A Sounder train crosses Smith Street where it is no longer required to sound its horn before crossing.
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 requirements to achieve a Quiet Zone. Recent infrastructure upgrades include building raised concrete medians, adding additional signs, and refreshing pavement markings. In a non-Quiet Zone area, all trains are required to sound their horn 15-20 seconds before each street crossing.
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:
10:30 pm to Lynnwood: 2 Line westbound/northbound at Judkins Park.
10:38 pm to Federal Way: 1 Line southbound at Capitol Hill.
10:44 pm to Redmond: 2 Line westbound/northbound at Capitol Hill.
Or looking at the entire train runs:
2 Line westbound/northbound: Downtown Redmond at 9:04, Judkins Park at 9:40, Capitol Hill at 9:53, and on to Lynnwood.
1 Line northbound: Federal Way at 9:45, SODO at 10:30, Capitol Hill at 10:44, and on to Lynnwood.
1 Line southbound: Lynnwood at 10:10, Capitol Hill at 10:38, SODO at 10:51, and on to Federal Way.
2 Line southbound/eastbound: Lynnwood at 10:16, Capitol Hill at 10:44, Judkins Park at 10:57, and on to Redmond.
1 Line shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Capitol Hill and SODO stations. 2 Line shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes between Capitol Hill and Judkins Park stations. An earlier announcement said the shuttle buses would start earlier at 9pm, but Monday’s announcement doesn’t mention this,. so they may or may not start that early.
Check Sound Transit’s service alerts for the latest updates. A multilingual translation like is available at 800-823-9230 for passengers with limited English proficiency.
The reason for this is to extend Link’s after-hours maintenance period this month to make the system more resilient. I’m eager for Link to get more reliable someday so I’m glad for this maintenance.
Kitsap Transit bus passengers will benefit from an additional 619 trips each week.
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 change is also introducing a new pilot route, SK Ride Express, to connect McCormick Woods and McCormick Village to the Port Orchard Foot Ferry. Overall, these changes add up to 619 new bus trips every week. Beginning September 28, the three Fast Ferry routes will stop running on Saturdays.
South Kitsap
Route 105: The first weekday trip from the Port Orchard Ferry will now leave at 5am (two minutes earlier).
Route 108: 180 new weekly trips will provide service every 15 minutes between 8:30am and 5:30pm on weekdays.
Route 109: The stops at Madrona & Red Spruce and Mitchell & Town Square will no longer be served.
Route 119: The stop at Madrona & Red Spruce will no longer be served.
Route 184: One new trip will depart Southworth Ferry Terminal at 8:33am.
Route 186: Two new trips will depart Port Orchard Ferry Dock at 11:30am and Southworth Ferry Terminal at 12pm (noon).
SK Ride Express: A new route will connect the existing SK Ride area to the Port Orchard Foot Ferry. SK Ride Express will only top at the stop at four stops: Hibiscus Cir & Yarrow, McCormick Woods Dr & Old Clifton (Flag Stop), Murrelet & Old Clifton (Flag Stop), and Port Orchard Ferry. Trips will run every 30 minutes between 5am-8pm.
SK Ride Express map (Kitsap Transit)
Port Orchard Foot Ferry: Starting September 28, the Port Orchard Foot Ferry will lose its Saturday evening sailings. The last trip Bremerton will depart at 7:30pm and the last trip to Port Orchard will depart at 7:45pm.
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 new urban villages.
Transit advocates including Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, ATU 587 President Greg Woodfill, and many others, launched the Hop On Board! campaign on Friday (Hop On Board Seattle).
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 General Manager Lam Ho, and Transportation Choices Coalition‘s Executive Director Kirk Hovenkotter and Policy Director Katy Ricchiuto.
The Transportation Choices Coalition is leading local advocates pushing for expansion of the transit measure, which proposes to increase the current 0.15% sales tax for transit to 0.3%, the maximum allowed under recently adopted state law. If approved by voters, the measure would take effect in April 2027.
The north mile of Rainier Ave has seen 152 crashes in the past three years. Despite the 25mph speed limit, SDOT has measured vehicles traveling up to 80mph.
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 network. Speed cameras cannot replace full road redesigns, but they are an effective temporary measure until a concrete redesign is implemented. The four cameras will be installed at:
Rainier Ave S (northbound between S Holgate St and S Jackson St)
E Marginal Way S (between S Fidalgo St and Diagonal Ave S)
Rainier Ave S (between S Norfolk St and 51st Ave S)
Sand Point Way NE (between NE 74th St and Matthews Ave NE)
These broad sections will be narrowed down to the exact camera locations over the next few months. Signs warning drivers of the cameras will be installed 30 days before the cameras are turned on. Once the cameras are enabled, they will only issue warnings for the first 30 days.
