On Monday, King County Metro announced fares will increase on September 1, 2025, for multiple Metro services and for the Seattle Streetcar, which is owned by SDOT but operated by Metro.
Metro and Seattle Streetcar fares increasing on Sept. 1
Midweek Roundup: early Christmas gift
Local Transit & Streets:
- Sound Transit is preparing for a possible early opening of the Federal Way Link Extension – as early as this year (The Platform). The “Crosslake Connection” of the 2 Line is still expected in early 2026 with live wire testing scheduled to start this week. ST Boardmember and King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer: “After years of getting coal in our stocking, I am hopeful that South King County will get an early Christmas gift”.
- Dogs on leashes are officially allowed on Sound Transit vehicles (The Seattle Times, $)
- Pike Place Market’s two-month car-free “pilot”, kicked off by utility work, has been extended through next Spring (The Seattle Times, $).
- The Bremerton Fast Ferry’s weekend service is back to summer-only, with WSDOT no longer funding Saturday trips during Kitsap Transit’s winter sailing schedule (The Urbanist). The Fast Ferry’s boosted weekday service is funded through August 2026. Additional coverage by The Seattle Times ($). Announcement from Kitsap Transit.
- Seattle has teamed with the Open Mobility Foundation to build a system to notify autonomous vehicles of emergency road closures and other incidents self-driving cars may not detect during operations (KUOW).
Movies: Melbourne & Auckland
Livability in Melbourne, Australia. (CityNerd) The Seattle waterfront streetcars in 1982-2005 came from Melbourne. When an Australian friend who’d grown up in Melbourne visited, I took him on the streetcar. It really reminded him of his childhood. The current Melbourne streetcars ave a green-and-yellow style that looks like a Metro bus on rails. And they’re in mixed traffic, because that’s how they were built a century ago.
New Zealand. (CityNerd) Ray says Australia and New Zealand have a lot in common with the US, including sprawl and freeways and sometimes inadequate transit. But where they’re different or changing, it shows what American cities can do.
This is an open thread.
48 commentsBellevue Arts Fair
The Bellevue Arts Fair is this weekend if you’re looking for something to do. It’s a large free annual festival of artists’ booths and other artsy activities. It started Friday and continues Saturday 10am-7pm, and Sunday 11am-6pm. Here’s a map with the event locations. The fair started in 1948, and has been running annually my entire life. I’ve attended it several times in the past and always find several interesting things.
Events & Locations
The biggest part is a couple hundred artists’ booths in the Bellevue Square parking garage. It’s a curated set of artists selling paintings, prints, photography, and metal sculptures. Being inside the garage with asphalt and white lines and oil stains beneath you and concrete all around is a bit of a bummer, but you quickly forget about it once you start looking at the art.
Continue reading “Bellevue Arts Fair” | 17 commentsFriday Roundtable: Seafair Festival Weekend Transit
The annual Seafair Festival Weekend is next week on August 1-3 at Genesee Park. Festivities include an air show, hydroplane races, and a classic car show. Event organizers are encouraging attendees to use public transportation.
For most people, the Link 1 Line will be the best option. The closest station is Columbia City. Route 106 also stops next to Columbia City Station. From there, the festivities are a 20 minute walk away. Alternatively, Seafair is providing a free shuttle to and from the station between 9am and 6pm. Route 50 also runs between Columbia City station and the Genesee Park.
Route 7 stops at Rainier Ave & S Genesee St, a 10 minute walk from the park. The new northbound bus only lanes should make it a reliable option when leaving the event.
Route 50 stops right next to Genesee Park. Due to the route’s 30 minute frequency and the expected traffic in the area, it is probably only the best option for attendees coming from West Seattle or Seward Park.
Midweek Roundup: transit to avoid traffic
Elections 2025:
Ballots are out for the August 5 Primary Election. Guides & Endorsements: WA Voters’ Guide (official), The Urbanist, Transportation for Washington, Progressive Voters Guide, The Stranger, The Seattle Times ($), Real Change.
In Seattle, the City Council is looking to codify deference to district representatives regarding issues in their district, which would make district-level elections even more impactful (The Urbanist). Case in point: Rob Saka’s effort to earmark $2M of the transportation levy to make an illegal left turn less difficult on Delridge.
