Seattle Transit Blog

On June 3, 2026, the Move All Seattle Sustainably (MASS) Coalition delivered a letter to the Seattle City Council supporting Mayor Wilson's proposal for the 2026 Seattle Transit Measure. Seattle Transit Blog, a proud member of the MASS Coalition, is reprinting the letter to broaden the Coalition's message for better transit service. The original letter ... Continue reading "MASS Coalition's priorities for the 2026 STM"

Last week, Mayor Wilson has unveiled her proposal for the next Seattle Transit Measure (STM) that will replace the current measure when it expires in 2027. The STM is an additional tax in Seattle that is used to fund more bus service and various transit programs. Wilson is proposing a 0.3% sales tax for the ... Continue reading "Seattle Transit Measure Renewal 2026"

Riding the oldest subway cars in the world. They're 1950s cars in the Buenos Aires Metro on Line B. (Trains are Awesome) Honorable mention to the Muni Metro F Line with a variety of vintage streetcars from the 1950s and earlier. I rode a few early 20th century international ones and found them bumpy, but ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: Oldest Trains"

Sound Transit's Link light rail system continues to break its own ridership records. After the highly-anticipated Crosslake Connection opening at the end of March, system-wide ridership jumped 46% to 4,675,216 passengers in April 2026. This equates to an average 155,840 boardings across the 1 Line, 2 Line, and T Line every day. Since the pandemic, ... Continue reading "Link Ridership Soars 46% After Crosslake Connection Opening"

On Tuesday evening, a driver managed to drive their car on the light rail tracks from MLK Way & Walden St to Mount Baker station. The 70-year-old driver was not injured but was taken to the hospital as a precaution. 1 Line trains were replaced with shuttle buses between SODO and Othello station while Sound ... Continue reading "Driver Blocks Trains On Elevated Tracks at Mount Baker Station"

Local News: Further Afield: This is an Open Thread. Uncivil comments will be moderated.

On Monday, the newest Sounder cars made their debut on an S Line trip from Seattle to Lakewood. These new trains, three passenger cab cars and eight coach cars, were built by Alstom and delivered to Sound Transit in 2022. The new trains feature a new bike rack design, more power outlets and USB ports, ... Continue reading "Sound Transit Rolls Out New Sounder Trains"

How big an apartment can you rent in a city's most walkable neighborhood without a car, for the same cost as a 1000 square-foot rental in its most typical suburb with a car? Ray Delahanty answers that for the 26 largest metro areas in the US. Seattle is at 6:23. (CityNerd) Q&A about the tradeoffs ... Continue reading "Sunday Movies: With and Without a Car"

When Sound Transit opened the Crosslake Connection in March 2026, over 200,000 people went for a ride on the first day. Since then, the 2 Line has carried thousands of passengers between Seattle and the Eastside everyday. Many of these passengers are new transit riders who used to drive across Lake Washington, while others switched ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Crosslake Connection's Impact on ST Express Ridership"

Update: The resolution passed with some of the amendments. Analysis at end of article. The Sound Transit board meets today at 1:30-5:00 to revise the ST3 system plan to reduce costs. The meeting page has links to the agenda, resolution, amendments, reports, and information on how to view the meeting and give public testimony in ... Continue reading "ST Board Meets to Postpone ST3 Projects"

On Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson unveiled an amendment to the Sound Transit 3 realignment plan that would keep the Graham St infill station on track to open in 2031. The ST3 realignment plan was proposed by Board Chair Dave Somers in early May as a means of aligning the agency's future Link extensions with ... Continue reading "Wilson, Zahilay, and Mosqueda Propose Plan to Save Graham St Station"

Service Alerts: Local Headlines: Further Afield: Events: This is an Open Thread.

In light of the recent news that Graham Street Station is set to be deferred yet again, I thought it would be worth considering if there may be a better way forward. Despite the early promises of the Enterprise Initiative, we are heading towards a future where a key Link Station is deferred indefinitely yet ... Continue reading "Graham Street Station and the Failure of the Enterprise Initiative"

Sound Transit boardmember Dan Strauss is proposing three amendments to the ST3 system plan update on Thursday. The full list of amendments is expected Tuesday, and it sounds like there will be a lot of them. Strauss is a Seattle City Councilmember for northwest Seattle. His amendments are: To me, #1 is consistent with our ... Continue reading "Strauss ST3 Amendments"

Why it's illegal to walk to the World Cup Final in New Jersey. Hint: It's not just highways and chain-link fences. (Evan Edinger) What if we removed the Lexington Avenue subway line in Manhattan? How many car lanes would we need to allow all existing passengers to drive? (CityNerd) In other news, on Friday afternoon ... Continue reading "Movies: Walking to the World Cup & Removing a Subway"

Seattle Parks & Recreation's annual Bicycle Weekends program returns this summer starting tomorrow, May 23. This summer, Lake Washington Blvd (LWB) will be closed to non-local car traffic every weekend until Labor Day between Seward Park and Mount Baker Beach. This includes holidays (May 25, July 3, and September 7), but excludes August 1-2 due ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Lake Washington Boulevard Car-free Weekends 2026"

During the pandemic, fares were suspended on a number of transit agencies in Washington State including Metro and Sound Transit for public health reasons. While transit was free for part of 2020, Metro and Sound Transit suspended fare enforcement until Spring 2025 and Fall 2023 respectively. On Seattle's buses and trains (and Snohomish's, Spokane's, and ... Continue reading "The Status of Fare Evasion in Washington State"

Local News: This is an Open Thread. Uncivil comments will be moderated.

