six other passengers on the bus were traveling to work, home, or somewhere else, for me this trip was the first segment of my region-wide ORCA speedrun. Transit speedrunning is the process of visiting every station in a ... Continue reading "The Ultimate ORCA Speedrun"

Several comments have raised concerns that the August 29th service change shortened Link's service day, so that it now ends earlier and starts later. This interacts with the launch of ST Express Night Ride" routes between midnight and 4am. These theoretically can replace Link trips. But the ST Express routes bypass several high-ridership Seattle Link ... Continue reading "Link Ends Earlier, Starts Later"

Three urbanist lessons from The Netherlands. (Alex Davis, 4 years ago) Musical interlude: Can't Stay with You Baby (I've gotta to find a car to drive me downtown) (Jimi Tenor). Ghost Town (The Specials, 1981). This is an open thread.

Several transit agencies have their twice-yearly service change today or this week. South King County and Pierce County have the most extensive changes to coordinate bus service with Federal Way Link. East King County implements the almost-last phase of its East Link bus restructure. North King County and Snohomish County have some route restructures too. ... Continue reading "Fall 2026 Service Change Begins"

Transit agencies around Puget Sound are updating their networks this weekend. This service change is more significant than most with restructures in south King County and Pierce County, east King County, and north King County and Snohomish County. In addition to the local transit agencies, Sound Transit is revising its ST Express routes to reflect ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Final Trips"

Thank you to everyone to joined Seattle Transit Trivia on Monday. After a competitive game, top scores are: If you are one of top scorers, please check your email for information about the prizes. This post will share the correct answers for all 39 questions. If you missed the game on Monday but want to ... Continue reading "Seattle Transit Trivia Answers"

Headlines from the past week. This is an Open Thread.

The final phase of the Lynnwood Link restructure will take place in north King County on August 29. These changes are in response to the improved frequency of the 1 Line and 2 Line between Seattle and Lynnwood and the upcoming opening of Pinehurst station. In Snohomish County, Community Transit is opening the Cathcart Park ... Continue reading "Fall 2026 Service Change: Snohomish County and North King County"

Update: Thank you for playing Seattle Transit Trivia! We will share the answers and announce the winners in an article later this week. Welcome to Round 3 of Seattle Transit Trivia! Answer each question below with a comment on this post. There are still a few questions from Round 1 and Round 2 that have ... Continue reading "Seattle Transit Trivia: Round 3"