I had a lot of questions come up regarding some of the other services that are currently being offered between Seattle and Portland and figured I’ll list them out real quick.
Amtrak Cascades - Seattle King Street Station to Portland Union Station
Cost: $28 to $50 One Way, Upgrade to Business Class $14
Maximum Seats: 250
Daily Roundtrips: 4 + Coast Starlight
Trip Time: 3 hours 30 minutes (< 4 hours and 5 minutes for Coast Starlight >)
Seaport Airlines - King County Airport (Boeing Field) to Portland International Airport
Cost: $99 to 224 One Way
Maximum Seats: 8
Daily Roundtrips: 8
Trip Time: 90 minutes from BFI-PDX
KC Metro Route 170 to/from Downtown Seattle - 30 minutes, 6 trips a day, Weekday Only
Portland MAX: 45 minutes
Alaska/Horizon Airlines - Sea-Tac International Airport to Portland International Airport
Cost: $95 to $149 One Way
Maximum Seats: 70
Daily Roundtrips: 25
Trip Time: 45 to 50 minutes
KC Metro Route: 194 from Downtown Seattle, All Day and Weekend Service
ST Route: 560 from Downtown Bellevue, All Day and Weekend Service
Portland MAX: 45 minutes
Shuttle Express - Downtown Seattle to Downtown Portland
Cost: $69, 15% Gratuity not included, One way
Maximum Seats: 6
Daily Roundtrips: 3 on weekday, 2 on weekends
Trip Time: 3 hours depending on traffic
Greyhound - 7th and Stewart in Seattle to Portland Union Station
Cost: $30 to $35 One Way
Maximum Seats: 49
Daily Roundtrips: 7
Trip Time: 3 hours 15 minutes to 4 hours and 15 minutes
I hope this helps with any decision you make between Seattle and Portland!
is Shuttle Express the only option with WiFi? or is it on the Cascades as well?
There is no wifi on Amtrak Cascades yet.
Answer from WSDOT Jeff Schulz;
We are looking at options. There are significant connectivity issues to deal with in order to provide 100% coverage. (tunnels, cuts, locational issues). We are examining the possibility of doing a proof of concept study with an experienced rail internet provider in the next 6-8 months to find out capabilities and feasibility of mobile internet.
My Answer: Verizon Wireless provides about 90% coverage along the Seattle - Portland corridor
There’s also that awesome way you can do it with just the local buses if you’re bored and want to spend the whole day getting there… I remember seeing a link for that a while back and was quite amused.
Yes, you can find that trip listed here
I have always wanted to try it out. There is another even more complex way involving going out to the coast and over to Portland through Astoria.
My friend and I did the trip this summer. Here was our schedule:
6:38 am: Board ST 590 at 2nd & University, Seattle
7:30 am: Disembark ST 590 at Tacoma Dome Station
7:47 am: Board IT 603 at Tacoma Dome Station
8:40 am: Disembark IT 603 at 11th & Capitol, Olympia
9:38 am: Board IT 68 at 11th & Capitol, Olympia (Across the street from arrival stop)
9:43 am: Disembark IT 68 at Tumwater Square, Tumwater
9:55 am: Board CAP Rural to Longview at Tumwater Square, Tumwater
11:40 am: Disembark CAP Rural to Longview at Longview TC, Longview
12:10 pm: Board CAP Rural to Salmon Creek at Longview TC, Longview
1:05 pm: Disembark CAP Rural to Salmon Creek at Salmon Creek P&R, Vancouver
1:43: Board C-Tran 134 at Salmon Creek P&R, Vancouver
2:24: Disembark C-Tran 134 at SW 2nd & SW Alder, Portland
It all worked out great. I originally was looking for a way via Astoria, but you end up having to spend a night in Ocean Shores because of the infrequency of several buses along the route, especially in Pacific County. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a transit link between Salem and Eugene, so Salem’s the furthest south you would be able to get.
Skywest (United) also flies between SEA and PDX with 6 RT’s daily and can sometimes be less expensive than Alaska/Horizon. EMB-120’s hold 30 passengers.
There is also vs car. A while back someone posted a link to this Seattle-Portland instacalc sheet where you just fill in your mpg and current gas prices. For a while it was very competitive just from price of gas, though now gas prices have gone back down. Now, if you add mileage costs (for reference, currently $0.585 a mile at UW) taking the train is a no-brainer. Personally I have to add in the price of renting a car, and so it never makes sense unless we’re going to the coast, especially since my whole family can easily ride the Cascades for free with points from our Chase Amtrak credit card.
Great list. But I think the air travel needs an overall trip time from downtown Seattle to downtown Portland.
My estimate: 194 takes about 30 minutes, 45 minutes minimum pre-boarding time, 45 minute flight time, 20 minutes post-flight, 45 minute MAX time = 3 hours 5 minutes
The big advantage of flight is that 25 round trips/day. The time difference isn’t that great (especially if you add a buffer to the estimate above in case your bus is late).
RE: Seaport
While they fly to PDX, their facility is not with the main terminal, but in the business jet section (to the east). You could walk from there to the MAX station, but it likely isn’t obvious how you do that from there.
There is also the bike path along the road, so you could unfold your bike, pedal to one of the MAX stations and then be off.
The selection of mode will be determined by (a) where the person wants to go in [sea/pdx] (b) how many are traveling (c) time of day (d) length of stay etc.
While riding the Amtrak Cascades once I thought I heard one of the Amtrak employees say that the Mt. Baker train set has Wifi.
Taking public transit is still the cheapest way at less than $10 one way, but longest at 6 hours 42 minutes (in the faster direction). See my regional transfers website for the information.
The train offers the best quality experience in my opinion. The hassles of flying make the time difference minimal. The ride on the train is comfortable and there are dining and bistro cars you can walk to and visit. Movies are shown similar to a plane. You get to see the area in a different way.
When you get to Portland it is an easy three block walk to the light rail station and the streetcar is just a few more blocks. We often travel down there with the kids in the winter just for a little getaway.
Current plans will have the light rail in Portland pass within one block of Portland Union Station, as soon as the Portland Transit Mall MAX project is finished.