Kirkland bus routes

[SeeYaSoCal]

Okay, I drove around the route I need to take. There ARE signs there. I just never noticed. And on Google Maps, they are there as well, just not exactly in the spot they indicate. The signs are small, blurry and a bit further down the street, so I couldn't tell.

This should work out pretty well for me. My work does the ORCA card thing too, I just have to figure out if it's worth it for me as I might not need to take the bus EVERY day. Maybe just 3-4 times a week. Sometimes my wife will drop me off, maybe pick me up. All depends on our schedules.

Thanks again for all your help guys. I knew I came to the right place.

[seattlenextyear]

Even if you don't get a monthly pass, its still worth getting an Orca card: you use it as a debit card for the bus. Load money on it at home and then it debits your account when you get on the bus.

Much better than carrying cash or those stupid little ticket things they used to sell.

[Rascaliti]

My wife, myself and our 26 year old son will be moving to Kirkland next June 2014. One of the things (and there are many) that we have talked about it is "public transportation" this forum helps us out a lotto learn about it.. We are coming from Stuart, Florida (a little north of West Palm Beach and " PT" is a car or walking. My wife and I are or will be retired and my son will find work there and hopefully use "Public Transportation" We will be also be looking for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apt to rent. If anyone can help us in that sense we will be forever grateful. Please any information will be greatly appreciated.

[Rascaliti]

Seattle Right Now:

Or anyone who has been living in the area for a short time. Tell me (us) about your experiences in the past few months and how you stumbled around Seattle and suburbs. It is now October 2013 and most of the posts are from 2011. Any replies will be greatly helpful.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by Rascaliti

Seattle Right Now:

Or anyone who has been living in the area for a short time. Tell me (us) about your experiences in the past few months and how you stumbled around Seattle and suburbs. It is now October 2013 and most of the posts are from 2011. Any replies will be greatly helpful.

To Rascaliti, RE Kirkland and part of your question: search "King County Metro". "Community Transit" covers Snohomish County to the north. There are several others for other interlocked-areas and services, too, including the Sounder train.

From those sites, you can pretty easily game out whatever you'd like. Including costs, time, distances, etc. to popular places.

In conjunction, Google maps directions using the "transit" option will give tons of info. I cannot vouch for that information's detail/accuracy: I'd cross reference that with aforementioned sites.

I do a moderate amount of exploration from Kirkland Transit Center (TC), on 3rd downtown, but usually only on weekends. On rare occasions I take a bus daily to another eastside destination, only about 5 miles away, but that's a no-brainer as it's one bus that stops feet from my employer's front door. Not exactly an adventure, per se. Rest of the time I drive, since the route is all side streets and thus mostly traffic-free, so no help there.

I think you're also asking, "were I to primarily use mass transit, from Kirkland, how would we fare day-to-day." A general, universal answer for Seattle metro is, "not nearly as well in terms of convenience to specific places, but perhaps much better for destinations on commute routes during peak times, to avoid traffic snarls." Same as mass transit everywhere, it is "usually" more time to use it and includes walking and inconvenience. But if you're going somewhere known for awful traffic, like downtown Seattle (Manhattan, Boston, name your city), the equation changes.

A website like Walk Score (and others) has a lot more on that, pro and con, to make your own decision.

[limeyx]

Originally Posted by SitoUK

Yeah, I got one of those, fortunately it's even paid for by my employers but if you use a bus on a daily basis, it's definitely worth getting one, even if you have to pay for it yourself...

I love my orca card. Even from Woodinville (kingsgate P&R) to downtown, it's only $108.
Compare that to gas, 520 tolls, $11+ parking every day and it's a no-brainer.

I use the bus every day and they are actually very safe around here (unlike the "bring you own knife/gun/baseball bat" situation of the buses in LA which I only took once .....)

[Andree Jacovich]

How can you track your bus if they are late?

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Andree Jacovich

How can you track your bus if they are late?

Seattle metro has an app called "one bus away" that my friends will use... it will have the GPS location of the bus, rather than following strictly the schedule of when it should arrive. But it's not a good trip planner, there's another app for that. If you go to metro's website, they'll have a list of apps that you can DL.

[Hemlock140]

I use One Bus Away too, though I'm going from Sammamish. Since I have to make a transfer with about 10 minutes of slop time, if I miss the connection I will have to stay on that bus and get closer to home and call my wife, or else wait an additional 1/2 hour for the next one. That has happened only once in two years, knock on wood. On the Metro and Sound Transit (express buses) websites they have a trip finder tool that is very helpful in finding routes.
In my case there is a one-mile walk at the Seattle end but I enjoy it. The bus rides from the eastside are all pretty much commuters, and 95% are glued to their smartphone and make for a safe, quiet, relaxing trip. Even the routes within Seattle have few weird or creepy people, though you do get plenty of them around the transit tunnel entrances.

Metro's Online Trip Planner

Trip Planner - SoundTransit