We’ll all be at the Federal Way Link opening today. Try out the new stations. Tell us your experiences below.
There will be no Sunday Movie this week. We’re planning a retrospective article after the event, but its timing will depend on what happens today and whether we can assemble the content by tonight for tomorrow. If you have any video from the event you’d like to share, you can email a link to contact at the website.
This is an open thread.
I caught the first Southbound train from UW Station that would go all of the way to Federal Way around 10:20am. Car was full with many people standing most of the way, then was packed starting at Angle Lake.
Lots of transit enthusiasts with cameras out, but was also cool to see riders just trying to get to Federal Way, including a family with suitcases who had no idea the line opened just minutes before and were just trying to get south.
Good food trucks and a busy cookie making station at Federal Way. Overall the crowds seemed a good deal lighter than 2 line and Redmond openings though.
Thanks for the update. I’m wondering if the next train sign at UW station said next train is to Federal Way? And was it for Angle Lake just before that? And if there were any cheers on UW platform?
Yes it said Federal Way and yes there were cheers! Didnt catch if it said Angle Lake before.
It was interesting.
After Lynnwood and Redmond, the setup booths and tables at the opening seemed tiny. Maybe it has to do with chilly December weather.
The ST Store is out of many items. I think the gear is more popular than they realize.
The designers seemed to put in some barriers to the wind. That was good. There are places to stand away from the wind.
I like how Star Lake station isn’t way high. The were able to build ramps to the platforms and thus not need escalators at all. The other two stations have up escalators only and it’s a long 60-70 step trek (four stories) down to the ground level.
I saw one elevator out of service already.
I like how Star Lake station isn’t way high…
Ha! So the one station that is pretty much a throwaway is actually the best from a vertical standpoint. Bad luck, I suppose.
It is frustrating how the station that’s the easiest to reach vertically is the one with the least to visit at the entrance. The design would have been sweet for a shopping street.
I think it’s viable to do this design because only a pedestrian walkway is under the tracks rather than a street with buses and cars. Less clearance is needed.
By doing this, ST was able to not have any escalators at Star Lake.
That’s because technically Star Lake is an at-grade station rather than an elevated one. I like that too and also like that ramp that goes into the platform.
Interesting. I was irritated the Star Lake doesn’t span 272nd, but I guess if by having the station 200′ north of the street the vertical access both easier and cheaper, that’s good, I suppose?
Will there be a pedestrian access along(ish) I5 connecting the station to 260th/259th?
The need Schindler’s Lift.
I see you.
Actually, when I went there for the opening, BOTH of the elevators at Star Lake were broken. I was with a companion who can only climb stairs with intense difficulty and pain, and getting back to the train was a whole experience.
An op-ed in The Urbanist about station naming was published yesterday.
https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/05/op-ed-sound-transits-station-naming-policy-has-run-amok-again/
I generally agree with what they said, especially the suggestion of using the word “Central”.
I paid attention to what the signs say, having read it before today’s open house. Actually ST only says “Federal Way” and “Lynnwood” on the trains and on the electronic arrival countdown signs already.
It appears that they could add “Seattle” on the electronic arrival countdown signs at upstream stations if they wanted. There is enough room as long as the full station names aren’t used.
I’d be happy with verbal announcements listing up to three major destinations, and featuring the QR code to ST’s website more prominently.
I’ve had a longstanding issue with how ST Link anudio announcements still say “southbound platform” and “northbound platform” yet there’s not a sign saying which is which anywhere. I heard it today.
It’s really noticeable in Federal Way as no trains leave there going southbound. And half the trains are arriving southbound on what they call the northbound platform.
They should just be giving them letters (A; B) or numbers (1: 2). Even a diamond and triangle emblem would be better to go with the audio..
And what will the announcements call the platforms at ID-C once 2 Line is operating?
They could do similar to Metro busses and say “Lynnwood via Seattle” or “Federal Way via Seattle”
I never like those signs, as they are confusing after the bus passes the intermediate destination.
If they simply take out the intermediate destination once it is passed, then it makes sense.,
E.g.
Federal Way via Seattle / SeaTac Airport
Federal Way via SeaTac Airport
Federal Way
Lynnwood via SeaTac Airport / Seattle
Lynnwood via Seattle
Lynnwood via Downtown Seattle /UW
Lynnwood via UW
Lynnwood
I was wondering when someone would reference that article. Of course it is relatively trivial (what’s in a name). But still, the author is right on every point. We manage to be both verbose *and* confusing when it comes to the names *and* our signage. Maybe at the very least we could take some liberties with the signs and try to make up for our ridiculous names. Nope.
“Downtown” and “City Center” specifications are a bit meaningless for Federal Way and Lynnwood. I wish they scrap them from everywhere
Lynnwood will have more than one station in the future. City Center vs the Mall will be a very key distinction
I think the idea that Federal Way and Lynnwood grew around a “center” is the same leap of faith that
Mill Creek actually had a creek named “Mill” that it was named after.
Just add ‘-ish’ to Downtown.
The grammar is actually correct to convey the meaning, the name is just too long to fit on one line which would lessen the confusion.
Lynnwood will have more than one station in the future
So what? You can have “Lynnwood” and “Alderwood Mall” as station names. The same thing is true for “Bellevue” or “Redmond”. The lack of a modifier implies it is the main station for the city or town.
