Driving used to be fun but not anymore…read more I took Driver's Ed in high school. Studied the WA DOL manual. Got up at 5am on the weekends and mastered parking maneuvers in empty parking lots. Practiced driving on I-5 and steering control on E Mercer Way. Passed the written and driving tests. It was a milestone celebration unlocking freedom and independence at 16 years old. Learned how to use the stick shift and feared the red light at 15th & Spokane St. on rainy days. Drove to Dick's on Capitol Hill with friends. Never had to share the road with electric bikes and scooters because they didn't exist. Never saw distracted drivers with smartphones because these devices weren't available to the public yet. We only had to worry about cars with California plates, the occasional BC plate, or someone who said, "DMV." ;p Driving in Seattle is different now. Traffic is worse. Nobody gives the "Thank you" wave anymore. I know someone who's been driving well over 10 years and they slapped a yellow New Driver sticker on their car and uses it as an excuse to drive like a crazy person. On I-5 I saw a guy texting at the wheel, saw a girl playing a game on her phone at the wheel. Cars without license plates, cars with expired tabs. People driving in the Bus Only lane, people driving with high beams. Motorcycle lane splitting. Witnessed illegal left turns from the far right lane and people driving down the yellow center lane. A lot of these habits and behaviors didn't happen when I first started driving. Seems like the WA DOL manual doesn't apply anymore. Unwritten driving rules and etiquette taught and passed down by old school Seattleites are fizzling out. Those OGs have moved to Clark County near the WA/OR border, Eastern WA, out of state, and out of country. Gas is over $6+ a gallon and if theres an event near the stadiums parking can be between $70-$120. So if someone asks me why I take public transit, I have many reasons why. I take the light rail when my destination is near a station. I take it for peace of mind. I take it to save money. I've become mindful of my carbon footprint. The 2 Line trains from the Eastside are newer and cleaner than the workhorse 1 Line trains. There's the occasional smelly person, the sleeper, and the tweaker but I know have a choice to sit or stand away from them or get up and move. No fare gates or platform screen doors at the stations. Signage and announcements could be better too. As for the near future, I want to attend roll out celebrations for the Graham St. and Boeing Access Road infill stations. I'm also looking forward to the West Seattle and Tacoma expansions.

Awesome light rail. Very clean, efficient and with a lot of stations including SeaTac airport. Very…read morecheap too. One way is only $3 senior rate $1. Best way to get from the airport...

Cute fun ride Very short and only one stop at the end…read moreThere's an indoor food court mall you can walk to under cover, it's the old Armory Clean, spacious train to the Needle

I feel like I had the honor to ride a piece of history. Built for the Century 21 Expo, or World's…read moreFair, in 1962 serving as a link from the Westlake Center to Seattle Center. This station originally spanned Pine Street, but during renovations in 1988 it was moved to the inside of Westlake Center shopping mall. Which means you can access this via the mall or from street level. If you choose street level, be ready for climbing some stairs. Before coming here, I made sure to purchase an Orca card to make transitioning through the stations easier. The trains run frequently and steady. It wasn't long before I arrived at the station and the train arrived. Coming back to the station was much easier than I expected. I ended up exiting through the mall to cut some time off with traversing the streets. Plus it also let me avoid a hill outside.

Having had to change our plans due to needing medical care and being in Canada, we took the train…read morewith way too many bags to Seattle. Upon leaving the station, there were several taxis waiting. Several of these taxi drivers were grabbing at our bags and trying to fit my 6 foot tall husband (who has back issues as well and cannot move easily because of his medical condition) and the bags into the back of not one but at least two Prius vehicles--- we kept telling them that it was too small and to put our bags down and they refused to listen. Heated words broke out from them, and they would not listen to us. Finally, an Uber driver came with a large vehicle and we were able to be accommodated more comfortably. I totally am in support of the cab drivers, as I know, they have been squeezed out of the market by individual ridesharing, but these morons changed my mind, at least here in Seattle. UPDATE: 08:35Thursday, June 11... hubby has not received the promised call from customer service, which he was told he would re rice at 08:00 yesterday while in contact with the company ... good thing we didn't skip breakfast to re rice it.....

Place is very clean inside the station. The amtrak itself could use an update. The table we sat on…read morewas broken but we managed. The line here can get very long if you are checking in a luggage so arrive early. Staff was friendly and very helpful. The ride from Seattle to Vancouver was beautiful, plenty of scenery.

