Transit Alert - Celebrate New Year’s Eve with free rides on Metro and Seattle Streetcar service; Metro operates Sunday service on Tuesday, New Year’s Day

On New Year’s Eve, Monday, December 31 from 7:00 PM until Tuesday, January 1 at 4:00 AM, Metro and the City of Seattle will provide free rides on all regular bus and streetcar routes, as well as on Access and DART service. Do not tap your ORCA card or pay a fare during this time on New Year’s Eve on these services.

Regular Weekday fares are required on all Sound Transit service on Monday, including Link light rail and Sound Transit Express buses operated by Metro, as well as on all area transit service on Tuesday, New Year’s Day.

New Ride2 on-demand first/last mile service
Metro launched
Ride2 West Seattle – a pilot project that offers on-demand first and last mile service to and from the Water Taxi at Seacrest Dock and Metro buses at the Alaska Junction. The Ride2 Transit app is part of a package of new services including additional Water Taxi sailings, shuttles, and parking options during the Viaduct closure.  The service is available Monday through Friday, 5:00-9:30 AM and 2:30-7:00 PM.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Closure
With two weeks to go before the closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, visit the Get Ready page for updates about 2019 transit service revisions. New Ride2 service has been added as a transit option in West Seattle. Twelve routes will be rerouted once the viaduct closes adding extra time to your trip. See the route maps on the Get Ready website for complete information.

Text for departures
At - or on your way to - your stop, text your transit stop ID to 62550 to find out when the next transit service is scheduled or predicted at your stop.

New Year’s Eve transit service
Extra buses will be added to the existing schedules of several Seattle area Metro routes to help mitigate crowded buses heading to or from New Year festivities. All riders are advised to use the regularly posted timetables for their routes to plan transit trips.  No service is being added past the normal operating times of any routes, however extra buses will be added to routes where it is needed. 

Sound Transit Express bus service on New Year’s Eve
While a regular Weekday fare is required on all Sound Transit regional express bus (including that operated by Metro) and Link light rail service on New Year’s Eve, extra buses will be added where needed to help mitigate crowding on Metro-operated ST routes 550 and 554.

Link light rail on New Year’s Eve
Link will operate extended service on New Year’s Eve. The last trains to both Angle Lake and University of Washington Stations leave Westlake Station at 2:00 AM.    

New Year’s Eve at the Needle
On New Year’s Eve, Monday, December 31, from 10:00 PM until about 2:00 AM, Metro routes 3 and 4 will be rerouted in the Seattle Center area due to street closures and traffic congestion associated with the New Year’s Eve at the Needle event.

Sunday, December 30
Seahawks Game – 1:25 PM kick-off
Link light rail and most transit routes that serve downtown Seattle go to within a few blocks of CenturyLink Field, or connect with routes that do.

Expect possible transit service delays in the downtown Seattle, Pioneer Square, stadium and SODO areas due to traffic, crowds and congestion near CenturyLink Field.

Metro Route 21 will be rerouted off of 1st Av S between S Holgate St and Edgar Martinez Dr S, about three hours before the start - and continue until about one hour after the end - of major stadium events. Start and end times may vary. 

New Year’s Day service
Regular Sunday fares are required on all service on Tuesday, New Year’s Day, after 4:00 AM. Transit will operate a Sunday schedule on New Year’s Day.

Other holiday transit service notes Besides Metro’s Sunday schedule operation on New Year’s Day,

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.

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 TransitPierce TransitSound 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. Metro wishes you a good and safe New Year.