When Toronto faced escalating cost on their relief line, instead of extending their existing subway network, they decided to build a separate Ontario line and use lighter and shorter automated trains rather than their prior subway trains. Lighter trains mean faster acceleration, allowing steeper climbs including from within a tunnel to shallow stations and even elevated portions and smaller tunnel diameters. Shorter trains mean smaller stations which can fit more easily into the existing urban landscape. A separate line minimized the impact on the rest of the transit system.
Ontario Line rendering by Transdev/Metrolinx
As Sound Transit ponders escalating construction cost, it may want to consider the same. It may not only save them money during construction and operation, it may also provide a better ridership experience.
Adam (aka AdamDoesNotExist) is at it again, traveling from Washington DC to Boston via only local buses, regional trains, and ferries. Previously we covered his San Francisco to Seattle trip. DC to Boston takes 3 days via local transit, vs 6 hours via Amtrak Acela.
Claudia Balducci and other Sound Transit Boardmembers previewed the 2 Line connection across Lake Washington in December (photo courtesy Claudia Balducci via BlueSky).
On Friday, King County Councilmember and Sound Transit Boardmember Claudia Balducci shared a series of updates regarding the cross-lake connection of the Link 2 Line via BlueSky.
In a series of posts, Claudia Balducci shared she previewed the unopened section of the 2 Line with project partners from WSDOT, King County Metro, Sound Transit, and the Federal Transit Administration, saying “the ride was smooth and truly exciting.” The line is performing pre-revenue testing now, but will begin simulating full-time service between Lynnwood and Redmond in February. Answering a question long asked by transit afficionados: Sound Transit is planning to allow passengers to board 2 Line trains operating between Lynnwood and CID during simulated service.
This week Sound Transit announced another batch of work for which it will be “strategically closing” sections of the 1 Line for upgrades and complex maintenance. In summary:
Friday, January 9 to Sunday, January 11 (Now): Buses will replace trains between Capitol Hill and SODO each night from 10pm Friday to noon Saturday and 10pm Saturday to noon Sunday. This closure is for continued installation of advanced signals (ATP) in the former DSTT.
Tuesday, January 13 to Thursday, January 15: Buses will replace trains between Stadium and Mount Baker each night after about 9-10pm, with normal service resuming each morning. This work is part of ST’s monthly maintenance program.
Friday, January 16 to Sunday, January 18: Buses will replace trains between Capitol Hill and SODO each night from 10pm Friday to noon Saturday and 10pm Saturday to noon Sunday for continued ATP installation.
Friday, January 23 to Monday, January 26: Buses will replace trains between Capitol Hill and SODO from 10pm on Friday through the weekend with normal service resuming on Monday morning. This longer closure is for ATP installation and testing.
Check Sound Transit’s service alerts for up-to-the-minute updates. Sports fans will be enthused with a few additional updates ST included in Thursday’s press release:
The Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) project to conduct major preservation and repairs on the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge continues into 2026. Over the next year, expect months-long northbound lane reductions and a few weekends with a complete shutdown of the northbound I-5 lanes in Seattle.
Crews break up the old concrete road surface using a using a hydro demolition machine on the Ship Canal Bridge in 2025 (WSDOT)
The Seattle Transit Blog encourages you to take transit, walk, or bike to wherever you need to go. Sound Transit’s Link 1 Line travels roughly parallel to I-5 between Lynnwood and Federal Way. The 1 Line has thousands of free parking spots in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline, and Northgate. Additionally, King County Metro runs a plethora of bus routes across the Ship Canal. These routes include:
Montlake Bridge: 43, 48, 255, 271, ST 542, ST 556
University Bridge: 49, 70
I-5 Ship Canal Bridge: 303, 322, ST 510, ST 515, ST 586
Aurora Bridge: 5, 28, E Line
Fremont Bridge: 31, 32, 40, 62
Ballard Bridge: 17, D Line
The schedules and maps for these routes can be found here. Metro will be running extra buses as needed to minimize travel delays. Metro told Seattle Transit Blog that on weekdays, it will likely add extra service on routes 40, 62, 101, 255, D Line, E Line, and ST 545. On weekends, extra service will likely be added to routes 40, 62, 101, D Line, E Line, and ST 545. Metro confirmed that it will add additional buses to other routes as needed.
January 9 – 12 [Full Northbound Closure]
Northbound I-5 will be closed through downtown Seattle this weekend from 11:59pm Friday night until 5am Monday morning. The express lanes will remain open for northbound traffic. To prepare for the closure, several on-ramps to northbound I-5 will close as early as 9:00pm Friday. Dearborn Street, Cherry Street, University Street on-ramps will close at 9:00pm. Westbound I-90, Olive Way, and Mercer Street on-ramps will close at 10:00pm. Eastbound I-90, Harvard Avenue East, and Westbound SR 520 on-ramps will close at 11:00pm. The northbound off-ramps between Seneca Street and NE 50th St will close at 11:59pm.
As a reminder, the 1 Line will be using shuttle buses between Capitol Hill station and SODO station during the late night and mornings this weekend. The shuttle buses will run:
From 10:00pm on Friday, Jan. 9, until noon on Saturday, Jan. 10
From 10:00pm on Saturday, Jan. 10, until noon on Sunday, Jan. 11
Map of the open and closed sections of I-5 near I-90.
King County Metro Route 50 travels inbound from Othello station to the Alki beach, via Columbia City, SODO, and Alaska Junction. Outbound trips travel in the reverse direction. In October 2025, Route 50 had 2,803 average weekday boardings.
The plots below show the average weekday ridership by stop in each direction, color-coded by time of day. For a more detailed breakdown of how the plots are set up, please refer to the How to Read the Plots section of the article discussing Route 70.
Average Weekday Ridership per Route 50 Trip: September 2024 to March 2025. “Inbound” is toward Alki beach, “Outbound” is toward Othello station. Click the plot to view at full-resolution in a new tab.
Route 50 is the primary east-west route in south Seattle. It connects numerous neighborhoods with three Link stations and two RapidRide routes. Route 50 is designed as a coverage route with 20 minute daytime frequencies and numerous detours to better serve specific locations. Some observations:
Sound Transit’s blog has started a new series called “The Download”, in which CEO Dow Constantine muses on the agency’s past and present work (The Platform)
ORCA cards were used over 75 million times in 2025. (Dennis Budell/Sound Transit)
ORCA Wrapped is back this year with both system-wide and individualized reports. Throughout 2025, ORCA recorded 76,671,844 boardings across 1,276,059 distinct cards. The busiest stations were:
Westlake
U District
Capitol Hill
University of Washington
Lynnwood City Center
A notable exception from this list is SeaTac/Airport station. SeaTac/Airport is the second busiest Link station, but likely has fewer ORCA card taps because many visitors opt to buy individual tickets. ORCA card usage peaked in September and October. The busiest week was September 28 – October 4 and the busiest days were:
