Last year, I was thrilled to discover the Regional Transit Map Book, a booklet that consolidates system maps for the three counties in the ST district, and also includes easy-to-use charts showing service times for various routes.
Without a doubt, I found it to be the best portable tool for figuring out routes on the fly.

Unfortunately, it’s also hard to find. I imagine it costs a mint to print. Anyhow, I discovered yesterday that the 2008 edition is available in the downtown post office, across from Benaroya Hall.

Pick up one before it’s too late; alternatively you can get a pdf version here, but I’m all for carrying around the booklet while reducing my own printing costs.

Kudos to Sound Transit for putting this together. Together with mybus and tripplanner, I think it’s one of the big usability improvements we’ve seen in the last decade or so.

And while you’re on that website, there’s a ton of very appealing (and yet spectacularly obscure) maps and documents about road planning, getting around on Capitol Hill and the U-District, etc.

7 Replies to “Regional Transit Map Book”

  1. I picked up one of those in the bus tunnel. It really is very good, I was surprised at how good a job they did.

  2. Those guides are always in stock at the kiosk in Union Station on Jackson St. I would agree – they’re great.

  3. They have a kiosk in which bus tunnel station?

    I remember one in the westlake station, do they have these there?

  4. Yep that is where I got mine! I love this book! Not only is pretty complete, but it has all agencies on it. My request for the next version is perhaps more ferry coverage, but hands down one of the better published transit guides.

  5. You can also get this at the bus schedule racks in the UW Health Sciences building, although they’re often out.

  6. Thanks for the tip – it does seem to be a useful guide (grabbed mine this morning).

    The Downtown Seattle page could be better. Actually, if I was downtown and new to bus trips I’m not sure I’d know where to catch the right bus from this.

  7. The Metro Transit System Map is also pretty handy in King county. Shows both Metro and ST routes. I cut out the parts I needed and stuck it in the flap of my bag – not to save weight, but so I don’t have to unfold the huge thing just to look at nearby routes.

    You just email a request to them and they mail it to you at no charge. I asked for and got three of them!

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