Local Transit News:
- Marymoor service July 23: For the Brit Floyd concert, the 2 Line will have two special night trains at 11 pm from Marymoor Village station, one going northbound to Downtown Redmond station, the other going southbound to South Bellevue station. There will be no trains between 9:30pm (the end of regular service) and the special 11 pm trains.
- Stride open house for the three upcoming BRT lines. Construction starts in August on a bus base in Canyon Park. The link lists all the planned station and street improvements.
- WSDOT suggests would-be drivers take transit to avoid traffic on I-5 due to maintenance and restoration work (The Seattle Times, $) Additional info from the SDOT Blog and from King County Metro. Notably, SDOT & Metro converted the Aurora Avenue bus lanes to 24/7 enforcement in preparation for the closure.
- Pierce Transit won an award from APTA for its environmental sustainability efforts, including reducing emissions by 19% (adjusted for service levels) since 2017 (APTA)
- King County may need to resort to condemnation to obtain rights to install station infrastructure on some properties along RapidRide I (The Urbanist)
- Bus lanes are being installed for Route 40 and car drivers are (still) not happy (The Seattle Times, $)
- Sound Transit has hired Jacobs to complete “Phase I” engineering design for the West Seattle Link Extension (Mass Transit Magazine). Will they be able to cut $3B off the estimated $7B price tag?
- More photos and videos of Fix the L8’s “Race the L8” event earlier this month: The Urbanist, The Seattle Times ($). STB writer Michael Smith wrote about his experience.
Beyond the Freeway Edge: Center-Running BRT for Seattle’s suburbs
The Puget Sound metro area has made significant effort in expanding transit with both its light rail network and side-running BRTs like RapidRide and Swift. These have established a better transit baseline than many American regions have, enabling people to get around easier. Recent Link extensions like Lynnwood Link and the starter East Link, and future projects like Downtown Redmond, full East Link across Lake Washington, and Federal Way Link, are set to enhance regional connectivity. However, while these extensions are excellent for improving commuter routes and replacing express freeway buses, their freeway-adjacent alignment often bypasses significant job, retail, and residential hubs along existing avenues. This leaves many high-density corridors such as Aurora Avenue, Evergreen Way, Pacific Highway South and Rainier Avenue South underserved.
Enter — Center-running BRTs. Operating in dedicated lanes separated from general traffic, they offer a combination of moderate-high reliability, faster travel times, and relatively low cost compared to light rail. This makes them particularly well-suited for connecting dense urban corridors that are underserved by existing transit.
Continue reading “Beyond the Freeway Edge: Center-Running BRT for Seattle’s suburbs” | 112 comments
Sunday Movie: Evanston Express & Empty Northwest Coast
Why the Chicago L’s Evanston Express line isn’t really an express. (Car Free Keith)
Why the Washington and Oregon coast has no large cities. (Geography by Geoff)
This is an open thread.
59 commentsFriday Roundtable: Beacon Hill Safety Project
The over the next few weeks, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will be putting the final touches on Segment 1 of the Beacon Ave S & 15th Ave S Safety Project. This project has resulted in protected bike lanes from S Spokane St to the Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge, several new speed cushions and curb bulbs, and four new transit islands. The improved pedestrian infrastructure and new transit islands will be used by passengers of routes 36, 60, and 107.
Ridership Patterns for RapidRide G Line
King County Metro’s RapidRide G Line travels inbound from Madison Valley to downtown Seattle on Madison St. Outbound trips travel in the reverse direction. In May 2025, the G Line had 6,113 average weekday boardings.
The G Line launched in September 2024 and uses the first (and still only) center running bus lanes in King County. The route had a bumpy start as its 6 minute frequencies led to severe bus bunching. Over the past 10 months, these issues have largely been resolved and ridership has steadily increased each month.
Average Ridership Per Trip
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.
The G Line ridership patterns show a route that traverses dense neighborhoods with strong ridership all day. Some observations:
Continue reading “Ridership Patterns for RapidRide G Line” | 28 comments