Paul
I get that there is a slight need to point out the places where the stations are will be the future town center, but if this add words to impact the simplicity of mass transit wayfinding, that might not be necessary. Right now, city center and downtown specification don’t mean much to Lynnwood and Federal Way because they don’t have a impressive historical downtown and city center. So these extra one or two words are not very helpful.
Metro system like the one in Hong Kong has strict rule against long station name.. They even have a station called Hong Kong and people are fine with it. I think simpler name really helps the passenger. Transit station name shouldn’t be tweaked just to promote some real estate vision that hasn’t happened yet.
I generally agree with the premise here too, though a minor quibble with South Bellevue is that I think it was named after the P&R facility that preceded the station. Even as a non-driver, I knew where that was because the 550 went by it, and is descriptively south of downtown Bellevue; even as a little bit of a geography/trivia nerd I had no idea Enatai was a neighborhood in Bellevue until I became familiar with the debate over the name of the station.
South Bellevue P&R was built in the 1970s. I rode the bus past it in the late 70s and early 80s. The area is called south Bellevue, although that’s a general description rather than neighborhood names. Bellevue started at Bellevue Way & Main Street and was a small town until the 1960s, and most of the commercial development is still west of 405, so “south Bellevue” is appropriate.
Enatai and Beaux Arts are hidden away west of Bellevue Way so most people don’t know they’re there. The main reason I know about them is the bus routes detoured through them between SE 8th Street and the P&R.
Yeah, I have no problem with “South Bellevue”. Stick with the old name, even if it isn’t ideal. I’m surprised the park and ride isn’t called “West Bellevue” but my guess is the term wasn’t used as much back then. Now it can be found via Google Maps (https://maps.app.goo.gl/hySFkr2X3J98FpwV9) and there are several websites that mention it (https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/n/west-bellevue-bellevue-wa/).
Oh, and “Mercer Slough” would be a good name if not for the potential confusion with Mercer Island.
Meh. All they need to add is Seattle with an arrow somewhere.
Stickers are a cheap, effective, and fun way to spread information. No need for ST’s action-by-committee.
ST seems to have room on the real time arrival screens to simply add “/ Seattle” or “via Seattle” to the destination signs at stations outside of the city. At most, it may need to be added in a slightly smaller font.
It’s not talked about much but there is another consistency issue about whether or not to use all capital letters. ST signage goes back and forth.
I like the thought of going rogue with stickers saying “Seattle ➡️”. And I 100% am bothered by lazy and confusing station naming. Things like this are designed in vacuums it appears with no care for outside input.
Al S. is spot on. I went with my wife, 2 friends, and a little black dog in a Santa jacket. The crowd was tiny compared to the East Link, Lynnwood and Redmond openings. I don’t think it was the weather either. Yes, it was a little chilly, but still sunny/partly cloudy and pleasant overall. When East Link opened, it was raining and the crowds were massive!
We got on the very first train Northbound out of Federal Way and 2 out of 4 of our group were able to get seats.
One good thing about the smaller crowds, I was able to talk to the vendors like Seattle Subway, the Transit Riders Union and others and have longer conversations. Also, it was nice to get meals at the food trucks without massive lines. It was kind of fun seeing all the same people checking out the different stations. Having a dog with us made for many fun encounters.
Overall I think going so far south we’re getting diminishing returns on Link. Federal Way is too far from the city and way too car-centric. I’m sure for a lot of the attendees today, this will be a one-and-done experience, and we’ll never return to Federal Way again. It’s time to finish the 2 Line across the lake and bring things back to Seattle where we love transit. West Seattle and Ballard are way more deserving of Link so it’s time to get things going.
Tacomans have been paying ST taxes for over 25 years. Piece County taxpayers are paying for the Tacoma Dome Link Extension..
There’s decades of Sounder and ST Express as well as Tacoma Link funded by that tax money too.
Exactly Al. Sounder and ST Express provide far more value than Tacoma Dome Link ever will. Of course what Pierce County could really use is much better (local) bus service but ST rarely pays for that.
I should add that Tacoma also benefits (to some degree) from light rail in Seattle as well as Federal Way Link.
It’s depressing that the conversation about what’s good for transit always gets derailed by financial equity and subarea issues. That’s been an excuse to build a system that isn’t designed around transit riders needs.
Every ballot issue has ensured that each subarea got investments commensurate with their revenue collection. Yes that meant a lot of bus, commuter rail and streetcar investment rather than light rail, but to suggest that’s unfair is not sensible.
Backing up Brent. Tacoma’s ST Express service isn’t as robust as other subareas, even though ST said we’d have 15-minute headways in past service plans. Tacoma Link investment is a rounding error in comparison with the capital outlay for other segments. Again, our 12 minute streetcar service is less frequent than the 10 minute headways we were promised in 2022 with no promise to address single tracking until at least 2039. That would never be the case King County, which has had numerous emergency investments in rail replacement and the invention of entirely new rail technology to cross Lake Washington. Pierce is also paying for part of the South Link OMF in King County and providing a contribution to the second DSTT as a part of ST3.
I am not saying that we shouldn’t invest in these things, but there is a serious disparity in the service level in Pierce, both at a regional and local level. King County should stop pretending like there isn’t and that they are somehow suffering because Pierce just wants things the county has been promised by ST.
What ST proposed in ST3 was connecting downtown Tacoma to Link. What ST proposes now, to stay within budget and the income from Pierce, is to connect Tacoma Dome to Link. This means most transit riders will be much worse off if it gets built, as it means a three seat ride to get almost anywhere actually involving Link.
