Getting around Seattle by Bus

Seattle's current snow day got me thinking about the bus. This town has a great bus system. Metro covers all of the greater Seattle area, including Bellevue, Kirkland, and other eastside cities. It also links up well with transit for other areas of the Puget Sound. Fares are reasonable and the buses are pretty reliable. Dogs are allowed on buses, but you must pay a fare for them (unless Spot is a service dog). Often the driver will not enforce the fare rule, but the big rule is that Fido keeps her four on the floor.

Metro has several online tools to help their customers build itineraries for the rides and catch their buses.

The Trip Planner is a great tool that allows you to plug in variables such as start and end addresses, date, time, maximum distance you are willing to walk, and other details and it will provide you with an agenda for each leg of your trip.

The Tracker allows you to plug in a bus line number and see, in real time, where that bus is on its route.

Of course there are timetables on the site.

There is also a tool for finding carpool and vanshare partners. This is not only for commuting, but for finding a ride to regional, public events as well.

For travelers with disabilities, there are many accessibility services. In the summertime there is even a water taxi that links downtown to West Seattle.