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Getting around Seattle

One spine of light rail from the airport, and a genuinely good bus network.

Sound Transit & King County Metro · official site

Network map

Tap any station for departure times

Lynnwood City CenterShoreline North / 185thNorthgateRooseveltU DistrictUniversity of WashingtonCapitol HillWestlakeSymphonyPioneer SquareInt'l District / ChinatownStadiumSODOBeacon HillMount BakerColumbia CityRainier BeachTukwila Int'l BlvdSeaTac / AirportAngle LakeRedmond TechnologyOverlake VillageBel-Red / 130thWilburtonBellevue DowntownEast MainSouth Bellevue
  • Link 1 Line
  • Link 2 Line
  • Airport station

Lynnwood City Center

Next departures

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Link 1 Line

Link 2 Line

From the airport, on your first night

SEA

Seattle–Tacoma International

  1. 1From baggage claim, follow signs for 'Link Light Rail' — it is a covered walkway on the 4th floor of the parking garage.
  2. 2Buy an ORCA card or a single ticket at the machine.
  3. 3Board the 1 Line towards Lynnwood City Center.
  4. 4Ride to Westlake for downtown, or U District for the University of Washington.
Journey time
About 40 minutes to downtown, 55 to the U District
Cost
About $3.00

Read this first: Link stops around 1am. Later than that, take a rideshare — roughly $45–60 into the city.

Fares and how to pay

Single ride
$2.25–$3.50 Link (distance based) · $2.75 Metro bus
Day pass
No general day pass — use an ORCA card
Monthly
Varies by fare level; ORCA passes are sold monthly

Student discount

Riders aged 18 and under ride free with an ORCA Youth card. University students are not automatically discounted, but UW, Seattle U and others include a U-PASS in student fees that covers Link, Metro buses and more — check before paying for anything.

How to pay

  • Get an ORCA card (free to obtain online or at a transit centre) and load value — it works across Link, buses, ferries and Sounder.
  • Tap on when you board and tap off when you leave Link — Link is distance-based and failing to tap off charges you the maximum.
  • Contactless bank cards are being rolled out but ORCA remains the reliable option.

Transfers

Two hours of free transfers between agencies when you pay with ORCA. Paying cash gets you a paper transfer that not all agencies accept.

Buses worth knowing

Rail gets the attention, but most students live on the bus network.

  • RapidRide E LineEvery 8–12 min

    Downtown to Aurora Village. Very frequent.

  • RapidRide D LineEvery 8–12 min

    Downtown to Ballard via Uptown.

  • Route 44Every 10–15 min

    Ballard ↔ University District crosstown.

  • Route 8Every 10–15 min

    Capitol Hill ↔ Rainier Valley via South Lake Union.

  • Route 70Every 10–15 min

    Downtown ↔ University District along Eastlake.

Apps to install on day one

  • Transit GO Ticket

    Buy mobile tickets if you have not got an ORCA card yet.

  • OneBusAway

    Built in Seattle, and still the best live arrivals app here.

  • Transit

    Clean interface, good live countdowns.

What your advisor would tell you

  • Tap off when you leave Link. It is distance-based and forgetting costs you the maximum fare every time.
  • Get a U-PASS if your university offers one — it is usually already in your student fees and covers nearly everything.
  • The U District and Capitol Hill stations put you in the two areas most students want to live in, both a short ride from campus and downtown.
  • Seattle is hilly in a way maps do not convey. A stop that is 600 metres away may be up a very steep hill.
  • Buses here are genuinely good and often faster than rail for crosstown trips. Do not ignore them.

A map only gets you so far on your first night

Reading about the Seattle system at 2am after a 20-hour flight, with two suitcases and no US phone number, is a different thing entirely. Plan it with your advisor before you fly, and message them if anything goes wrong on the way.

Get an advisor