Metro is studying improvements for Route 60. https://kingcountymetro.blog/2026/01/16/metro-studying-transit-improvements-on-route-60/
The goal of the improvements is to reduce bus travel times by 10-15% during peak commute times. Most of the improvements involve bus stop rebalancing along with some short bus lanes at congested intersections.
Continue reading “Route 60 Improvements” | 22 comments
On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl by defeating the New England Patriots 29-13. To celebrate their victory, there will be a parade this Wednesday, February 11, with official celebrations starting at Lumen field at 10am. Regular transit riders should plan ahead as many bus routes will be rerouted to avoid the parade. Parade-goers are strongly encouraged to leave the car at home, pull out their ORCA cards, and catch a bus, train, or ferry into Downtown to avoid the gridlock and exorbitant parking fees.
A trophy celebration will begin at 10am at Lumen Field and the ensuing parade is scheduled to begin at 11am, starting near King Street Station at the intersection of Washington Street and 4th Ave, proceeding north to 4th and Cedar. Transit agencies are expecting hundreds of thousands of attendees and are coordinating to provide extra service to get attendees to and from the event. Here’s how you can take transit to join the party:
Continue reading “Take transit to the Seahawks’ victory parade” | 24 commentsThis week, sharp-eyed Link riders (including STB’s Michael Smith and Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck) noticed new signposts installed on Link stations platforms across Seattle. The signposts are located along the textured safety tiles at the edge of station platforms near the first between-car barrier, and apparently-finished signposts feature an orange flag with a “2”. Although the purpose of these signs has not been officially announced, it appears Sound Transit is quietly preparing for the return of two-car Link trains to stations in Seattle, a sight not seen regularly on the 1 Line since early 2020.
Although the 1 Line has enjoyed four-car trains since the opening of Northgate Link in 2021, the 2 Line has operated with two-car trains since its opening in 2024. On March 28, the 2 Line will officially extend to Lynnwood via Seattle, effectively doubling train frequencies between Lynnwood City Center and International District/Chinatown Stations. However, the additional trains may be shorter than some riders are used to.
Continue reading “Signs for two-car Link trains return to Seattle” | 92 commentsThe history of Gasworks Park. (Fourth Place) Even if you’ve heard some of the history you probably don’t know all of it.
From downtown Portland to Mt Hood by MAX and bus routes. (Climate and Transit)
I made a similar trip to Grouse Mountain in British Columbia in the 90s. From downtown Vancouver I took the SeaBus to Lonsdale Key, a local bus to a transfer stop in a residential area, a second local bus to the Grouse Mountain parking lot, and the ski lift to the resort. It was summer so there was no skiing, just an outdoor space similar to Gasworks Park where people picnic and a building with a documentary movie. The Grouse Mountain website says bus #236 now goes all the way from Lonsdale Quay to Grouse Mountain (a 25-minute ride), and in the winter there’s a shuttle bus from downtown Vancouver to Grouse Mountain.
This is an open thread.
39 commentsOn March 28 the full 2 Line will open with Crosslake service. The next nationwide No Kings march is on the same day. Having both at the same time raises logistical issues like overcrowded trains in the Crosslake segment and downtown street closures. It’s worth thinking through the implications of this early. Hopefully Sound Transit and Metro will have extra service as needed, and a robust plan for downtown street closures. We can point out any blind spots they may have.
Past Link openings have several busfuls of people coming to the speeches, and full trains for the first few hours of service as people try out the route and stations and take their kids to the festivals at all the new stations. We don’t know where the Link speeches will be: most likely Judkins Park, Mercer Island, or Bellevue Downtown station.
The last No Kings march brought over 90,000 people to downtown Seattle, many coming on Link and buses. They blocked part of Pine Street and 5th Avenue for three hours. The first Women’s March started at Judkins Park and went up the entire 4th Avenue.
Continue reading “2 Line and No Kings” | 57 comments
In January, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) announced the RapidRide J project reached a significant milestone: completion of the Eastlake water main replacement. It may seem odd for a transit project to be celebrating utility work, but this is a great example of how city departments can work together to improve the built environment.
While branded as a transit project, the J Line project is more of an Eastlake corridor overhaul project. Wesley Lin shared a breakdown of the project in 2024. When construction finishes next year, crews from SDOT, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), and King County Metro will have installed the following transportation, utility, and urban greening features infrastructure.
Two teenagers were shot and killed at bus stop on Rainier Ave near South Shore PreK-8 on Friday (KUOW). Both were students at Rainier Beach High School. Students and community members including Mayor Wilson and new SPS Superintendent Ben Shuldiner gathered at the now-closed bus stop on Monday afternoon (The Seattle Times, $).
