Transit Alert – Metro will operate on reduced schedules during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend; ride transit to holiday festivities; text your stop ID to 62550

Transit service on Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving will operate on revised schedules, and will be affected by holiday weekend events.

Metro offices, including the Customer Information phone line, and Lost and Found and Pass Sales counters, are closed on Thursday and Friday. The Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000 will reopen on Monday morning.

Some King County area transit service will be affected by community events this weekend.

Even when it is affected by traffic, construction, temporary reroutes or delays, riding transit is still a great way to get around our community and to most local events and activities, where there is usually congestion and limited parking.

Transit reroute start and end times, routing, and other details may be subject to change.  Use regularly published timetables, allow plenty of travel time and expect possible delays.

Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, November 22 
On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22, Metro operates a Sunday schedule. If your service does not normally operate on Sunday, it will not operate on Thanksgiving.

The South Lake Union Streetcar will not operate on Thanksgiving day. Service will resume on Friday, November 23.

Ride2 service that provides weekday peak hour on-demand shared rides between the Eastgate P&R and nearby neighborhoods, will not operate on Thursday and Friday, November 22 & 23. Service will resume on Monday, November 26.

Day after Thanksgiving - Friday, November 23 
On the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 23, Metro operates reduced weekday service and University of Washington reductions, and regular weekday fares apply.

On Friday, a few commuter routes are completely canceled, and individual trips on some other routes are also canceled.

Macy’s Holiday Parade & Westlake Tree lighting 
Downtown Seattle transit service will be affected by Macy’s annual holiday parade and tree lighting.  Buses that normally operate on Pine and Union streets, and on 4th and 5th avenues, will be rerouted at different times during the day. 

 

Expect service delays throughout the Seattle area due to holiday traffic and crowds.

 

Bus service to pause in remembrance of transit operator
On Friday, November 23, King County Metro will briefly pause bus service at 3:20 PM for a moment of reflection and remembrance to honor the memory of transit operator, Mark McLaughlin, who lost his life in the line of duty on November 27, 1998.

All riders are invited and welcome to join in this moment of reflection.  At the designated time, Metro and Metro-operated Sound Transit buses will pull over only if and where it is safe to do so, to observe this brief moment, and will then continue in service. Some exceptions include buses traveling on highways or freeways and inside the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.  Transit service will quickly resume at the conclusion of the remembrance.

Other Holiday weekend events
On all four days of the weekend there are events that will affect transit service in several areas. Start and end times of events are subject to change.

Seattle and Issaquah Turkey Trot events
Holiday weekend events kick-off with the Seattle and Issaquah Turkey Trot events on Thanksgiving Day

Metro Route 45 will be rerouted in the Loyal Heights area, and will not operate west of Earl Av NW from the start of service until 11:00 AM during the Seattle Turkey Trot.

Metro Route 271 and Sound Transit Express Route 554 will be affected in the downtown Issaquah area during the Issaquah Turkey Trot from the start of service until 11:00 AM. 

Downtown Bellevue - holiday traffic reroutes
Every year Metro reroutes certain routes in downtown Bellevue to help mitigate service delays due to heavy congestion associated with shopping activity and the Snowflake Lane display. Metro routes 240, 246 and 271 will be rerouted on Friday, November 23 and continue through Monday, December 24.

More weekend events
Seattle Kids Marathon
On Saturday, November 24, from 7:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, Metro routes 3 and 4 will be rerouted in the Seattle Center area during The Seattle Kids Marathon. 

Seattle Marathon 
Holiday weekend events wrap up with the Seattle Marathon on Sunday, November 25. Buses are mainly affected by reroutes around the Seattle Center, Ballard, Fremont, South Lake Union, Magnuson Park, University Village, University District and Wallingford areas. Reroutes will begin at 7:00 AM and may last as late as 4:00 PM.

Metro routes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 26, 28, 32, 36, 40, 47, 49, 62, 65, 67, 70, 75, 372, the RapidRide C and E lines, and Sound Transit Express routes ST 522, ST 545 and ST 554 will be rerouted during this event.

Expect delays in service for all routes along and near the Marathon course on Sunday.

Construction
Known construction-related impacts to transit service are posted in Metro’s online Service Advisories table and sent to Transit Alert subscribers.  It’s a good idea to sign up for Transit Alerts or otherwise check for a service advisory before you travel.

Transit service during unexpected or civic events
In areas where there are transit service disruptions due to crowds, traffic, weather or civic events, transit riders are advised to
- Be aware of conditions in their immediate vicinity, such as street closures, detours, police directions, etc.
- Be prepared for delays or to make revisions to travel plans, such as traveling at a different time or using a different bus stop or route, depending on specific circumstances.
- Be prepared for unexpectedly revised traffic or routing, and for delays in transit service.
- Know the alternate stops or routes that may be in the vicinity of starting points and destinations.

Such events may be scheduled or unexpected, and may disrupt normal travel patterns or activities even outside of the event area.

While every effort will be made to keep riders informed of Metro’s service status, depending on the time and the nature of such events, Metro may not be able to provide real-time information or service updates via email or text.

Metro will also be following police direction or other applicable protocols, with safety as the first concern, and will work to maintain or restore service as soon as possible.

Event start and end times and other details may be unknown or subject to change.

Additional information
Visit Metro’s website for complete information about Metro and regional transportation services.

See Metro’s Service Advisories page for information about revised Metro bus service, routing and stops for most planned events. 

Sign up for Transit Alerts or check for a service advisory before you travel.

Use Metro’s online or mobile regional Puget Sound Trip Planner to plan your travel, and for information about bus stops, schedules, predicted times at stops and other information. 

Use Metro’s text for departures tool. Text your transit stop ID to 62550 to find out when the next transit service is scheduled or predicted at your stop. 

Visit the King County Water Taxi site for information about regular and holiday Water Taxi operation. 

Visit the Community Transit, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit or Washington State Ferries websites for information about services provided by Metro’s regional transit partners. 

For non-transit traffic or other local updates, check media sources, follow @seattledot or visit
- https://twitter.com/seattledot 
- https://twitter.com/SeattlePD  
or other relevant sites.

Thank you for riding and for using Metro’s services.