Seattle Transit Blog

King County Metro Route 50 travels inbound from Othello station to the Alki beach, via Columbia City, SODO, and Alaska Junction. Outbound trips travel in the reverse direction. In October 2025, Route 50 had 2,803 average weekday boardings. Average Ridership Per Trip The plots below show the average weekday ridership by stop in each direction, ... Continue reading "Ridership Patterns for King County Metro Route 50"

On January 2, Katie Wilson was sworn in as Mayor of Seattle by the Transit Fairy. Coverage of the ceremony: The Urbanist called her Seattle's Unabashed Urbanist Mayor. The Stranger thought she came in strong [good]. The Seattle Times ($) quotes Wilson's slogan This is your city". PubliCola celebrates Wilson's thesis we need bread, but ... Continue reading "Midweek Roundup: Urbanist Mayor"

Top 10 US cities that have become more city-like since 2010. This isn't the most urban cities, but the ones that have improved the most. (CityNerd) This is an open thread.

ORCA Wrapped is back this year with both system-wide and individualized reports. Throughout 2025, ORCA recorded 76,671,844 boardings across 1,276,059 distinct cards. The busiest stations were: A notable exception from this list is SeaTac/Airport station. SeaTac/Airport is the second busiest Link station, but likely has fewer ORCA card taps because many visitors opt to buy ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: ORCA Wrapped 2025"

What will happen in 2026 in Pugetopolis transit? Here's a few things off the top of my head: More events are below in the comments. Also, what should the agencies/governments do in 2026? Especially things that are politically and logistically feasible.

The past year was another tumultuous and exciting one for transit and land use in the central Puget Sound. Dow Constantine became CEO of Sound Transit and the agency began seriously reckoning with its massive long-range financial gap. The eagerly-awaited extension of the 2 Line to Redmond opened on-time, but opening of the 2 Line's ... Continue reading "Annual Roundup: 2025"

Transit agencies around the region will be free to ride all day (and most of the night) on New Year's Eve. Some agencies are extending late-night service to accommodate riders celebrating the end of 2025 and the start of 2026. These agencies will operate fare-free tomorrow until end of service: The Seattle Monorail will still ... Continue reading "Free and Extended Transit for New Year's Eve 2025"

Alternatives for a Geary Street subway in San Francisco with BART, MUNI Metro, or automated Skytrain technology. (Tomo Tawa Linja) Wordless 1900-era dream drama. MrWhippler combines Klovn's ambient song McKlaren" with a silent movie In the Land of Nod". The dream starts at 1:15, a main street inhabited with stop-motion toy dolls and animals on ... Continue reading "Sunday Movies: Geary Subway & Misbehaving Toys"

As 2025 comes to a close, let's take a look at the current state of transit lanes in Seattle. Since the SODO Busway opened in 1991, the City has built over 55 miles of transit lanes for buses and streetcars. To keep track of where transit lanes are and when/how they can be used, the ... Continue reading "Seattle's Transit Lanes in 2025"

Nate O'Brien moves to a tiny house off the grid on his own rural timber land. A subway entrance in the woods. (Ambient soundscape by Miracle Forest) There's also the mysterious subway station and abandoned subway station. (Miracle Forest) The mysterious subway station is in the Budapest Metro. Can you spot two things unusual about ... Continue reading "Movie Break: Woods"

Service Announcements: News: Commentary: This is an Open Thread.

More fare payment options are coming to ORCA in 2026, both motivated by the FIFA World Cup coming to Seattle next summer. Public pilot programs testing Open Payments and a 3-day PugetPass are planned for 2026, allowing more flexibility in how transit riders pay their fares. The last major updates to ORCA came in 2024 ... Continue reading "New ORCA features next year: Open Payments and 3-Day PugetPass"

The Fremont Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that connects Fremont and Queen Anne. Opened in 1917, the bridge served as the sole link across the Fremont Cut for 15 years. When the George Washington Memorial Bridge (aka: Aurora Bridge) opened in 1932, travelers between Fremont and Queen Anne had a more reliable connection. The ... Continue reading "The Fremont Bridge Should be Car-free"

How many trains per hour can fit into one downtown tunnel, both currently and with tunnel upgrades? Sound Transit's current ceiling is 20 trains per hour, or one every 3 minutes. With capital upgrades this could be increased to 30-45 trains per hour, or one every 2 to 1.5 minutes, as many other metro tunnels ... Continue reading "Trains Per Hour in the Downtown Tunnel"

This is an open thread for miscellaneous transit and land-use topics. There will be no Sunday Movie this week. Instead Sunday will have another Link article, and next week will have five non-Link articles.