Except, ST recognizes how awful the service is, and says it will retain express buses for trips like this that are significantly slower on Link.
So, Pierce will spend $7 billion or so on a light rail extension that will get little use, due to the express buses being faster for most trips.
It seems to me that money should be spent on actual transit improvements in Pierce, rather than an extension that doesn’t really meet that many actual needs.
“ST proposed in ST3 was connecting downtown Tacoma to Link.”
That was in the 1990s and early 2000s, long before ST3. Troy Serad says, and has been collecting evidence on, that the Tacoma Link was originally intended to be part of Central Link when the latter reached to Tacoma Dome. Tacoma Link was the first light rail ST built, and I think for budget reasons it piggybacked on a Portland streetcar order or something.
Then in the 2000s, Tacoma/Pierce officials forgot the original vision and reinterpreted Tacoma Link as always intended to be a separate streetcar line/network smaller than Central Link and surface-running. That’s the model that followed into ST2 and ST3. In the run-up to ST2 ST drew up a six-line Tacoma Link network or so, going west to TCC, east to East Tacoma, and I don’t remember how far south. It chose one line to do first, the Hilltop extension, in ST2.
In ST3, Central Link is extended to Tacoma Dome. That’s what we voted for.
There was another twist in early 2016. The Pierce board delegation said that the long-term goal after ST3 was to extend Central Link south to Tacoma Mall, and that would be the final terminus of the Spine. That’s in the opposite direction of downtown Tacoma, so it would bypass downtown. Pierce wanted it saying Tacoma Mall would become a regional growth center. It’s not committed to yet; Pierce was just saying what its future request would be. By the time it comes to decide ST4, it may change its mind.
The 2029 article on estimated ridership seemed to show they were at that time still considering it a through line, but I guess that’s just a map artifact.
https://seattletransitblog.com/2019/01/30/link-riders-2040/
The map is of all light rail and BRT services in aggregate, not individual lines.
@Chris Karnes,
Is some single-tracking in the middle of the T Line forcing the 12-minute headway, or are there other factors, like fleet size, barn size, or traffic signals?
I was not able to come to the party, such as it was.
I get it that some northenders didn’t see value in Federal Way Link since it is a service few northenders will use. They just wanted to get to the airport.
But so do a lot of blue-collar airport workers., who have been the main source of STX 574 ridership, including ST’s only current night-owl service. ST route planners should think long and hard about whether they really want to force a downtown Seattle transfer in order to get to the airport during graveyard hours.
Likewise, I predict that the STRide 1 Line will end up serving the airport, mostly because the transfer at TIBS will be such a timesuck, that everyone will realize it may as well just keep the airport loop, and serve TIBS on the back end of the loop. TIBS is not a real travel destination, and not a particularly pleasant place to wait for a bus. STRide will get much better ridership by continuing to serve the airport terminal.
Likewise, I think it is inevitable that the H Line will some day be extended to the airport. Burien may be somewhat of a transit destination for restaurant workers, but the bulk of south-end jobs are in and around the airport. Concerns about where buses can lay over ought not ruin large numbers of transit trips.
Tacoma’s ST Express service isn’t as robust as other subareas, even though ST said we’d have 15-minute headways in past service plans.
It is terrible that Tacoma was promised 15-minute headways to Seattle and there appears to be no attempt to restore that. But one of the big problems with ST Express from Tacoma is that it very expensive. The subsidy per rider is very high. These are the numbers from 2020: https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-service-implementation-plan.pdf#page=37. Obviously the numbers have changed but the fundamentals haven’t. It is expensive to run those buses from Tacoma to Seattle. Part of that is the choices ST makes. Is it really essential to run peak-only buses at the same time as Sounder?
With Federal Way Link there are other issues. For now the plan is to basically ignore it. That means that there are buses running every fifteen minutes from Tacoma headed to Seattle it is just that half of them get off the freeway at Federal Way and run to SeaTac. The current plan is to simply truncate those and run them more often. If the buses between Seattle and Tacoma stopped in Federal Way than the agency could easily run them more often (at no extra cost). But like peak-only service, that isn’t the choice they are likely to make.
My point is that when it comes to regional transit provided by ST, Tacoma doesn’t seem underserved. They just have different issues. Consider the contrast with Everett. Both cities have express buses to Seattle. But Everett runs them only during peak which means it costs a lot less to run them. Both have Sounder but South Sounder runs a lot more often than north Sounder. Both have midday service connecting them to Link and it is quite possible that Tacoma will have comparable service (https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/planning-future-service/2026-service-plan/south-king-pierce-counties). Tacoma is able to leverage the relative success of South Sounder (that would exist even if the train didn’t serve it) while Everett has been able to leverage the extensions of Link.
Where Pierce County is obviously underserved is with *local* service. There is no question that service in King County — and even Snohomish County — is much better. Partly this is due to the low level of funding provided by the local agency. But part of it is the ST projects. The streetcar is a nice addition but it isn’t making the bus network any easier. It doesn’t replace routes (like Link in Seattle and even now in Snohomish County). It provides some value but it is quite possible a “spine” would work out better. Meanwhile, the plans to build BRT failed miserably. When it comes to the ST projects in Pierce County it seems like ST is spending money there but they just aren’t getting a lot out of it. They probably would have been better just granting them money to run the (local) buses more often.
