Quality of public transportation? (Seattle: pros and cons, income, living)

[fsdbt1]

I'm considering moving from NYC to Seattle and I was wondering what the quality of public transit is like.

They always say NYC has the best public transit, but I find it to be terrible. It's one of the main reasons I am leaving. I suppose they say this because it is very extensive and can take you anywhere, but it is hell to actually ride.

So is Seattle public transport actually reliable and pleasant to ride? Are there a high amount of delays or schedule changes? Is it clean? Are there homeless people living and wandering around the system? Does it get unbearably overcrowded during rush hour? Does it get unusually hot or cold inside?

[Hemlock140]

I take the bus from my city 23 miles east of Seattle to the downtown bus tunnel to work daily. The drivers are polite, the buses in good condition and most always on time. Yes, there are homeless and other interesting people around the stations but since they eliminated the free downtown service in October not nearly as many actually on the bus. There are times when certain lines are very crowded and you might have to stand. The light rail from downtown to the airport is clean and fast, but makes a lot of stops, with only an occasional delay when someone stops there cars on the tracks or something.

[poopskooper]

I agree, generally reliable and pleasant to ride. Delays are minimal. Schedule changes take place several times a year on a regular basis. Buses are generally very clean compared to other large municipal transit systems that I've experienced.

Large amounts of homeless people living and wandering around the system have been curtailed now that the free-ride area in the CBD has been discontinued. Homeless people do use transit and some routes more than others. Some suburban routes seem to have less of a problem than the in-city routes. Some routes going to places that homeless or other low-income residents might need to frequently ride to get to certain services they need may have more problems than others. And of course, as any big city, certain routes just have the reputation of having more problems with troublesome passengers than others.

Metro and Sound Transit do a pretty good job of monitoring overcrowding and correcting it. Still, there are routes that you may have to stand during certain times of the day. So no, I wouldn't say it would be unbearable.

Metro is in the process of transitioning to newer buses and all the newer buses will have air conditioning. There are still a number of older buses in services without A/C but with Seattle's moderate climate, unusually hot or cold interiors are rare. All Sound Transit buses and trains are air conditioned.

Riding on Seattle's transit will generally have the same pros and cons as any big city. Sometimes it just isn't pleasant riding public transit but the majority of time for a commuter, it is fine with few problems.

I just got through reading a humorous bit of reading about true tales compiled by riders of Portland's Trimet from the Portland Mercury ...it's from August but it sure gave me quite a laugh especially the last one that won the contest ...I rolled on the floor for quite awhile laughing at that one --let's face it, "things" do happen on public transit that are just not pleasant; some commented that they're made up, I have every reason to believe they're true LOL:

True Tales of TriMet Terror --Portland Mercury

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[gwix98]

Sound Transit has a very good system, with new buses, and great express routes,
at least from the north into the city

[expdxer]

As someone who has lived in NYC and has visited Seattle several times, I agree with all of the above. Riding transit is a far more pleasant experience in Seattle compared to NYC. The light-rail to the airport is modern and clean. There are no weekend service disruptions that I know of, unlike the perennial "track work" in NYC. I now live in the D.C. area which also has perennial weekend track work, so whenever I go to Seattle its transit definitely has "that new car smell" compared to the Eastern metropolis.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by expdxer

As someone who has lived in NYC and has visited Seattle several times, I agree with all of the above. Riding transit is a far more pleasant experience in Seattle compared to NYC. The light-rail to the airport is modern and clean. There are no weekend service disruptions that I know of, unlike the perennial "track work" in NYC. I now live in the D.C. area which also has perennial weekend track work, so whenever I go to Seattle its transit definitely has "that new car smell" compared to the Eastern metropolis.

As someone that has done the opposite, I prefer the NYC subway although I'll admit I've never had to use it to commute. With DC, I occasionally took the Orange line downtown for meetings and found it pleasant. My wife who used it 5 days a week absolutely hated it after a few years. I guess my only point is that occasional users and tourists see it differently. Parts of Seattle transit are nice. The light rail line looks great.

For a real treat though, take the 358 from the International District up Aurora. Any preconceived notions of clean, pleasant Seattle public transit will melt away after a few blocks.

[RVD90277]

it's ok.

some of the newer buses are nice but most of the buses are still pretty old and full of smelly people. it also rains a lot so that makes the smell even worse. there is usually 1-2 odd characters on the bus who you should avoid (and you'll want to avoid anyway because of the smell).

the light rail to the airport is pretty nice and i take that frequently.

the bus schedules are pretty good. there is a mobile app that everyone uses to check on bus schedules and times and it's not great but usually within a few minutes.

overall good.