This station was one of a kind. Mostly outside, but what caught my eye a lot here was the fact that…read morethe museum wraps around the tracks. Makes you feel like you really are entering a very special place. Like you are entering a place that is kept a secret. The station actually feels like a ride platform at an amusement park rather than for public transit. I mean, that makes sense, seeing how the same type of monorail was used at Disney. The novelty of this platform makes it feel almost like a movie set. Like the other end of this system. Trains run frequently and consistently. If you hit it between runs, you might have a longer wait, and the platform may feel up with more people. Once on the train, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Built for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, the monorail is the fastest way to travel between downtown…read moreSeattle (5th Avenue & Pine St.) and Seattle Center. It has 2 stations total and was never meant to be actual transit. After our visit to the Space Needle, my partner and I took this 1.2-mile elevated train system and got off Westlake for our next attraction, Pike Public Market. It saved quite a bit of walking with one-way $4. It is an iconic, historic piece of Seattle and still serves to connect downtown with the Seattle Center 60+ years later.

My first time to take the light rail from Sea-Tac to my destination to meet my college friend who…read morelives up here. Easy to purchase the one-way $3 ticket. Easy to figure out which platform to stand on by following the map. The light rail announces every stop as it approaches and as it stops, announcing which side will be opening its doors. It was a smooth ride with a pretty view of the greenery and blue skies. Convenient, easy, good value.

First interaction with the city, and it was a good one. My biggest concern when coming here was…read more'how was I going to get from the airport to my hotel.' I'm glad I did a little research before getting here. After a long walk from the terminal you find yourself at the platform. Not having an Orca card before getting here, I just did tap to pay. It's great to be able to do this as I was not in the mood to purchase a card right then. Being able to connect downtown from the airport is always going to be a plus. Public transit is an essential for any city, and Seattle did it right. If you don't have the Citymapper app, download it. You'll never look like a lost tourist in any city. With the information I needed on what stop to get off on, I was on my way. That is until the train got there. Until then, I was able to observe the platform. Plenty of space, especially at peak times when passengers are getting off of flights. Signage is aplenty. My biggest gripe with this is the frequency of trains. It felt like even though the schedule is on the board, they weren't directly following it. But back to the station. It is an easy station to use. Easy to navigate. Wide open spaces so you don't feel boxed in. Also, not bad views.

Over all clean smell of homelessness wasn't that bad inside outside a little bit more …read more The whole city as whole just smells bad they should pressure was the whole place . But trains run smoothly and loved the experience better then our New York trains

With the recent opening of the expansion of the 2 line going to Lynnwood from Redmond, this…read moreWestlake Station (like all the other stations in downtown Seattle) now services both the 1 AND 2 lines of the Sound Transit Link system. This means that one can take one train without transfer from here to Bellevue and Redmond, crossing Lake Washington on the world's first light rail pontoon railway. My wife and I took this route while visiting our daughter and son-in-law in Bellevue, and the crossing was a routine non-event, just like it is supposed to be. My last review for this station was 2 years, at which time, only the 1 line serviced this station. Because of the way they designed the routes, the inclusion of the 2 line was seamless, requiring no station outages during the transition. My only small gripe is the signage at a major connection point at the center near the elevators, still only shows the 1 line (with its stops at the airport and university), instead of now the opening of the entire East side of Puget Sound area, accessible via the 2 line. It's confusing for visitors...better just to state that lower level is for Sound Transit, instead of explicitly naming each line, if they don't want to change the signage every time. Another big addition that occurred earlier this year (Feb '26), is the use of tap-to-pay (using a tap enabled payment card to pay for fare at the point of entry) at all stations and bus lines (like NYC and London has). We still ended up using our preloaded Orca card this trip, but can discontinue that for future (unless taking the Monorail, which still requires an Orca card). Transfers are free for 2 hours from the first tap (excluding the Monorail), with initial charge being $3. There are no gates, with the pay stations being intentionally out of the way...it really is about the honor system to tap. We also used Westlake station as the transfer point to get from the monorail on the 3rd floor of the Westlake shopping center down to the lower level where the station actually is. Connecting to the 1 line, we got to Sea-Tac airport station in 41 minutes (though from there, it's quite a walk to get to the terminal area).

So many delays on sound train. It really sucks and is frustrating. I experienced 2 delays last 3…read moreweeks and each delay was at least 30minutes causing me being late at work. I cannot trust their time management at all.

