Seattle Transit Blog
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Seattle Transit Blog is a nonprofit organization that covers transit news for the the greater Seattle area. The blog also focuses on density and the urban form, and other forms of alternative transportation like bicycling and walking.
Seattle Transit Blog
6h ago
After decades of ideation, deliberation, and planning, the Eastside finally gets modern rapid transit tomorrow, when the East Link “2 Line” opens for service. But tomorrow’s opening is really to whet riders’ appetites for the full connection to the Central Link “spine,” which is tentatively slated for late 2025, thanks to construction mishaps on the I-90 bridge.
We’ll be at the opening ceremony at Bellevue Downtown Station at 10 am. Wear a hat, and we can be the Hatted Transit Fans. People from The Urbanist and other groups will be there too. When train service starts at 11 am or soon after ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
21h ago
On Wednesday (April 24) I had a chance to talk to Claudia Balducci, King County Councilmember and Chair of the Sound Transit System Expansion Committee and former Bellevue Mayor, about the opening of the 2 Line on Saturday. As the Eastside representative on the Sound Transit Board, she spearheaded the opening of the Eastlink starter line. I thought it would be good to get her perspective on the line and share some of her thoughts (not verbatim).
You have been tweeting every day a countdown towards the opening, what are you most excited about?
The line provides all kinds of opportunities for m ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
5d ago
Countdowns: East Link Starter Line (This Saturday! 11am), Lynnwood Link (August 30).
Transit Updates:
Pierce Transit is hosting a ribbon-cutting event today at the Tacoma Dome Station celebrating the opening of the Stream Community Line. Service started on April 1, serving as an express route along the Pacific Avenue/State Route 7 Corridor. All Pierce Transit services are fare-free for the day.
Seattle Times ($) writes about the imminent opening of the East Link Starter Line, features an interactive map of the new stations, and reviews the history of the 2 Line.
Sound Transit is sending worker ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
5d ago
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) recently requested feedback on their plans for the future of Amtrak Cascades service. They call it the Preliminary Amtrak Cascades Service Development Plan (SDP). We (STB authors) responded:
We expect that the region will continue to grow and our airports and freeways won’t be able to handle the traffic increase. We should make sure that we don’t need flights within Cascadia. While UHSR [ultra-high speed rail] service may be nice, the California HSR made it clear what cost/effort/time it takes to do that along the West Coast. Our climat ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
1w ago
Photo by Oran
A few weeks back, I decided to exercise my freedom in going into the office more than I needed to and commuted downtown on a Friday. The first thing I noticed was how much emptier my usual bus was. Of course, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Friday ridership is down relative to the other days of the week, although none of the local transit agencies publicly report this kind of breakdown.
Many employers now operate a hybrid working mode, with workers in-office some days of the week, and at home the others. The problem is that “hybrid” is a spectrum: some companies don’t requir ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
1w ago
Seattle’s bus network used to be focused on bringing people to work downtown. As our city grew, it spread its wings across First Hill, Capitol Hill, Fremont, and the Eastside. Though Amazon was earlier in the middle of downtown, it now occupies South Lake Union (SLU) and Bellevue. While a one-seat bus ride to downtown used to be the norm, once you have more destinations to cover, it becomes more important to develop a network of interconnecting lines. Besides the frequency on the lines, the connecting points between the lines determine how easy or time-consuming the transfer is. We built trans ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
2w ago
Yesterday, I had the chance to join members of the press in a media tour of South Bellevue Station, which will open for Link operations in just a matter of weeks when the East Link Starter Line begins service. As things currently stand, the ELSL will open to the public on April 27th, while the full extension across I-90 is still tentatively set for 2025.
At South Bellevue, the accompanying park-and-ride garage has been open for more than two years and the station itself has been finished for quite for time. However, only recently was tile replacement completed on the platform, which was necess ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
2w ago
It’s been a couple weeks, so the roundup is longer than usual. Today, a total solar eclipse will pass over much of the central and eastern United States.
Countdown Clocks:
April 27, 11:02am: First East Link Starter Line Train from South Bellevue Station. Discover the 2 Line.
August 30, 10am(?): Lynnwood Link Extension (1 Line). No schedule for first train yet. Some neat aerial photos from ST’s drone photographer Ken Lambert on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/SeaTimesFotoKen/status/1776001156394762448
Local News:
Sound Transit hired Terri Mestas, most recently head of LAX’s nearly-complete ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
2w ago
As part of the work surrounding 130th Station in north Seattle, SDOT has started making plans in the area. While this initial work has focused on the area east of the station, this is a proposal for changes to the west. The goal is to improve pedestrian, biking and transit connections to the station.
Station Background
130th Station is designed primarily to connect riders from the east and west (Lake City and Bitter Lake). There will be some who walk and ride to the station, but I expect the vast majority to arrive by bus. The crossing bus route will also connect riders in the north end (for o ..read more
Seattle Transit Blog
3w ago
King County Metro, Sound Transit, and Community Transit start their semi-annual service changes today, Saturday March 30. Pierce Transit’s changes start tomorrow, Sunday March 31. Stephen Fesler at The Urbanist has a detailed list of the changes. The agencies have their own lists, linked at the beginning of each section. I won’t repeat all the details but instead focus on higher-level trends.
King County Metro
Metro changes start Saturday, March 30.
Seattle is reallocating its Seattle Transit Measure (STM) levy investment to different routes to better match the city’s goals. The winners are Ra ..read more