On February 7 (Saturday), 1 Line service will be suspended between Federal Way and Angle Lake. During the closure, crews will conduct inspections and make adjustments to the traction power system to improve system reliability. Buses will replace 1 Line trains between Angle Lake and Federal Way, operating every 10-15 minutes. In addition, passengers can use the A Line between Federal Way and Tukwila International Blvd station.
Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is maturing from what I reported two years ago. While Waymo, Zoox (Amazon), and Tesla compete to replace taxis in the U.S., China (Baidu, Pony.ai, WeRide) is already a bit further along. The rollout has shown that AV technology requires expensive sensors but proved itself unless there is a major disruption.
What about if you install such technology in a bus? Many transit providers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe have partnered with startups such as Holon or Navya or more traditional electric bus manufacturers such as Karsan to test on-demand and fixed-line autonomous bus services. This often happens in partnership with the AV software platform provided by Beep. WeRide is partnering with Yutong for global rollout. These vehicles are usually smaller than traditional buses to serve routes with less ridership. As the buses do not require a driver, they may allow Metro to provide fixed services in low ridership areas where King County currently operates their on-demand Flex service.
The Metro Flex service currently uses traditional minivans with drivers. They have partnered with Via to operate this service. Via already has partnerships with vendors such as Navya and May Mobility. At some point Metro may either offer fixed routes using AV buses in such areas and/or partner with one of these AV providers to operate a driverless on-demand service. Jacksonville Transportation Authority is already testing such AV based service. Holon is already building a factory in Florida to supply them to Jacksonville and the U.S. market in general.
86 comments
A long-awaited ORCA feature is finally available to (some) transit riders: Open Payments. Riders of the RapidRide G line are now able to use common contactless payment methods such as tap-enabled credit cards and digital wallets on smartphones to pay fare at ORCA readers installed along the line. The feature has been in the works for ORCA for years, with a full rollout expected this spring after this “soft launch”.
As of today, riders are able to pay fare (full-price adult fares only) by tapping their credit or debit cards, or digital devices like phones and watches. The system will accept taps from the most common tap-enabled bank cards or smart devices, including iPhones. Unfortunately, ORCA cardholders are still unable to load their ORCA card into digital wallets on iPhones.
Continue reading “Tap-to-pay soft launches on RapidRide G” | 55 commentsTacoma’s abandoned railroad tunnel. (Pretty Gritty Tours)
1980 Seattle bus and walking tour. A short KCTS documentary. (Tom Speer)
A realtor looks at Seattle in ten years. (Living in Seattle with Sean McConnell) Best taken with a grain of salt, and he’s trying to drum up buyers, but here’s what people are saying. Just don’t look too closely at a Ballard to Bellevue trip on light rail.
This is an open thread.
106 comments
Yesterday, King County Metro launched its next generation of battery-electric buses (BEB) with a new livery and upgraded operator safety partitions. The new buses from Gillig will begin service on February 2, 2026 with periodic service on routes 105, 128, 161, 165, 184, and the F Line. The rollout of these buses marks a key milestone for Metro as it continues towards its goal of a zero emission fleet by 2035.
Metro’s new fleet will be based out of the brand new Tukwila Base. The Tukwila Base has capacity for 120 buses and sports 123 pantograph chargers. Each 40ft Gillig bus has an estimated range of 240–280 miles and can carry up to 68 passengers. Metro’s initial order with Gillig was for 89 battery-electric buses. If the agency is satisfied with the buses from this order, it will have the option to purchase up to 395 buses.
Continue reading “Friday Roundtable: New Battery Buses” | 87 comments
Earlier this week, Sound Transit shared an updated proposal for its ST Express restructure that will be implemented later this year. In response to the initial ST Express restructure proposal, Sound Transit received nearly 4,500 survey responses and in-person feedback at three open house events. Using that input, the agency has proposed minor adjustments for a few routes.
Sound Transit is accepting feedback on the new proposal between now and February 9, 2026. To provide feedback, attend one of the open house events listed below, or email servicechanges@soundtransit.org.
Information Sessions:
Since the previous ST Express restructure proposal, only the routes below have been updated.
Continue reading “Sound Transit’s 2026 Service Plan (Phase 4)” | 99 commentsThere Are No Safe Streets under Fascist Occupation (streets.mn)
On December 6, 2025, Sound Transit’s Link extension to Federal Way (FWLE) welcomed its first passengers. This 1 Line extension added three new stations along eight miles of new track south of Angle Lake. The three new stations — Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown — are located in suburban communities between SR-99 and I-5. Each station has connections to local bus service, pickup and drop-off areas, and lots of parking. In a Board of Directors Meeting on December 18, Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine shared the three new stations had a combined 16,000 boardings on opening day.
