3 Things I Like about Seattle Buses

Seattle has a lot of variety in its public transportation network. There are trains, streetcars, a monorail, ferries, trolleybuses, and just plain old regular buses. But even those have some interesting features! Today, we are hanging around downtown Seattle, looking at through-running buses, creative solutions to downtown congestion, and of course, double-deck buses.

Trains Are Awesome!

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:14 Seattle's Bus System: Explained
3:05 Through Running
4:43 Downtown Skip-stop service
7:16 Double-Deck Community Transit Bus
9:03 Double-Deck Sound Transit Bus

[maxkauffman]

you missed the joy of riding a double decker flying past freeway traffic in the HOV lanes!

[averagezing]

3rd Ave being Bus Only during the day is also a huge part of the recipe.

[misteriknow]

I remember when I moved to Seattle in 2012 and thought the bus system was so unique here especially compared to where I came from where public transit was non existent. The busses in the city basically act like trains. They’re frequent, run late and can get you literally anywhere in the city. If you live in the city limits of Seattle you really don’t need a car. And the Double Deckers can take you to the burbs and cities like Everett & Tacoma. It’s like a clean coach bus in & out the city every day. The bus system here is unparalleled in the US!

[Jer_Schmidt]

I've lived car-free in downtown Seattle for almost two years and am ashamed to admit I've never been on a double-decker yet. Really gotta make up an excuse to go to Everett... Also I didn't know about the color-coding on our skip-stop system, thanks for pointing that out.

[marshallviliesis]

I live in Seattle and ride all of the transit options every week. Still I learned a few things I did not know. Great video.

[charlesbaran]

Trains definitely are awesome, but buses deserved some attention. They provide a service where rail vehicles are not practical. Thanks for showing Seattle's variety.

[adisario]

When I was growing up in Seattle in the 1970s, the buses were free downtown. They called it the "Magic Carpet Zone" and you could board any bus for free downtown and not pay as long as you got off before leaving downtown. Fares were collected when you board going toward downtown and collected when you exit leaving downtown. That made the rear exit unusable heading away from downtown.

[DanTheCaptain]

As a Torontonian, I can vouch for the fun of riding on those Alexander Dennis double decker buses! The panoramic front window on the upper deck is always a joy! The inter-regional transit operator GO Transit has a massive fleet of them so they’re very common here in Toronto!

[dorklyasmr]

Riding in the front seat of a top deck of a Seattle double decker is an awesome experience. You simply are not prepared to drive like one foot under traffic lights and trees etc. you find yourself ducking even though you're not even close

[jerryfaust]

Come up to Vancouver, Thom; we have trolleybuses, double-deckers, and many other cool transit options!

[awesomemana]

YAYYY YOU TALKED ABOUT THE DOUBLE DECKER BUSSES!!

[austinj]

Woah! I live in the Seattle area and had no idea about the colors for the skip stop system 😮

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Double-decker buses are always a plus! So cool they have them as express routes for commuters! For me, I love that Megabus uses double-deckers for intercity routes! Trolleybuses are a great solution for bus electrification for several reasons. For hilly routes like in Seattle and San Francisco, trolleybuses are better than motorbuses as electric motors provide much higher static torque at start-up, an advantage for climbing steep hills. No battery means lower weight and lower cost, plus less resource waste! I'm amenable to BEV busses AS LONG as they are part of a greater trolleybus system, so that they can be deployed to areas where running wires isn't feasible and can connect back to the grid once they return to the wires. Trolleybuses are especially great where electricity is abundant, cheap, and renewable, such as hydroelectric. Systems in Seattle and Vancouver in Canada draw hydroelectric power from the Columbia River and other Pacific river systems! And compared to trams, they're cheaper, there's easier training as the potential operator pool for all buses is larger than trams, they're quieter, and not to mention easier traffic avoidance!

Besides Seattle, Philly, and San Francisco, Dayton, Ohio also has trolleybuses! Dayton, OH has operated trolleybuses since 1933 (streetcars between 1888-1947), has 5 lines, and had a ridership of under 2 million in 2022! Impressive in a city of around 140K! The Dayton trolleybus system is the current manifestation of an electric transit service that has been operated continuously in Dayton since 1888...longer than in any other city in the US! If Dayton can do it, other cities have no excuse!

[osamabendolphin]

i love our train and transit niche community <3

[harlander-harpy]

Community Transit has the largest double decker fleet in the US with 97 coaches. Pierce Transit is ordering some to operate the southern commuter routes like the 594, King County Metro and CT are ordering more for the STRide S1 and S2 BRT routes (that will replace 535 and 560), and out in eastern Washington, Spokane Transit Agency is ordering a bunch for their commuter routes

[marshallviliesis]

Rider Apps like Transit have made riding the Puget Sound Transit network so much better. Certainly better than sitting in a car stuck in stop and go traffic.

[cammiluna]

In the end, a bus is a bus in Puget Sound. The Sound transit busses from Tacoma to Seattle are more expensive ($3.25) than Pierce Transit busses ($2), but with Tacoma's questionable bus route layout and some of Pierce Transit's busses running hourly (and they recently ended several routes for low ridership), me and other Tacoma residents with an extra $1.25 in our orcas will just hop on a Sound route 594 (Lakewood to Tacoma to Seattle) for a few stops between Tacoma's Theater and Dome Districts. That Sound bus also service to and from the Tacoma Dome station (amtrack/greyhound) up until around midnight where the train's service there ends at 10pm.

[momoore]

I live south of Seattle in Olympia (about a 75 minute drive) and I go to Seattle often via Sound Transit Expreess buses, light rail or train. I learned so much from this video. You have a new fan.

Thank You.

[garyburnopp]

The Community Transit 400s (including the 402 your rode) will disappear in 2 weeks. Sound Transit opened light rail service to Lynnwood on 08/30/24. Presumably that means there will be fewer double deckers in downtown Seattle soon, but Sound Transit will continue to run direct buses from Everett (510) and a temporary direct route from Lynnwood (515), until the East Link extension connects to the 1 Line. Enjoy them while you can!

[ToblerPrime]

4 benefits of the trolley buses: Way quieter. Less noise pollution on already busy downtown streets, less emissions from exhaust, cost efficient over the life of each bus, and more torque from the electric drive system to deal with some very steep hills in the Seattle area. Before my work schedule changed, the double decker bus was a regular morning ride for me. My favorite.