I get it that some northenders didn’t see value in Federal Way Link since it is a service few northenders will use. They just wanted to get to the airport.
I won’t use Lynnwood Link much even though it is close. That really isn’t the issue. There are similarities between the two lines. I think it is essential — in both cases — that you have a good connection with express buses. That was achieved at the Federal Way and Lynnwood stations. Maybe it could have been done closer to the city. Consider some options for Federal Way Link:
216th — The train goes next to the freeway and thus under the overpass. It seems like they could have added a Link station there along with a freeway bus station. The cheapest option would be to have a freeway bus station similar to Mountlake Terrace. It seems like this would be pretty cheap (and the walk would be much shorter than the one in Mountlake Terrace). The drawback is that buses wouldn’t terminate there. I don’t see that as a big drawback because it isn’t much of a destination. If a bus is just going to end in the area it seems like it could serve that stop and then continue to SeaTac. That might be difficult with that setup but that seems like an argument for HOV lanes connecting I-5 and 509 to facilitate that. Of course if you can go to 216th, maybe you should continue to…
Highline College — This is an actual destination. This doesn’t work well as a freeway interchange but it could easily go with the other station (at 216th). In other words the 216th station is the main interchange between express buses and Link. Buses from Tacoma to Seattle would stop there and then quickly continue. Riders could backtrack to get to Highline College. Other buses could terminate at Highline College, given it is a real destination (and not that hard to get to).
So basically two stations. One as a freeway-bus/Link interchange and the other serving the main destination between SeaTac and Tacoma. Riders heading to SeaTac (from the south) would get there at about the same time. Riders heading to Highline would at worst have to backtrack a little bit. It would cost riders about three minutes — if they moved the station to the other side of the highway that would make up for it.
Of course all of this implies this is the end of the line. That is the point. It is a very long subway line. We are already starting to get diminishing returns. Ridership per mile (AKA ridership per hour of service) will likely go down. There is clearly value added but throwing a bunch of money at buses would add value too. I don’t think SeaTac is a good terminus and the same goes for Angle Lake. But Highline College would be and as long as you added a freeway station between there and SeaTac (which seems pretty simple) you could have saved billions while giving riders most of what they are getting out of this project.
“I get it that some northenders didn’t see value in Federal Way Link since it is a service few northenders will use. They just wanted to get to the airport.”
But then shouldn’t it have been built where people could actually access it? It’s 3 stations, billions of dollars, and most of the people in that area will still be taking the long slog on the A or the same 574 they’ve always taken.
It’ll be good for some that live south of Federal Way and have previously only had transfer there to get to the airport or TIBS, but I’m not convinced the results will benefit that many.
I’ve taken the A from TIBS to Federal Way as that was the recommended way to get there from Seattle, and the A is a pretty slow way to travel such a distance. I can definitely see the desire for an alternative, but I don’t see that many being attracted to this particular route.
“It’s 3 stations, billions of dollars, and most of the people in that area will still be taking the long slog on the A or the same 574 they’ve always taken.”
That reminds me of another 3 Station Link extension that will cost billions where the market won’t change things much if it opens (West Seattle). Actually it reminds me of several ST3 extensions given their planned slower travel times!
At least this extension was just $3B.
“It seems like they could have added a Link station there along with a freeway bus station.”
but what bus needs to stop at that freeway station? It will just become Mountlake Terrance eventually. It doesn’t really serve long-term purpose.
I think their logic of choosing station is based on how far the east-west arterial can reach. S 272nd and KDM Rd are both major east-west arterials that can easily get you to Auburn and Kent.
“Whouldn’t it have been built where people could actually access it?”
We could have that but the cities of Federal Way and Des Moines fought against it and won, against Kent’s wishes. So they have only themselves to blame.
To pile on with Quasimodal, the objectives could be ridership maximization subject to a budget constraint and subarea equity; Link equity by subareas is unimportant; it probably leads to operational problems and lower ridership.
Other measures could be annual passenger-hours saved. E.g.: Link from Westlake to UW is significantly faster than the 7xs that used to be there. 10,000 passengers a day x 0.3 hours saved per trip x 365.25 average days per year ≈ 1.09 million psssenger hours saved per year.
Another measure would be operating cost saved. E.g.: Lynnwood Link allowed community transit and ST to significantly reduce the number of one way buses stuck in traffic on I-5. MAX orange line looks like a terrible value on the surface, but TriMet replaced 13 buses per hour with four MAX trains per hour, allowing one seat rides that previously never existed.
Federal Way link will definitely help those with long slog trips on the A, but I’m not seeing it allowing the type of huge network changes allowed by Lynnwood Link because the route structure is very different. Pierce Transit has nothing like the dozen 4xx series express routes coming from all over the county and able to be consolidated at a couple of Link stations.
I’m an add-a-stop-at-Federal-way hawk, but that does not apply to buses well over 0.5 load factor heading to or from downtown Seattle during peak.
If ST wants to force Pierce-County-Seattle commuters onto Sounder, it should be willing to drop the Sounder fare to $3. There is currently more than ample space to do that. Sounder fare recovery is a rounding error anyway, and substantial savings on bus operational costs could be realized.
But if Pierce-Seattle commuters want to stick with buses, it is almost certainly for reasons other than mode preference.
