how difficult is it to commute to Seattle from Mukilteo (Everett: look for a job, transfer to)

[toscanini]

Our family is excited about moving to Seattle (probably Mukilteo area near Harbour Pointe area for our kids' school as well as my job in Lynnwood) in the near future. I am wondering how difficult it would be for my wife to commute to Seattle Central Community College (located just south of Capitol Hill) from Mukilteo. What sort of options would she have (bus, train, etc.)? Since she is a novice driver, I would rather have her take public transportation.

She would like to complete a surg. tech program at the community college and then look for a job at a hospital (most likely in Seattle area simply b/c hospitals seem to be clustered there). Given this scenario, does it make sense for us to move to Mukilteo or would it be better for our family to find a place in Seattle, which would be near to my wife's school and future work...

For long term, it would be best for my wife to find work north of Seattle (Edmonds, Shoreline, Everett, etc.); however, it seems that there are more hospitals -- and therefore more jobs -- in Seattle than in the suburbs.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[eskercurve]

You can take one of the commuter bus lines around here, walk to Mukilteo Speedway and either go to the Lynnwood transit center where you can transfer, OR you can take the 417 bus.

This is a helpful website:

Community Transit: Route 417 Schedule

Here's a trip planner

Community Transit : Trip Planner

[seattlefanatic]

It might actually be more convenient to take public transportation because I-5 is perpetually congested it seems.

[west seattle gal]

I know this is an old thread, but I have the same question about Mukilteo to Redmond via public transportation. Looking online, the commute seems to be 15 minutes by car but 2.5 hours via bus! Is this true??

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

I know this is an old thread, but I have the same question about Mukilteo to Redmond via public transportation. Looking online, the commute seems to be 15 minutes by car but 2.5 hours via bus! Is this true??

That depends on where in Redmond and where in Mukilteo. I can't imagine a situation where it would only take 15 minutes driving, but 2.5 hours by bus is probably correct. Public transit in Seattle (and in most cities, really) is not designed for suburb to suburb commutes, so you'll almost always have to go downtown first to transfer to another route.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

That depends on where in Redmond and where in Mukilteo. I can't imagine a situation where it would only take 15 minutes driving, but 2.5 hours by bus is probably correct. Public transit in Seattle (and in most cities, really) is not designed for suburb to suburb commutes, so you'll almost always have to go downtown first to transfer to another route.

Crazy, huh? Light rail would be a dream.

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

Crazy, huh? Light rail would be a dream.

Heavy rail, grade-separated rapid transit. It's the only solution that makes any sense for reducing travel times. But this almost never connects suburbs - it's just not economical. If everyone took public transit to work, places like Redmond and Mukilteo would be rural outposts in the woods.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

Heavy rail, grade-separated rapid transit. It's the only solution that makes any sense for reducing travel times. But this almost never connects suburbs - it's just not economical. If everyone took public transit to work, places like Redmond and Mukilteo would be rural outposts in the woods.

I wonder if that's really true. You look at places like London and the tube allows commute access all around the region. I wonder if it would create tremendous regional growth if rapid transit were available. I love the Mukilteo/Edmonds area, it "feels" different around there - more connected to Puget Sound.

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I wonder if that's really true. You look at places like London and the tube allows commute access all around the region for commuting. I wonder if it would create tremendous regional growth if rapid transit were available. I love the Mukilteo/Edmonds area, it "feels" different around there - more connected to Puget Sound.

The UK has a very different transit funding structure than what we have in the US. Hell will freeze over before the US has a transit system that robust. The fuel taxes in the UK (totaling roughly USD $5 per US gallon on top of the cost of the fuel itself) are used to fund mass transit, which provides a level of funding completely unimaginable in the US.

But the real reason the Tube is effective is that it connects densely populated areas. If you take a look at Google Street View, you can see that dense housing extends far from central London (example). Transit only works when you're connecting areas like these, not areas with sprawling estates like most of metro Seattle. Even Seattle proper has very low density compared to greater London.

That's enough nerding out about transit - I don't want to hijack the thread. The point is that for suburb to suburb commutes, driving is almost always going to be the fastest and most convenient by far. The incentives for developing suburban transit corridors and encouraging people to use them just don't work in suburban America.

[RustinginSeattle]

Do you have kids? Would you be closer by if they needed you quickly? The only way I could do this commute is to learn some really funky back road routes. Will she be traveling during peak traffic? Not only will she have to get through the city, but it's also a crosstown commute. I would think that would be 45 minutes to 1.5 hours each way, depending on day and time.