I am on the 402 coming from Meridian, the 2 o-clock bus #10190. My stomach is currently having…read moredifficulties and I aked the driver for the garbage can just in case. He says "doesn't matter where you throw up I still have to call and change the bus over". I say "so you'd rather me just puke on the floor", he says "it doesn't matter either way it goes". So I guess he also doesn't care if his co-worker has to clean it up and cost the company additional labor. I'm about halfway to my destination and I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen. My apologies in advance.

Came here a few times with my S.O…read more Would recommend people to take the bus in Seattle since the times are accurate. Sometimes the buses do come early. Overall, would take the buses again! Tip: you're able to use your debit/credit card for bus rides here. $3.00 for one ride.

As a long time metro rider (34 years) I've ridden the 3, 4 , 7, 49 , 42 and 106. I've encountered…read moremy fair share of interactions primarily on the 3 and 7 and have always respected drivers on these routes that use courtesy and don't yell. Fast forward to the 522. I've noticed that the majority of drivers on this route, specifically at the lake city stops appear to be like security officers. They don't smile, greet, and have any type of personality. I can name just two drivers who were nice and one driver even yelled at me. Some of the drivers appear to be senior drivers. I heard that sound transit is metro and metro drivers drive the 522. I have not experienced this perceived disgruntled ness on the 372 and 61. I hope metro can address my observations and provide additional training to these drivers. It's the same stand off ish attitude at the Roosevelt staff. Thank you!

The #49 trolleybuses are workhorses and they travel through some of my favorite and unique places…read morein Seattle. It runs through historical neighborhoods and serves students who attend Seattle Central College and UW. It travels by fun, vibrant storefronts of coffee shops, restaurants, and retail. You'll also see public art on sidewalks. If you continue to take it NB past Capitol Hill you'll eventually cross the University Bridge (opened in 1919) and into the U District. Right now you can take this bus from downtown Seattle to see the cherry blossoms at The Quad and the U District Cherry Blossom Festival. Sure you can take the light rail from Downtown to Capitol Hill to the U District but if you want to take the scenic route then take the 49.

Metro 49 is great when I go out to Cap Hill since parking on Cap Hill is a huge pain. Every time my…read morefriends and I drive to Cap Hill, it would take at least 15 minutes to find a free parking spot in the evenings. It is also because I don't know the area that well enough. So this bus is great! The best part of the bus is that it runs super late until 2am or 3am! I feel bad for bus drivers who work late and have deal with super drunk people. But if I want to have a late night out with friends on the Hill or even in Downtown, I could definitely rely on bus 49! It does seem to take very long, though. The bus is not very fast and stops VERY frequently. The bus is often on time. The bus, however, seems very dirty most of the time. Not sure why that is.

Our first ride on the Seattle Street Car was a treat! The driver super helpful and friendly,…read moreengaging the littlest passengers with enthusiasm and sincere interest. Orca cards are accepted, but bus transfers are not! Just so you know. The trip is relatively short from the north end of downtown to SLU, but comfortable, smooth and clean. It's not too crowded; at least not early on a Thursday afternoon while most are lunching. The trolley provides easy access to MOHAI and the Center for Wooden Boats without having to search for and pay for limited hours parking.

I hope they can salvage this somehow…read more As far as a people mover system, the South Lake Union Streetcar has as much appeal as the Seattle Monorail. It is a curiosity, but lacking in usefulness for most. The Streetcar runs from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the Eastlake area to a stop across the street from Westlake Center. There is a train every 15 minutes. The system seems to model itself like the Portland Streetcar, but the current streetcar system in Seattle is inferior in the same way that Seattle's Sound Transit Light Rail system is to the Portland MAX system. In its current state, I think the main use of it is in shuttling Amazon and Fred Hutchinson employees from Westlake to their respective offices. There is not a whole lot of Metro bus service in South Lake Union (SLU), so the Streetcar does alleviate that issue a bit. But seeing that Westlake is only several blocks south from SLU, I think most people including myself would prefer to walk the distance rather than wait for the Streetcar. I would only take it if there was a train leaving shortly that would save me a couple minutes. Work on a First Hill Streetcar is going on now and there has been talk of extending the SLU Streetcar further north which would be great if it happens. It would be a waste to not expand. Right now the value of this line is not there, but hopefully city planners can turn that around with some forward thinking expansion.