But getting improved off-peak frequency ought to come with adding a stop at Federal Way. Merge the 574, 577, and 594 together to enable 10-minute headway on the off-peak bus route.
On the occasions I have reason to go to Des Moines or Federal Way, I will joyously be taking the train, and no longer having to backtrack downtown.
Ross on Tacoma Dome Link:
Ross on a Bypass:
Given the smaller crowds I’m sorry I didn’t make it. I had plans but I could have figured out a way to get there. It is great that you were able to talk to some folks — I would have liked that.
I wouldn’t read too much into that though. A lot of people here have given there predictions for ridership and I feel confident in the general range. Whether it is at the high end or the lower end will take some time to figure out. Normally there is a novelty factor. But given the weather it is quite possible that a lot of people may wait until the spring before they decide to joy-ride on the new extension. I’m sure when the mountain is out it will be quite lovely.
Thanks for that perspective, Ross. Opening day crowds don’t necessarily correlate with actual daily ridership. We’ll see what things look like once the novelty wears off. And you’re right, some folks will surely check it out later when the weather is better.
I think the reason FWLE opening day was so underwhelming to me is that the last 3 openings were absolutely epic. I think most STB folks who attended the openings of East Link, Lynnwood and Redmond would agree they were absolutely beautiful. The masses of people from the community and abroad coming to check out the new stations, enjoying the entertainment, and showing genuine support to the finished project. I was expecting that streak to continue in Federal Way.
Nevertheless, it was a good experience and all the people we met were fantastic. I’m really happy for the folks in the South End whose lives will be improved by this new addition.
“Federal Way is too far from the city and way too car-centric.”
I am optimistic about the chances of Federal Way becoming a major transit-oriented community. Yes, there are too many cars and stroad crossings are currently difficult for pedestrians, but there are hundreds of businesses within a 10-minute walk of the station. The missing element, of course, is housing within the 10-minute walk boundary; but with so many parking lots and brownfields adjacent to the station, there’s a golden opportunity to construct plenty of mixed-use buildings.
ST, Metro and Pierce Transit have also coordinated on bus connections at FW Station in a remarkable manner. There’s plenty of layover space and the transit bays are next to the station. Compare FW to the Rainier Valley segment: housing has increased in RV but the commercial offerings are bleak, transit connections are inconvenient (MBS, RBS) or an afterthought. It’s much easier to envision the area around the FW Station becoming more of a 10-minute community than any of the neighborhoods along MLK.
Hopefully the era of transit riders being fenced off from nearby businesses and parks is over.
The quantity of retail and restaurants within walking distance of Federal Way Station (deliberate “Downtown” omission) is encouraging. Most chains have locations closer to Seattle but not necessarily SE Seattle using Link.
Take Target as an example. There are nearby Targets in downtown Seattle, Northgate, central Bellevue and now Federal Way. Those last two are several blocks from a Link station, and the first one feels more like a “mini” Target.
Or Kohl’s. It’s the only one within close proximity of any Link station.
There seem to be at least two dozen restaurants nearby there too — not only including national chains but a wide variety of independent restaurants and local chains.
It’s not going to generate a ton of extra ridership, but having the access to these things could make an occasional visit worthwhile.
With so many hotel rooms close by, it’s also a nice area to suggest to a visitor that doesn’t want to rent a car after landing at SeaTac. Unlike the hotels near the airport, there are many things within walking distance.
While it’s tempting to pan the area as too suburban, it does have lots of things like this that begin to make it much more than a mere parking garage for trips to ride to other places on the line.
Day 1 and brand new busted elevator number one at star lake. Excellent testing program!
When I was going north from Federal Way at 3pm, an onboard announcement said the next station’s elevator was closed.
I encountered two broken escalators. One at Westlake (Nordstrom entrance down). One at Capitol Hill (southwest entrance up).
The Federal Way northern elevator works, but is as slow as molasses going down. I suspect it needs adjustment because it’s slower than the DSTT elevators. Going up it’s not as tardy. It has glass doors so I waved down to the people waiting a floor below, and when I got out I said, “It’s like coming down in a hot air balloon!”
The northern elevator at Federal Way has been having problems before opening, I know this because my dad is a trainee operator and apparently that elevator trapped one operator inside and gave another operator quite the scare by almost going into free-fall.
TL;DR: That elevator almost injured somebody before opening.
I was on the southern elevator at Federal Way today. The door almost closed and someone forced it back open again to board. Once it close again it froze and nothing happened. I punched the surface floor button again and nothing happened. I then punched the close door button and it started to move.
We experienced the wonky elevator at the south end of Federal Way as well.
Stuff got in the way, and I ended up not going to the opening, I did manage to ride the extension though, I’ll soon be posting a video of the full ride from Federal Way to Lynnwood operator view on my channel.
We didn’t get enough material for a retrospective article so I’ll put my notes here in comments. None of the authors made it to the speeches or saw the initial crowds that I’m aware of. I went down at 1pm and saw the Federal Way festival from 2-3.
I got on the 1 Line at Westlake just after 1pm. I waited for people to get out and the door started closing so I pushed it open. Normally I’d feel bad about that, but dammit I wanted to get on and a dozen people still wanted to get off. By Pioneer Square ridership was moderate, meaning a few empty double seats. It remained like that, with the usual half-dozen on/offs at each station, until the airport, where an in-between mass got off. Now there were several empty double seats empty.