Sound Transit’s ridership dashboard has been updated to include the December ridership data for the three new Link stations. While these initial data can share some insights, it is worth noting a few reasons why this data may not represent future ridership. First, the FWLE opened on December 6, so a week’s worth of ridership is not measured. Second, opening day brought many more riders than usual as people wanted to check out the new stations. Third, King County Metro’s South Link Connections restructure has not been implemented yet. Once these changes are implemented, more south King County residents will have a more direct bus route to a Link station. To reduce the impact of the first two anomalies, the analysis below is focused on the average weekday ridership, adjusted for the number of days the stations were open. With those caveats in mind, let’s take a look at the December ridership data.
Continue reading “Early Look at Federal Way Link Extension Ridership” | 72 commentsPraise for Link from a British perspective. (CityMoose)
Toronto’s Finch West light rail, which opened in December, is slower than Link’s surface segments. (Not Just Bikes)
This is the gray line in the top left of Toronto’s subway map. It’s not the Ontario Line we featured in the automate Ballard article two weeks ago, which is not in that map and is under construction.
This is an open thread.
27 comments
This morning, Sound Transit announced the East Link Extension segment between South Bellevue station and International District/Chinatown station will open on March 28, 2026. When it opens, the 2 Line will be extended from South Bellevue station to Lynnwood City Center station, via Seattle. This extension will open two more Link stations: Mercer Island and Judkins Park.
Since the live wire test in September 2025, Sound Transit has run test trains and conducted operator training across the I-90 bridge. In preparation for the extension opening, Sound Transit will begin simulated service for the full 2 Line in February. During this final stage of testing, 2 Line trains will run the full length of the line. Passengers will be allowed on the trains between Downtown Redmond and South Bellevue, and between International District/Chinatown and Lynnwood City Center. Passengers will not be permitted on the trains between International District/Chinatown and South Bellevue.
Continue reading “Full East Link Extension Will Open March 28” | 203 commentsToday marks the 10th anniversary of the First Hill Line streetcar in Seattle. The 2.5 mile, 10 station line connects Pioneer Square, the International District, Yesler Terrace, First Hill and Capitol Hill. Since 2016, the line has carried over 10 million passengers.
The First Hill Line launched in 2016 after years of delay. Construction of the route was primarily funded by Sound Transit as a mitigation for dropping a proposed First Hill Link station. Sound Transit contributed to funding the route’s operations with $5 million annually until 2023. In 2024 and 2025, the Seattle Transit Measure provided funding to operate both streetcar lines.
Since 2016, most of the discussion around the First Hill Line has focused on the Cultural Connector extension (previously known as the Center City Connector). This extension would connect Seattle’s two streetcar routes via dedicated right of way on 1st Ave. The Cultural Connector was initially scheduled to open in 2020, but has been delayed several times as cost estimates have more than doubled. Let’s take a look at a few key events for the First Hill Streetcar and the Culture Connector from the past 10 years.
Reminder: From 10pm on Friday, Jan. 23, through Saturday, Jan. 24, the DSTT will be closed between Capitol Hill and SODO stations for signal upgrades. Shuttle buses will run every 10-15 minutes. Normal service will resume on Sunday, Jan 25, to serve the NFC Championship game. The Los Angeles Rams will play the Seahawks at Lumen Field at 3:30pm. Edit: the original closure was scheduled for the full weekend, but has been shortened to avoid impacting service for the major sports event.
On New Year’s Eve, SDOT posted a short video highlighting several projects it completed in 2025, distilling a longer summary shared in a blog post earlier in December. The blog post gives roughly equal space to each of its major initiatives, highlighting SDOT’s “Hot Bike Summer” of street improvements, various bridge maintenance projects, ongoing transit improvements, implementation of the Seattle Transportation Plan, community outreach efforts, and traffic incident response.
The 2.5-minute video spends little time showing transit improvement projects, but the opening highlight in SDOT’s video is the Beacon Ave S & 15th Ave S Safety Project. Only a few months after SDOT completed this project, a cyclist named Alley attempted to cross the freshly reworked Beacon Ave S at Stevens Street. Tragically, Alley was struck and killed by a driver who fled the scene.
Continue reading “SDOT’s Year in Review reveals room for improvement” | 19 commentsAs ST3 construction cost has skyrocketed, Sound Transit is considering truncating the Ballard line at Smith Cove for now. Ballard riders would need to continue on the bus as very few people live around that station.
When Paris faced similar topography challenges to serve the end of line 8 by bus, they built an aerial gondola line instead. Building such line is far cheaper than extending the subway underground a recent short video explains while still providing faster transit times than the bus lines. The gondola line just opened in December and was built by Doppelmayr who constructed and operates many cable-operated systems here in the U.S. as well as around the world.
Continue reading “Learn from Paris: Gondola line over Ship Canal” | 109 comments