Michael lives in Rainier Valley and primarily rides Route 7 and the 1 Line. Originally from Philadelphia, he lived in Singapore for 10 years where he learned the value of a great public transportation system. Michael has called Seattle home since 2020.
Map of salmon spotting locations in King County. (King County)
Every year, thousands of salmon travel though creeks, rivers and lakes in King County on their return trip from the ocean. These adult salmon return to fresh water to spawn the next generation. The county’s Salmon SEEson program, now in its 20th year, highlights the habitat restoration, stormwater management, and community stewardship that ensure the fish can complete their journey. The program also highlights some of the best locations for watching the great salmon migration. An interactive map is available here.
One of the primary dangers to coho salmon in King County’s streams and rivers is a chemical from car tires. A chemical called 6PPD is used in almost all tires to protect them from ground-level ozone. When ozone reacts with 6PPD, it creates a toxic chemical called 6PPD-quinone. 6PPD-quinone is left on the roadway and washed into nearby waterways during the next rain. Some locations have a stormwater filter to prevent 6PPD-quinone from entering a waterway, but these systems cannot be built for every road.
To avoid adding more 6PPD-quinone to the salmon’s habitat, do not drive to see the salmon migration. Instead, ride the bus! EcoCity Action has organized a few transit trips to see salmon. Join them on a trip to Issaquah (Oct 4), Renton (Oct 11), or Carkeek Park (Nov 21). Below is a list of 20 salmon spotting locations and the bus routes that will get you there.
Amtrak Airo trains offer a modern interior and spacious seating.
The newest trains in Amtrak’s fleet, Amtrak Airo, will welcome their first customers tomorrow on the Cascades route. To celebrate the launch, Amtrak invited Seattle Transit Blog and other media organizations to tour and ride one of the new trains this past Saturday. The event kicked off with a marching band and speeches from leaders at Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Washington State, and Siemens Mobility. After the event in Seattle, the train traveled south to Portland for another event before ending the day in Eugene.
Dignitaries pose with a new Amtrak Airo trainset. From left to right: CEO of Siemens Mobility North America Tobias Bauer, FRA Administrator David Fink, Governor Bob Ferguson, Amtrak Interim President Byl Herrmann, Amtrak Director Elaine Clegg.
Amtrak Airo trainsets consist of one locomotive, one Business Class car, one cafe car, and four Coach Class cars. The last Coach car also has a luggage compartment and operator cab. Compared to the current Amtrak Cascades rolling stock, these trains will provide a more reliable and comfortable trip for up to 317 passengers. While Amtrak Cascades has a 79mph speed limit for most of its route, Airo trains will reach their top speed of 125mph when they run on the Northeast Corridor staring next year.
Passengers can expect modern amenities throughout the train. Several information screens are located in every car to share details about the next stop, restroom location, and other announcements. Between each car, the vestibules are fully enclosed to prevent rain or snow from entering the train. Each passenger car has large windows next to every row and a manual shade for sunny trips.
On September 30, Amtrak Airo trains will enter service (left, Amtrak) and Pinehurst station will open (right, Sound Transit).
2026 has been a big year for trains in Puget Sound. In January, the Federal Way Link Extension completed its first full month of operation. Simulated service on the 2 Line began in February, providing 4 minute frequencies for the first time between Seattle and Lynnwood. In March, the Crosslake Connection finally connected the 2 Line with Seattle. Link ridership jumped 46% in April thanks to the new service across Lake Washington. In May, the Sound Transit Board confirmed funding for several ST3 Link extensions (at the cost of other extensions). In June, Sound Transit welcomed passengers aboard new Sounder trains and set multiple Link ridership records. The USA vs Belgium World Cup match in early July helped Link surpass 300,000 passengers in one day for the first time ever. Last month, transit agencies in Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties restructured their bus networks to cement Link as the backbone for regional transportation in Puget Sound.
To add to the list, Sound Transit is opening a new Link station and Amtrak is rolling out next-generation trains in September.
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.