At KDM this was reversed and ridership was restored. At Star Lake all but 9 people in my car got off. At Federal Way the train had to stop a minute to wait for an oncoming train before getting into the station. We all got off and there was a larger crowd from other cars.
I thought I saw two-way escalators, but when I got to them it was up-only, so I searched for the elevator. It was as slow as molasses going down as I mentioned in an earlier comment.
The festival was from 11am-3pm, and at 2pm it wasn’t much of a festival. An amateur rap band from east Tacoma was playing. I wished it weren’t so loud, but watching a few people dance on stage at the end was fun. I went to the food trucks and found a filling fried rice dish. Dick’s was there too but was out of hamburgers. There was an ice sculpture of a Link train donated by an ice-carving company in Kent.
As I went down I thought about other trips I could use Federal Way Link as a gateway for, so we might have a series of articles about bus routes from there. The first one I want to do is PT 402 to Puyallup and South Hill, and then new access to the Des Moines waterfront and the wooded trail north of it.
The onboard announcement put the stress on Star Lake as ‘Stárlake’ instead of ‘Star Láke’, making it sound like ‘Starlate’.
At several points between KDM and Federal Way there are natural areas on the west side of the train, some with ponds and grass around them. And at one point there’s what looks like an east-west riverbed with trails on both sides.
Artwork: At Star Lake the platform windows have a bright cheery leafy stained-plastic design that I like. It’s not beautiful but it’s uplifting, so I wish more stations had something like that. The Federal Way station plaza has a sculpture of a traditional desk lamp with pull chains. It made me think, “Federal Way is going to sleep now. [Pull the chain.] Federal Way is waking up now. [Pull the chain.]” (The chains are too high and fixed to be pulled.)
I liked the seeing the giant desk lamp at Federal Way! I liked it so much that I wish that there were a few more around the site as a signature element of the station! Another taller one (“floor lamp”) at the platform would have been a real station signature! I also wish that the glass shade was more contrast or had changing light colors inside.
So many of the Link art installations feel like they’re added as an afterthought forced into the station design. This one actually gives the bus transit area a sense of place!
Mike, I watched the speeches. The local mayors and other officials didn’t seem to be urbanists like the mayors of Redmond and Bellevue. From what I saw yesterday in Federal Way, there was a great emphasis on how Link would open up employment opportunities for South King County residents along the 1 Line. There seemed to be an unspoken consensus that there aren’t many good jobs in Federal Way, and the residents have to go to Seattle and elsewhere. They mentioned how nice it will be to park in these brand new parking garages and take light rail to “the game”! There was no mention of the TOD expected to be built around the station, or the ability to live a car-free lifestyle in Federal Way. Overall, a more suburban mindset in the speeches.
They are building apartments with the federal way town center 3 project, though yeah it would be great if there was a larger tod focus
If this was the Vancouver area, they’d be anticipating several 25-40 floor residential buildings. The views would be amazing for an entire 360 degrees!
Can someone remind me when KCM will implement all the South King Connection service change?
It will be awhile. They haven’t evenfinished the changes fron Lynneood yet.
I guess that’s for a different reason.
Lynnwood restructure has gone through all the phases, they just put a few changes on hold until ST522 can be truncated to Shoreline South. It was mentioned somewhere that the remaining change will be implemented when 2 Line goes to Seattle. So at least those changes have been scheduled.
South King restructure haven’t had its final network review released.
https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/metro/programs-and-projects/south-link-connections
Here is their link. They held phase three. The next step is to sent an ordinance to the council. After adoption, the scheduling and operations folks need significant time. They state council action is expected in early 2026.
The introduction implies that Metro was surprised by the 2025 FWLE opening; they expected it in 2026.
ST service will not change much until fall 2026. ST staff has proposed truncating Route 574 at Federal Way.
So, for several months at least, routes 162, 177, 193, 577, and 578 will keep rolling on I-5.
Just when I was there yesterday, I realized this was not implemented on the same day. Nor did Metro indicate when they are going to implement this.
Unlike Sound Transit’s 2026 Service Plan which is about service cut, I think South King’s service change actually increases service a little bit, so I don’t get why they don’t implement this right away.
Majority of KCM service changes associated with Lynnwood extension were rolled out not long after the light rail extension, right?
Yeah just realized it is still in Phase 3. Thanks for pointing it out.
Pretty disgusting to cut I-5 service for South King riders and force them to ride the extra slow Link. 257/311 already saw the chopping block And it’s been an absolute disaster for Kirkland and Woodinville riders so far.
For a 162 rider, their new trip time will be at least 30+ mins longer. Less and less people on transit and more people to their cars.
177/193 should be consolidated into an all day frequent express bus directly to SODO and downtown.
For a 162 rider, their new trip time will be at least 30+ mins longer.
Unfortunately the 162 just doesn’t perform very well. It has very low ridership per service hour and even very low passenger miles per platform hour (which is striking given it is an express). I’m sure it sucks for those riders but many more riders will ultimately benefit.
For what it is worth it seems like the new network is designed to shuttle those riders to Sounder as much as Link. Still not as convenient as a one-seat ride to Downtown Seattle but faster than Link. Of course with Sounder, timing is a big issue and I’m not sure it will work out well. It is worth noting that a significant chunk of the ridership of an inbound bus starts at the Kent Transit Center/Station. So those riders will take care of Sounder (if they are headed downtown) or the better frequency or the new bus to Kent Link Station (if they are headed to SeaTac, another Link location or the A Line). There really aren’t that many riders who are taking advantage of that one-seat ride (which is why they cut it).