Transit ridership in the Seattle area typically reaches its seasonal low in early months of the year as tourists avoid the Big Dark and locals hunker down after the holidays. Sound Transit often uses this time to complete disruptive maintenance and upgrade projects. At a Sound Transit Board committee meeting earlier this month, agency staff ... Continue reading "Light rail work Jan-Feb 2026"

The Sound Transit board met today to discuss alternatives to building the second downtown Link tunnel (DSTT2), as part of its monthly board meeting. Video of the meeting will be available in 24-48 hours on ST's YouTube channel. (Here's the meeting agenda and webpage.) Sound Transit did an ad hoc study of two alternatives to ... Continue reading "ST Downtown Tunnel Board Meeting"

Yesterday, Mayor-elect Katie Wilson announced Angela Brady will be the next Interim Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). Since 2022, Brady has served as Director of Seattle's Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects & Sound Transit. In the statement announcing the change, Wilson touted Brady's strong operational expertise" and said Brady is committed ... Continue reading "Angela Brady is Wilson's Pick for Interim SDOT Director"

Reminder: Link service in Downtown will close early on Friday. Discussion about the Ballard Link Extension continues on yesterday's article. Update: All Metro buses will stop for a moment Thursday at 2:54am and 2:54pm in memorial for slain bus driver Shawn Yim. Details in a comment below. This is an open thread.

This Thursday the full Sound Transit Board is likely to permanently determine whether the agency's recent analysis of downtown tunnel alternatives warrants further consideration. It's no exaggeration to say the future of the Link light rail system is at stake. The latest estimates show the agency faces a $34.5 billion shortfall over the next 20 ... Continue reading "Build the Best Parts First"

Earlier this year, Sound Transit revealed updated cost estimates for its major ST3 projectstotalling $14 to $20 billion (in 2025 dollars) morethan its current long-range financial plan can afford. Over half of that excess cost is due to a massive jump in costs to build the planned Ballard Link Extension, which was expected to cost ... Continue reading "No New Tunnel Downtown? Sound Transit Explores Ballard Link Alternatives"

Following the recent opening of the Federal Way Link Extension, confusion quickly set in over which 1 Line trains travel to Seattle. Once the 2 Line is connected across Lake Washington, all three Link termini will imply they are the center of the region: Lynnwood City Center, Downtown Redmond, and Federal Way Downtown. Of course, ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Incorrect Signs"

In its last meeting in 2025, the Sound Transit Board's Executive Committee will officially direct agency staff to conduct a fare gate retrofit implementation study" and if study findings support further action, develop a fare gate retrofit pilot proposal". In September, The Urbanist reported fare gates were one of many options under consideration as part ... Continue reading "Sound Transit considers fare gate pilot"

Reminder: Link service through Downtown will be disrupted a few more times before the end of the year, with extended overnight closures planned for the nights of Dec. 12-13, 20-21, and 27-28. Local News & Commentary: Other Items: This is an Open Thread.

The recent election of the former head the Seattle Transit Riders Union Katie Wilson to be Seattle's mayor occurred less than a month after Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck announced her Better Bus Lanes' Campaign. In the spirit of that campaign I offer suggestions for improvements that can be accomplished in the near future: Better Bus ... Continue reading "Better Buses in Seattle"

We'll all be at the Federal Way Link opening today. Try out the new stations. Tell us your experiences below. There will be no Sunday Movie this week. We're planning a retrospective article after the event, but its timing will depend on what happens today and whether we can assemble the content by tonight for ... Continue reading "Weekend Open Thread: Federal Way's Big Day"

On December 6, Sound Transit will open the Federal Way Link Extension (FWLE). This extension will add three new stations along eight miles of new track south of Angle Lake station. The stations are Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown. Each station will feature connections to local bus service, pickup and drop-off ... Continue reading "Federal Way Link Extension: New Stations"

On Tuesday, Sound Transit invited members of the media to preview the Federal Way Link Extension (FWLE) that opens on Saturday. This extension will add three new stations to the 1 Line south of Angle Lake: Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown. Terri Mestas, deputy CEO for megaproject delivery at Sound Transit, ... Continue reading "Federal Way Link Extension: Sneak Peek"

Update at 7:15am: Othello station is open and trains are back to normal service. Othello station on the 1 Line closed around 2:30pm Tuesday and will remain closed through Wednesday's morning commute at least, due to an ongoing police investigation. Shuttle buses are running between Rainier Beach and Columbia City stations. Link is running north ... Continue reading "Midweek Roundup: Othello Station Closed"

In just a few days, the first Link train with passengers will travel to Kent and Federal Way. Since the first official discussions of building light rail to Federal Way over 15 years ago, the Seattle Transit Blog has followed its progress. Take a trip down memory lane as we look back at the discussions, ... Continue reading "Federal Way Link Extension: How We Got Here"

Sound Transit's Federal Way Link Extension (FWLE) will open to the public this Saturday, December 6. Festivities begin at 9:30am with speeches from community leaders at Federal Way Downtown station. Following the ribbon cutting at 11am, the first passengers will be welcomed onboard. Between 11am and 3pm, each of the three new stations will host ... Continue reading "Federal Way Link Extension: Opening Celebration Details"

Arlington, Texas (pop 400K) is the largest US city with no fixed bus routes, just subsidized Via app-taxis. (Classy Whale) See Milan's transit modes while learning Italian. (Easy Italian) This is an open thread.

