(Image: Sound Transit)
As Seattle ramps up to host hundreds of thousands of fans for the slate of six games it is hosting in this summer’s men’s World Cup, Sound Transit says it plans to have a test of new late night bus service every 30 minutes between downtown and the airport in place before the tournament.
“This overnight pilot will ensure 24- hour transit access from Seattle to the airport,” Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said in the announcement. “While our proposed regional overnight bus network is still in development, adding this pilot now provides expanded flexibility for airport passengers and employees as we prepare to welcome the world during the FIFA World Cup.”
The bus service is a band-aid. Seattle’s light rail service still shuts down for 5 or 6 hours a night around midnight and is not resourced for 24-hour operations. Sound Transit has said it needs the time for daily maintenance including software reboots.
In major United States cities, 24-hour rail service is rare with New York City an unusual example of nearly ubiquitous round-the-clock trains throughout its subway system. Others like Minneapolis have maintained 24-hour service for lines that reach airports but even the Minnesotans have lightened that schedule with overnight closures. Track architecture makes shutdowns a near necessity. The most common single-track or double-track layouts require a system shutdown to allow for safe maintenance, inspections, and cleaning.
Under the plan starting in late March, Constantine says Sound Transit buses will serve SeaTac/Airport and Tukwila International Blvd every 30 minutes between 12 AM and 4 AM “before running express to downtown Seattle, serving stops near SODO, Stadium, International District / Chinatown, Pioneer Square, Symphony, and Westlake.”
Travelers hoping to get Capitol Hill can already piece together a similar route on Metro’s 124 and G Line if they’re willing to brave the 90-minute journey.
Sound Transit, in the meantime, is getting ready to open its 2 Line connecting Seattle to the Eastside via the I-90 bridge and Judkins Park Station by May.
Seattle’s light rail trains will continue to take a nightly break.
Any hopes for
I do not understand why we as a “major” have zero overnight support to our international airport. Half hour bus service is the bare minimum and realistically with how unreliable the link is after hours it should be from 11 to 6 am. It’s not a sin to have backup routes already functioning in case the rail goes down!