Metro has not confirmed the timeline, but I think it is safe to assume they will be implemented during the March service change.
Metro needs 6-12 weeks after the council vote to assemble the schedules and run cards and hire and train the drivers. It doesn’t know until the vote whether the council will approve it or modify some routes.
If the council votes on the final legislation proposal early next year, then it would be implemented in September. For them to do it by March, Metro would have to submit the final proposal right now and the council would have to vote on it by January. That’s unlikely, both because of the holidays, and because it’s outside the usual timing for these things. If the council works on this in January, it can’t work on whatever else it would normally be doing in January.
I just realized South King restructure is still in Phase 3 while East Link has one tier called Final Network Review. I guess part of it has to do with FWLE opened earlier than expected?
The East Link restructure was approved by the council over a year ago. It’s being implemented in phases due to Link’s delay. which it was based on. Two phases have already been implemented. In August the 203 and 223 started and the 226 was extended/straightened. The last phase is waiting for crosslake Link service.
It rather amazes me that service changes are delayed for Federal Way Link. Unlike Lynnwood with more things not yet open (Pinehurst; Stride) or East Link with the cross-lake segment still not open, this opening is it for quite while.
The truncation of Route 560 for the Stride conversion is still remaining, as is RapidRide I — but both are not directly going to any FWLE Station.
That said, maybe it’s good to have Link open before the routing changes. That way, there is some anticipation and a window for any further tweaks.
See Jack’s comment above. Basically Metro was surprised that the project was done by now. If you look at the website it mentions the stations opening in “early 2026” (not late 2025).
That being said, I have no idea why ST is so late with this. We were aware of the issue for months. Lots of people kept asking “When is ST going to start discussing possible changes?” and finally they did. But while Metro is basically wrapping things up, ST is just starting. The county just needs to sign off on the proposal. So far as I know, there is nothing controversial, so this should happen fairly soon (it may be delayed because of the holidays so it could be early January). In contrast ST will alter their routes “as soon as Fall 2026”.
“The truncation of Route 560 for the Stride conversion is still remaining, as is RapidRide I”
Those will have future restructures which don’t have any proposal yet, so we don’t know what might change. There’s also the new Renton Transit Center opening, which will affect both restructures.
Most of the I’s restructure work was done in the 2010s when Metro created the 160 to prefigure it. So it made the changes in Kent it wanted, such as straightening out the 168, having routes to all the surrounding cities, and raising their frequency from 60 minutes to 30 minutes.
How will ST truncate 560, like a mini express route from Westwood Village to Burien? Isn’t most part of this route covered by KCM local route?
Either way, it is still years from that. WSDOT recently announced that the highway project completion is delayed to summer of 2027 and it is not clear whether Stride station installation will happen concurrently or after highway projects are substantially completed.
[Ed: Corrected Westwood Village.]
Riders will barely notice when the Westwood-Burien STX service is gone. H Line serves the major stops, while the 560 is hard to find and so infrequent that it makes much more sense to just catch the H Line.
The one advantage the 560 has over the H is live-updated “Arrivals” on ST’s website. Metro hasn’t implemented “Arrivals”, even for RapidRide, while ST and CT have done so for all their routes.
“How will ST truncate 560, like a mini express route from Westwood Village to Burien?”
We don’t know because ST doesn’t know yet. That will be decided a year before opening. Federal Way just opened, and we only got ST’s and Metro’s route proposals a few months ago. A big issue was whether ST would truncate all ST Express routes at Federal Way. In the ST Express planning scenarios in January 2016 for ST2, all routes were truncated at KDM, Bellevue, U-District, or Lynnwood, so none went to downtown Seattle anymore. The big question was whether ST would really do that, or whether political pushback from the cities and public would make it keep at least some of the routes, especially Federal Way and Pierce County where Link is less time-competitive than in the north end or Eastside. We were left in the dark from 2009 (the vote) to 2025 (the first proposal). It depends on which way the political winds are blowing when the decision is made. Neither ST nor Metro like to make these decisions early, because that subjects them to longer criticism no matter which way they choose. Link’s delays have upended this, because Metro started the East Link restructure in the early 2020s thinking Link would open then, but then it didn’t so Metro put it on hold and didn’t make a decision, then later Metro revived it and Metro made a decision, but then crosslake service was delayed again, so now it’s being implemented in phases. In Federal Way’s case, both ST and Metro waited until the end to make any proposals.
Stride 1 will go from Renton to TIB and Burien. When it was planning the line, it asked the public whether it should go to Burien or SeaTac. The majority feedback was for Burien, because Burien is a city and doesn’t have other HCT and is hard to get from it to rest of the region without Stride. In contrast, the airport has the 1 Line and is not a city. Since Stride will replace the 560, that will abandon the 560’s service to the airport and Westwood Village.
When Stride was planned, RapidRide H didn’t exist, and the corridor was seen as a different transit market. The 120 was for local service along Delridge and north Burien. The 360 from Westwood Village’s perspective is primarily for trips to the airport, to Renton, and to Bellevue. You can take it from Westwood Village to Burien, but that’s a tiny transit market because there’s little in either Westwood Village or Burien to go to, and the distance is so short and the 120/H serves it. Seattle accelerated RapidRide H’s construction during the pandemic for equity and essential-worker reasons, but that wasn’t anticipated until it happened.