Community Transit routes 201 and 202 travel inbound from Smokey Point Transit Center to Lynnwood City Center station via Everett, Mariner P&R and Ash Way P&R. Each route runs every 30 minutes, scheduled for a combined 15 minute frequency along most of the route. Between Marysville and Smokey Point, Route 201 travels on Smokey Point ... Continue reading "Ridership Patterns for Community Transit Routes 201 and 202"

How Portland created a sense of place. (Fourth Place) Taking one of the last Talgo trains to Vancouver BC. (Classy Whale) This is an open thread.

Trailhead Direct service is returning in 2026 on weekends from May 23 to August 30. Additionally, the service will run on a few holidays, specifically: Memorial Day (Monday, May 25) and Independence Day (Friday, July 3). Trailhead Direct consists of two routes, one from Capitol Hill station to Mount Si and one from Mount Baker ... Continue reading "2026 Trailhead Direct Routes"

King County Metro will run two free shuttles in downtown Seattle this summer. The Waterfront Shuttle will operate everyday between May 21 and September 7. Buses will arrive every 15 minutes from 10amto10pm. This route travels between the Chinatown/ International District and Seattle Center, via Pioneer Square, the waterfront (Alaskan Way), and Belltown. On days ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Free Summer Shuttles"

Sound Transit's Executive Committee will have an unusual second meeting this month to further debate the resolution to downscale ST3 to shrink its budget gap. The meeting is today at 1:30-4:00pm. The meeting page has links to the agenda, the resolution, two reports evaluating the Enterprise Initiative, and how to attend the meeting in person ... Continue reading "ST3 Committee Meeting 2"

Reminder: TCC is hosting the Sound Transit South King County Town Hall tonight, 6-7:30pm, at Highline College in Des Moines. Local News: Other News: This is an Open Thread.

Sound Transit Route 535 travels inbound from Lynnwood City Center station to downtown Bellevue, primarily via I-405. This express service stops at Alderwood Mall and in Bothell and Totem Lake. Route 535 runs every 30 minutes during the week, every hour on Saturdays, and does not run on Sunday. In October 2025, Route 535 had ... Continue reading "Ridership Patterns for Sound Transit Route 535"

Paris's ultra-useful transit is getting better. (Transit Tangents) Stockholm's beautiful metro stations are the world's longest art exhibition". (Not Just Bikes) We need visionaries like this, and politicians who can prioritize the right things get it done. Paris has automated trains, platform screen doors, service every 5 minutes on many metro and bus lines, station ... Continue reading "Sunday Movies: Beautiful & Useful Transit"

In 2022, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) launched a project to redesign Aurora Ave. The highest ridership bus route in Washington, Metro's RapidRide E Line, carries 13,000 people along the corridor every day. Aurora Ave is consistently one of the most dangerous streets in Seattle. Over the past few years, SDOT has received thousands ... Continue reading "SDOT creating Aurora Ave Community Advisory Group"

BY ISSAQUAH MAYOR MARK MULLET The Sound Transit Board is facing large decisions regarding its budget shortfall. The Board is now expected to adopt an updated ST3 plan that will help reshape timelines for light rail segments across the region. Some projects, like the West Seattle line, are proposed to move forward now, while others, ... Continue reading "How to Finish ST3 Sooner (Without Raising Taxes)"

Yesterday, the Sound Transit Board Executive Committee reviewed a proposal assembled by the three county executives to realign ST3 for the second time. Although much of the hubbub since has focused on certain decisions presented in that proposal, including plans to temporarily truncate the Ballard Link Extension to Seattle Center and indefinite deferral of the ... Continue reading "Sounder North may end in 2033"

There won't be a Friday Roundtable this week, so here's your open thread. There will be two regular articles Friday and one Saturday.

Sound Transit has an Executive Committee meeting right now (10:30am-12:30pm) to discuss the proposed ST3 system plan changes to reduce costs. The meeting page has links to the agenda, the proposal, a reports on the Enterprise Initiative, a TOD progress report, and a link to watch the meeting live remotely via Zoom. The meeting will ... Continue reading "ST Executive Committee ST3 Debate"

On Thursday, Sound Transit Board Chair Dave Somers will share a resolution to update the Sound Transit 3 system plan. This update will help align the agency's future Link extensions with the available funding. Due to record-breaking inflation and more accurate price estimates, Sound Transit is facing a $34.5 billion funding shortfall. In March, the ... Continue reading "Sound Transit Updates ST3 Plan Amid FinancialConstraints"

Upcoming Link service impacts: Buses replace 1 Line trains between Rainier Beach and SeaTac/Airportthis weekend for track and power work on the Tukwila Curve. Link service reductions after 8pm resumed this week as construction of Pinehurst Station continues. Local News: Further Afield: This is an open thread.