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.
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.
Pinehurst Station in the final phases of construction on July 27, 2026. (Sound Transit)
Today Sound Transit announced Pinehurst station will open September 30, 2026. Located between Shoreline South and Northgate stations, Pinehurst is the first ever Link infill station. The area around the station has been slow to develop as it is primarily occupied by Jackson Park Golf Course and I-5. The new King County Metro Route 77 stops next to Pinehurst station and provides east/west service along N 130th St and NE 125th St.
Pinehurst station was approved as part of ST3 in 2016 and was accelerated to open 5 years before its original projected opening in 2031.
Trains on the 1 Line and 2 Line will begin serving Pinehurst station at 5am on September 30 and a community celebration will take place later in the day.
The ORCA speedrun requires taking at least 12 buses, 5 trains, and 4 boats throughout Puget Sound.
At 9:59am last Friday, I boarded Everett Transit Route 29 at Everett Transit Mall Station. While the six other passengers on the bus were traveling to work, home, or somewhere else, for me this trip was the first segment of my region-wide ORCA speedrun. Transit speedrunning is the process of visiting every station in a transit system as fast as possible. In cities/regions with complex rail transit networks, such as San Francisco or New York, competitors look for new routes to beat the previous record. While the Link light rail system now has 3 lines across Puget Sound, the speedrun route is fairly straightforward. Our rail network is not complex enough to provide other potential routes that are faster. However, the broader ORCA network is quite complex.
One Regional Card for All (ORCA) powers transit fares for nine transit agencies across four counties in Washington. Visiting every stop in the ORCA network would take months, so the ORCA speedrun has a simpler goal: ride every mode of fixed-route transit offered by each agency in the ORCA pod, as fast as possible. This includes every type bus service, rail service, and ferry service from each of the nine agencies. For example, King County Metro offers three types of bus service: local, express, and RapidRide. Likewise, Kitsap Transit has both Fast Ferries and Foot Ferries. In total, there are 21 different modes across the nine agencies. Paratransit, dial-a-ride-transit, or other on-demand services are not included. City Beautiful and The Transit Bandit have completed similar speedruns using seven of the transit modes in Seattle.
My Route
Centered around downtown Seattle, ORCA is supported by agencies to the north, south, and west. For my speedrun, I started in the north (Everett) and planned to finish in the south (Tacoma). I shared updates in real-time on Bluesky and a full map of the run is available here.
Snohomish County
Snohomish County has two dedicated transit agencies: Everett Transit (ET) and Community Transit (CT). ET is one of the smaller agencies on the list, it just runs local bus service. CT, meanwhile, has local bus routes, Express bus routes and Swift routes.
My trip on Route 29 checked the Everett Transit box. I got off the bus at the South Everett Freeway Station and transferred to an inbound Community Transit Express Route 905. Route 905 returned to I-5 and traveled directly to Lynnwood Transit Center. As I would need to return back to Lynnwood TC to board Link to get to Seattle, this next segment required an out-and-back using both Swift and a local route. I boarded the next Orange Line bus towards Edmonds College and took it one stop to Hwy 99. Thankfully, the traffic signal at Hwy 99 & 196th St was in my favor so I could catch the Lynnwood-bound Route 166 across the street with seconds to spare.
After 27 years, Route 550 will run its last trips across Lake Washington shortly after midnight tonight.
Transit agencies around Puget Sound are updating their networks this weekend. This service change is more significant than most with restructures in south King County and Pierce County,east King County, and north King County and Snohomish County. In addition to the local transit agencies, Sound Transit is revising its ST Express routes to reflect the several Link extensions over the past few years. While the new routes and overall network are a better use of each agency’s limited resources, Puget Sound transit passengers will be losing several routes that have transformed the region.
There are a few organized events to bid farewell to some routes. In Issaquah, Rep. Zach Hall and Councilmember Kelly Jiang are hosting a Celebration of Life for routes 271 and 554. The ceremony will take place at Issaquah Transit Center at 6pm today.