As to what ST and Metro should do now, I’d extend the H to the airport. That’s a simple way to serve a lot of overlapping trips in the corridor. An ST Express Westwood Village-airport shuttle would be too short a route, and Westwood Village’s ridership on the 360 has always been lackluster. The 360 originally continued to Alaska Junction, but that part was truncated due to low ridership.
In the run-up to ST3 ST mused about extending the 574 to Westwood Village to backfill the 560’s service there. That was widely seen as being redundant with Link between Federal Way and SeaTac, so there were mixed opinions on it. ST has since proposed to truncate the 574 at Federal Way, and that will be incompatible with a Westwood Village extension.
“We don’t know because ST doesn’t know yet. That will be decided a year before opening. Federal Way just opened, and we only got ST’s and Metro’s route proposals a few months ago.”
I think that there is value in waiting for route changes sometimes . The ST2 and Stride system in place by 2029 is a significant change for regional travel. There may be unanticipated successes and failures.
Even though the demand may not be high, I can’t see West Seattlites bring cool with a double transfer to SeaTac (both Burien and TIBS) unless they transfer once at SODO or Downtown.
Extending a RapidRide is an amazing idea but I’m not sure if the demand for the high frequency is there. It’s also not easy to reverse a bus and maintain reliability at SeaTac given its traffic congestion.
Then there’s the issue of whether Metro or ST should subsidize and manage/ brand the connection.
With no obvious resolution, I’m expecting lots of discussion in the next few years about it all.
The possible extension of the H Line is already branded: “RapidRide H Line”. No need to spend more years going back over decided stuff like that.
It could replace route 161 between Burien and the airport, so not that steep of an operational cost increase.
I expect ridership on the 161 in southeast SeaTac to increase after STX 574 gets truncated, and so frequency on the 161 will need to get bumped up anyway.
“Extending a RapidRide is an amazing idea but I’m not sure if the demand for the high frequency is there.”
People always underestimate the potential ridership of local bus routes. We’ve been doing it for eighty years and it’s why we have such a car dependency problem. So even if we overestimate ridership in this case, if you zoom up to Metro’s overall network, it’s a tiny small amount of resources and a step in the right direction. This is part of a strategic corridor between Renton, SeaTac, and Kent, not a cul-de-sac.
And what’s your threshold for sufficient demand? How many riders per hour, or what percent full buses? It easily surpasses ten riders per service hour. Even the lower-volume 906, 226, and Snoqualmie Valley Shuttle reach that.
I would expect an extension of the H to SeaTac to do pretty well. For reference the 161 pulls 20-25 trips per hour, which is already pretty good for a relatively suburban route that runs half-hourly. SeaTac station seems like a logical terminus for both routes (the interlined 161-168 and the H)
Though maybe that is too duplicative of the F?
Only after 5 months, bus-Only lane pavement marking in Ballard has already started fading off.
About Pierce Transit, are they going to put more service hour to Federal Way routes?
PT 500 is still operating under this strange service pattern that runs hour only weekdays and half-hourly on Saturday. Has it always been like that or it is the result of pandemic-era staff shortage?
I would hope not. Pierce can’t afford to serve it’s own folks, much less South King. Federal Way residents who are desperate to experience all that Tacoma has to offer should be served by Metro or Sound Transit.
If I recall correctly, the 500 has the highest ridership outside of routes 1/2/3/4. I think the majority of the trips are from Tacoma residents going to Fife and Federal Way, so it serves a purpose to the PT district.
Metro should absolutely contribute to the 402, and perhaps the 500. They’re performing a valuable role in South Federal Way, and at least the 402 should run better than hourly just for King County’s sake.
I found the ridership report from 2024:
https://piercetransit.org/wp-content/uploads/public-documents/2024-local-bus-performance-and-ridership-report.pdf
It looks like local routes within Tacoma serve the most riders. Splitting into tiers:
– Apx 1m-1.2m riders: 1, T
– Apx 500k-600k riders: 2, 3
– Apx 300-350k riders: 48, 41, 4, 202, 500
The 54 looks like it has potential with more service; it has the highest trips per service hour but middling ridership. (Note: I know nothing about Tacoma, this is just speculation based on the report)
https://www-djc-com.ezproxy.spl.org/news/re/12173299.html
290 units in six five-story buildings, with ~500 surface parking lots so perhaps opportunity for further density in the future. 0.8 miles on foot to the station.
Star Lake won’t have much, but several large block low-rise retail and apartment complexes west of the station that hopefully redevelop into midrise to create a decent walkshed. It isn’t a South Bellevue with a complete lack of development opportunity.
From what I can tell that is a 20 minute walk to the station. If riders are heading to SeaTac or Federal Way they will likely take the A Line. If they are headed to Seattle they will transfer at Angle Lake I assume. So this could increase RapidRide A ridership a bit.
To be fair, the station is a short drive. That might increase ridership at the station but I think the impact is fairly tiny (given all the people that might drive to the station).
I enjoyed being at the Federal Way opening and I live in North Seattle and noting what I can do and the connections I can make. I see that there is way more retail activity with walking distance in Federal Way than from Lynnwood. From a no car perspective it’s interesting that from Othello to Federal Way shopping is a 30-35 min ride with no transfers, about the same time as getting to Tukwila, then transferring to a bus to Southcenter.