⭐︎Advice needed for commute from Issaquah to Bremerton (Seattle, Tacoma: cheap apartment, rental)

[Cafemoca]

How long does it take to commute from Issaquah to Bremerton? (How much does it cost? bus cost, ferry cost, toll road cost, etc.)

Option 1 is to take bus from Issaquah highland to downtown Seattle, walk to ferry terminal, take ferry to Bremerton.

Option 2 is to drive from Issaquah to Bremerton by taking Rd 18 south/west to Tacoma, cross over to Gig Harbor and get to Bremerton.

[prosin]

Are we safe in assuming this is a daily commute?

I think you're asking us if it is better to be shot than drink poison. Both are expensive and ugly commutes (ugly time-wise, not views).

Why don't you just move to Bremerton?

It would help if we knew what area of Bremerton you would be working (e.g. PSNS, Harrison Medical Center, etc.) before answering.

[poopskooper]

Option 1: Sound Transit route 554 takes about 40-50 minutes from Issaquah Highlands P&R to 4th and Pike depending on the trip; earlier trips will be a bit faster than those later in the morning rush. The Bremerton ferry takes about an hour. So as you can see, it will be at least two hours. CLICK HERE for the ST 554 schedule. CLICK HERE for the Bremerton ferry schedule.

Option 2: Driving from Issaquah P&R to the Bremerton ferry terminal is about 72 miles according to Google Maps and they have it at 1:24 driving time. Generally, you'd be going against rush-hour traffic much of the route so it should be relatively accurate at about an hour and a half driving time. CLICK HERE for the Google map routing.

Cost wise? First, you probably should get an ORCA card for convenience (CLICK HERE). Since I'm not up-to-date on any discounts a commuter is eligible for (I'll let others chime in on that) or you may be able to figure it out yourself by looking at the respective websites, I'll assume full fares for illustration purposes.

Sound Transit fare: $2.75 x 2 = $5.50 (Click)
Ferry Passenger Fare to Bremerton: $8.20 x 2 = 16.40 (Click)
Total: $21.90

Gas to drive assuming 25 MPG and gas at $2.50/gallon for 144 miles = $14.40 (not counting wear-and-tear calculation)

Bus and Ferry: ~2 hours and $21.90
Driving: ~1 hour and a half and $14.40 (+ wear and tear)

Obviously, it's a YMMV situation. And i just did some quick calculating so I may have made a mistake somewhere in there but you can redo the figures and I'm sure somebody else can correct my factual errors.
~amanda




eta: I forgot to add in the toll for the Narrows Bridge in the driving calculation so add $5.00 with a Good To Go! Pass --again, somebody correct me if I'm wrong-- to the driving calculation expense (bridge toll is only collected in the Tacoma-bound direction, I believe).

[Hemlock140]

All of the above is accurate, but I'll add that returning home from Bremerton via 16/5/18 will be a lot longer than going in. The narrows bridge area through Tacoma and Fife will be backed up to the 18 exit in Federal Way every day. If you opt for the bus, drive to the Issaquah Transit Center and take the 214, same route as the 554 but doesn't stop at Eastgate or Mercer Island, saving about 10 minutes. The walk from downtown to the ferry will be a wet one most of the year, and about 20 minutes.

[CrazyDonkey]

Option 3: Rent a cheap apartment in Bremerton and commute once a week. Preferably, work a 4-day workweek/10-hr workday, which will give you 3 days in Issaquah.

Note: Google drive times are very best case scenarios. Multiply by 1.5-2.0 for more realistic estimates.

[poopskooper]

prosin, Hemlock and CrazyDonkey all make excellent points.

Hemlock's point about the 214 is a good one. Also the point about traffic in the PM something I didn't mention and will definitely add a lot more time than the AM drive. So I underestimated the time factor in both options 1 and 2. Each will be well over four hours of commuting a day ...although the cost of each doesn't seem to be significant.

Which brings us to both prosin and Crazydonkey's point of possibly looking for housing closer to where you work? If this is a daily commute, do you really want to spend 4-5 hours (or occasionally possibly even more) commuting each day?
~amanda

[flyingsaucermom]

Oh my, is this for real?

Okay, maybe you've NEVER been here and are just looking at a map. Maybe you live in the Dakotas where you can drive straight and fast for an hour and clear 80+ miles, but that is simply impossible here. Going to Bremerton from Issaquah is considered a day trip or even a weekend gettaway. You might be able to do twice a week, but anymore than that and you'll burn out in a month.

[Ira500]

I'd say an issaquah to Bremerton commute would be consistently unpleasant, and very long. Not worth it.
If I were working in Bremerton, there are some nice parts of Bremerton, and Poulsbo's beautiful and fun. If I had the the choice of waterboarding, or commuting between Issaquah and Bremerton, it might be the waterboarding, because it ends.

[Cafemoca]

Thank you everyone for replying! I truly appreciate your answers and opinions. Thank you for giving me a detailed commute info from Issaquah to Bremerton. It seems that both options are costly and the commute time is very long...

I appreciate your honest input and warning on this commute. I now start to realize it is too far to commute on a daily basis. I have heard that traffic in Seattle is terrible, but I was hoping I would get optimistic reply from people who lives in Seattle.

One of the reasons I picked Issaquah to live was mainly for our school age kids. I searched up good public schools in Kitsap Peninsula but no luck. I also looked up schools rated 8, 9 and 10 out of 10 on the Greatschool.com. The places with good schools were found in Ballard area, Mercer island, Bellevue area, Bainbridge Island and Issaquah area. I am also curious what University Place is like in terms of people, housing and school wise.

Do you have any suggestions where would be possible to commute from local people's point of view?!
Thanks!

[modc]

Option1:
Commute from silverdale WA. There are some high ranked schools there.

Option 2: use the money you would have spent on a more expensive mortgage or rental in issaquah to pay for private school. catholic schools are usually less expensive and I know a few people who attended who weren't Carholic.

Finally, spending time with your children - reading to them, checking their homework,
attending school Functions will be far better academically for your children than you having a crazy long commute and being tired from it while they attend 10, 10, 10 great school ranked schools.