Public Transport in Seattle (Spokane, Tacoma: truck rental, rentals, transfer)

[Sonnenwende]

How is public transport in Seattle? Good, bad? How far does it extend outside the city proper?

[FistFightingHairdresser]

Hi,

For a city its size, Seattle's public transport is quite disappointing. There is a bus system which is quite OK if you work downtown and live on the West side of L. Washington, but if you have to go farther afield or across the lake it's a royal pain. You can see the bus plan at the following website:
http://transit.metrokc.gov/

The ferries are an option. Again, it's pretty easy if you work downtown and live on Bainbridge Island, but otherwise you're looking at a drive on either end.

Finally there's the train. There's a commute rail line that goes from Tacoma to Seattle and another line that goes from Everett to Seattle. Whether the train stops in places you'd want to live is another matter. Not for me, thanks. See:
http://www.soundtransit.org

[BATCAT]

We've definitely made some progress since the OP.

[homesinseattle]

The buses are great, the light rail so so and slowly getting better, the traffic worse. We are blessed and cursed by bodies of water all around us.

[James Bond 007]

I spent many years living in and around Seattle from 1988 through 1998 and again from 2000 to 2008 without a car. Took the bus everywhere. Metro is pretty good as big city bus systems go and it's not hard to go car-less, even in some parts of the 'burbs.

[CrazyDonkey]

Public transport: local and express hybrid and diesel buses, electric trolley buses, BRT buses (Rapid Ride), BAT (Bus. Access & Transit)/bus-only Lanes, HOV lanes, fixed/variable toll lanes, bike lanes/paths, sidewalks, stops/stations/transit-centers/terminals, subway/elevated/separate right-of-ways, car/van pools, on-demand transit, night-owl transit, streetcars, light rail, commuter rail, state ferries, local ferries, water taxis, fast/low-wake passenger-only ferries, Orca Card regional fare-payment/transfer system.

Possible public/private transport: self-driving/guided cars, buses, and trucks that could potentially increase the efficiency and capacity-utilization of freeways, highways, arterials, streets, and roads, with publically financed infrastructure and privately financed vehicles and software.

Private/regulated transport: ride-sharing (Uber. Lyft, etc.), car sharing (Car2Go, ZipCar, etc.), bike sharing, taxis, car/truck rentals.

Other: ride-begging/hitch-hiking, ad-hoc jitneys (six to a pick-up bed?), etc.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Public transport: local and express hybrid and diesel buses, electric trolley buses, BRT buses (Rapid Ride), BAT (Bus. Access & Transit)/bus-only Lanes, HOV lanes, fixed/variable toll lanes, bike lanes/paths, sidewalks, stops/stations/transit-centers/terminals, subway/elevated/separate right-of-ways, car/van pools, on-demand transit, night-owl transit, streetcars, light rail, commuter rail, state ferries, local ferries, water taxis, fast/low-wake passenger-only ferries, Orca Card regional fare-payment/transfer system.

Possible public/private transport: self-driving/guided cars, buses, and trucks that could potentially increase the efficiency and capacity-utilization of freeways, highways, arterials, streets, and roads, with publically financed infrastructure and privately financed vehicles and software.

Private/regulated transport: ride-sharing (Uber. Lyft, etc.), car sharing (Car2Go, ZipCar, etc.), bike sharing, taxis, car/truck rentals.

Other: ride-begging/hitch-hiking, ad-hoc jitneys (six to a pick-up bed?), etc.

All great, however, Rapid Ride is NOT BRT. It's a high capacity limited stop bus with some BRT features, often where it's easy to do not where it's most needed. Nonetheless, a solid bus service.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by James Bond 007

I spent many years living in and around Seattle from 1988 through 1998 and again from 2000 to 2008 without a car. Took the bus everywhere. Metro is pretty good as big city bus systems go and it's not hard to go car-less, even in some parts of the 'burbs.

I was car-free in Seattle, too, but I spent a lot of time waiting around for buses. A good bus system need to run more frequently than every 20 minutes, or once per half-hour, and every hour on Sundays and evenings.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I was car-free in Seattle, too, but I spent a lot of time waiting around for buses. A good bus system need to run more frequently than every 20 minutes, or once per half-hour, and every hour on Sundays and evenings.

Since the population of Seattle has been fairly dramatically increasing,there's been a lot more frequent service bus routes. The Rapid Ride routes mostly come every eight minute or so. Light Rail is very frequent. A bunch of bus routes that used be 20-30 minutes apart are now 15. So it's better in that respect. But traffic is a lot worse, and most buses sit in traffic. So the buses come more often, but they take longer to get where they're going.

[James Bond 007]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I was car-free in Seattle, too, but I spent a lot of time waiting around for buses. A good bus system need to run more frequently than every 20 minutes, or once per half-hour, and every hour on Sundays and evenings.

So did I, but after you do that a while you learn to schedule things around the buses as much as you can. Plus I always did a lot of walking.

Heck, even when I lived in Spokane I got around entirely by bus and walking.