On a rainy Sunday in October, three Metro buses meandered through the beautiful Cascade foothills on their way to Black Diamond. Leading the pack was Metro bus 5034, a 1990 Breda DuoBus 350. Following the Breda was bus 3152, a 1987 MAN Americana SL40102L. Finally, a 2004 New Flyer DE60LF acted as the caboose for ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: MEHVA Vintage Bus Tours"

Local Transit News: Further afield: This is an Open Thread.

Thursday is Thanksgiving, so Puget Sound transit agencies are running reduced schedules. In addition, some agencies (indicated below) are running reduced service on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Click on an agency's name to view the official announcement. Sound Transit Thanksgiving Day Day After Thanksgiving King County Metro Thanksgiving Day Day After Thanksgiving Washington State ... Continue reading "Thanksgiving Holiday Service 2025"

Berry Street in Brooklyn, New York. The best urban street in the US? (Fourth Place) Sabine Hossenfelder, German physicist, is pessimistic about humanity's ability to cope with climate change. (Sabine Hossenfelder) This is an open thread.

Local Transit News: Land Use & Housing: Other Headlines: This is an Open Thread.

King County Metro recently completed the 2025 System Evaluation, which is expected to be published later this month. This report is a review of Metro's service in 2024 and highlights where additional service is needed. This article will focus on the Route Productivity data shared in Appendix H. Upcoming articles will discuss other sections of ... Continue reading "King County Metro's Most Productive Routes"

All about one-way streets. (City Beautiful) Americans have gone crazy for self-storage units. (Wendover Productions) This is the last of the movie backlog, so future Sunday Movies will depend on if I can find more relevant movies. This is an open thread.

At first glance, the passenger rail systems in Seattle and Tokyo have nothing in common. Seattle has seven passenger rail lines (1 Line, 2 Line, S Line, N Line, First Hill Line, South Lake Union Line, Seattle Center Monorail). Meanwhile, Tokyo has 102 passenger rail lines. Seattle's system has 130 thousand daily passengers while Tokyo's ... Continue reading "Friday Roundtable: Tokyo's Trams vs Seattle's Streetcars"

After an 8-month campaign and 8 days of election results, Katie Wilson has been elected as the 58th Mayor of Seattle. As of Wednesday afternoon, Wilson has a 1,976 vote lead over incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell. Harrell is expected to concede in a speech at noon today. Since founding the Seattle Transit Riders Union (TRU) ... Continue reading "Katie Wilson is Seattle's Next Mayor"

Elections, Events, and Campaigns: Local Transit & Streets Land Use & Housing: Commentary & Miscellaneous: This is an Open Thread.

By JASON LI King County Metro's Route 8 is the slowest and least reliable bus route in the entire city. That was proven this summer when hundreds of transit advocates outwalked and outdanced the bus doing the slowest things we know during our Race the L8 event. The reason for this is painfully obvious: buses ... Continue reading "Denny Way Mode Share"

Honolulu's automated metro had an extension open last month, and a third phase started construction this summer. The video discusses four levels of automation, and the last section talks about how to partly automate Chicago's Blue L Line. (Car Free Keith) Toronto's Eglington light rail project is a long saga. (Andriyas Redel) Fill out the ... Continue reading "Sunday Movies: Honolulu Metro & Toronto LRT"

See yesterday's post for ongoing election updates & discussion. Transit & Streets: Land Use, Commentary, and More: This is an Open Thread.

There's an election today. Vote. STB Endorsements are here. Initial results will be available shortly after the 8pm closing time, and this article will be updated then and if there are significant changes in subsequent days. There's also a New York mayoral election where free buses are one of the campaign issues, and other elections ... Continue reading "Election Open Thread"

Two weeks ago, Sound Transit announced the decision to expand overnight maintenance once a month to improve system reliability, and kicked off that work last weekend during which the agency closed all 1 Line stations south of Rainier Beach a few hours early each night to allow for additional maintenance. Yesterday, Sound Transit issued a ... Continue reading "1 Line Maintenance November & December"

Here's an index of the routes in our Ridership Patterns series so far, and the next ones on the todo list. Each route article has stop-by-stop ridership data, and which stops have all-day bidirectional demand vs peak-hour peak-direction, and where clusters of people might be going to for work or shopping. This list was originally ... Continue reading "Route Ridership Index"

Amtrak is fulfilling its mandate, increasing ridership, getting new trains, and getting better at partnering with states for potential new routes. Cascades is at 9:21; the eastern end of the Empire Builder is before that. (Wendover Productions) Upcoming Link maintenance: This is an open thread. Open thread" means comments about any transit or land use ... Continue reading "Sunday Movie: Amtrak is Looking Up"