Sound Transit still plans on building a new Link line to West Seattle. As Sound Transit struggles to find ways to fulfill the ST3 promises, there is a better option for West Seattle transit riders. With a relatively small investment in bus-based infrastructure, we could give riders in West Seattle the best of both worlds: ... Continue reading "West Seattle / Downtown via SODO busway"

Walking the London Underground District Line from end to end. (Let's Walk!) Seattle's annual Jane's Walk is still going on. The last one is Tuesday at 10am, Downtown South". I don't know if the registrations are full yet. This is an open thread.

The Seattle Transit Ridership dashboard has been updated to include 2025 ridership data for King County Metro routes and Sound Transit routes operated by Metro. In March 2025, Metro only updated a few routes, mostly with frequency adjustments from Seattle Transit Measure funding. In August 2025, Metro introduced four routes and adjusted various other routes ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: 2025 Ridership Data"

New post on Page Two: Reader Jack Valko proposes The Burke-Gilman Subway Monthly maintenance continues on the Eastside: Buses replace Link2Line trains between South Bellevue and Overlake Villagestations after ~10pm tonight and tomorrow. Local News: Further Afield: This is an Open Thread. Uncivil comments will be moderated.

Over the past decade, Intercity Transit has worked on completely redesigning its bus network in Thurston County (Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Yelm). Between 2016-2018, the agency solicited feedback on the priorities for future transit and received over 10,000 ideas from the public. Using these data, Intercity Transit devised three future scenarios and asked the public ... Continue reading "How Intercity Transit Redesigned its Network"

Austria has the most night trains in Europe. This one has mini cabins" (bed capsules) as well as sleeper rooms and coach seats. (DW Planet A, Deutche Welle's environmental channel) The train is an OBB Nightjet, a set of overnight routes (in German, with map) serving Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Croatia. ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: Night Trains"

Seattle Transit Blog reader Chetan Sharma has prepared a proposal for shifting a handful of routes to make use of the new bus lanes coming to Denny Way this spring and summer. Check it out on our Page 2. If you're interested in contributing your opinion to Seattle Transit Blog, please feel free to contact ... Continue reading "New on Page 2: Denny bus lanes should be paired with a route restructure""

Jane's Walk is an annual celebration where volunteers in cities throughout the world host group walks in their neighborhoods to honor Jane Jacobs's birthday. In Seattle, Feet First will host Seattle's Jane's Walks between April 26 and May 6. They will all be guided tours: 6 in central Seattle, 1 in West Seattle, and 1 ... Continue reading "Jane's Walk & Mercer Slough Walk"

Both the 1 and 2 Lines have closed segments this weekend, April 25-26. 1 Line trains will be reduced Saturday and Sunday until 9pm. Trains will run every 10 minutes between Lynnwood City Center and Rainier Beach. Then shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Rainier Beach and SeaTac/Airport. Then trains will start again ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Weekend Link Reductions"

On Wednesday, Mayor Wilson announced plans for new bus lanes on Denny Way to help improve reliability for Route 8. This is workhorse route. This is one of our highest ridership routes, and it has long struggled with reliability," Wilson said. This announcement follows the Mayor's first executive order for SDOT to design and install ... Continue reading "Mayor Wilson Announces Denny Way Bus Lanes"

April 25-26: Link 1 Line trains between Rainier Beach and SeaTac/Airport stations will be replaced by shuttle buses. Local News: More headlines after the break. Further Afield: This is an Open Thread.

On Sunday, hundreds of Seattleites and transit advocates walked from Ballard to Interbay and Smith Cove, roughly following the planned Ballard Link route. The walk was organized in response to Sound Transit's recent suggestion to defer part of the Ballard Link Extension. We are here today because close enough is not good enough," Seattle City ... Continue reading "Seattle Rallies to Save Ballard Rail"

History of high-speed rail in the US. (The B1M) 60 Minutes episode on the current status of high-speed rail in the US. (60 Minutes) This is an open thread.

In December, we took a look at a few incorrect signs in the Puget Sound transit network. Many of these signs have since been fixed, but the region's quickly growing transit system has resulted in a few more incorrect signs. Mistakes in wayfinding signs are bound to happen with any complex system. The four agencies ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Incorrect Signs, Part 2"

Local News: More headlines below. Further afield: This is an Open Thread.

King County Metro's fixed route bus network provides extensive coverage in King County. To complement fixed route service in some neighborhoods, Metro operates Metro Flex, an on-demand transit service. Metro began operating on-demand service 2019 and has used the Metro Flex branding since 2023. The neighborhoods currently served by Metro Flex include: Delridge/South Park, Issaquah/Sammamish, ... Continue reading "Metro Flex Service Boundary Updates"

Mexico City elevated trolleybus BRT line. Elevated light rail would have cost 2 1/2 times more. (TransitWorld) Scooby Doo and the Goblin King has a YouTube channel with raw footage of several Metro, Community Transit, and Sound Transit bus models in action on various routes. This is an open thread.