Transit Alert – Metro will operate on reduced schedules during the Thanksgiving 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.

Transit service will be affected by several events in and around the Seattle area this weekend, including the Macy’s Holiday Parade/Westlake Tree Lighting, the Apple Cup and the Seattle Marathon. Expect possible service disruptions due to closed streets, traffic and congestion associated with community activities.

Even if service is affected by street closures, temporary reroutes or delays, riding transit is still a great way to get to events and activities where there is often traffic congestion and limited parking.  Buses that are rerouted around events still usually travel close to their regular route

Look for ‘Alert!’ icons in trip planning queries and check for temporary disruptions that may affect your route.  Temporary service disruptions are not reflected in Trip Planner results.  Check the online Service Advisories table for updates.

The posted start and end times of transit service disruptions related to sporting, community or construction events may be subject to change. Plan ahead, use regularly published schedules, allow plenty of travel time and expect possible delays.

ORCA & fare payment
Ride Metro with your ORCA card, or with a Transit GO ticket on your smart phone.  Transit GO offers day passes at $4 for youths aged 6-18, and $8 for adults aged 19-64

Text for departures
Text your stop ID to 62550 to find out the next scheduled or predicted departure time of transit service at a stop.

Downtown Bellevue - holiday traffic reroutes 
Every year Metro reroutes certain bus routes in downtown Bellevue to help mitigate service delays due to heavy congestion associated with shopping activity and the Snowflake Lane display. Metro Route 240, will be rerouted from Friday, November 29 through Tuesday, December 24. Depending on need, other routes may be rerouted at a later time.

Holiday transit service operation
The City of Seattle First Hill Streetcar Line operates its Sunday/holiday schedule on Thanksgiving and regular weekday service on Friday.

The City of Seattle South Lake Union Streetcar Line does not operate on Thanksgiving and operates its regular weekday service on Friday.

The King County West Seattle Water Taxi  and Vashon Island Water Taxi do not operate on Thanksgiving or on Friday.

Ride2 Eastgate and Ride2 West Seattle will operate their normal service hours on Thanksgiving and on Friday.

Via to Transit Southeast Seattle and Via to Transit Tukwila service operates according to Sunday hours on Thanksgiving and normal service hours on Friday.

Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, November 28 
On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, Metro operates a Sunday schedule and Sunday fares apply. If your service does not normally operate on Sunday, it will not operate on Thanksgiving.

Seattle Turkey Trot Run
On Thursday, November 28, from the start of service until 12:00 Noon, Metro Route 45 will be affected in the Loyal Heights area during the Seattle Turkey Trot Run.

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

Day after Thanksgiving - Friday, November 29
On the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 29, Metro operates reduced weekday service and University of Washington reductions.

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.

Husky Apple Cup Game – Kick-off at 1:00 PM
Due to it being a weekday game, Metro does not operate its regular Park-and-Ride shuttle service to and from the Apple Cup on Friday, except from the Redondo Heights Park-and-Ride.

Metro Route 372 will be rerouted.  While all other buses will operate their regular routes in and around Husky Stadium, The UW Campus and the University District, expect significant delays due to increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic throughout the day.

Link
Riding Link light rail is the best way to get from south King County, the Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill to the Apple Cup. UW Link Station is located just outside Husky Stadium. 

For quick game-day service directly to and from Husky Stadium, ride the Link from any of the four downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel stations. The Link corridor is further served by parking capacity at Tukwila International Blvd Station and Angle Lake Station, and by Metro or Sound Transit bus routes at every station, that make connections from many other areas.

Fare payment is required on Link at all times. When using an ORCA card to ride Link, please tap shortly before boarding the train, and again upon exiting.

Sunday, December 1
The Seattle Marathon
On Sunday, December 1, Metro Routes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 26, 28, 32, 40, 41, 47, 49, 62, 65, 67, 70, 75, 101, 150, 255, 372, the RapidRide C and E lines and Sound Transit Express routes 522, 545, 550 and 554 will be rerouted due to street closures associated with the Seattle Marathon.

Reroutes will start at 6:00 AM and will end either AT 9:30 AM or 2:30 PM, or when the streets clear. Transit service that operates through the downtown Seattle, Seattle Center, South Lake Union, Fremont and University District areas will be affected.

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

Monday, December 2
Seahawks Football
Commuters heading home and fans heading to the game are advised to expect transit service delays before and after the Seahawks Monday Night Football game at CenturyLink Field. 

While the kickoff time is 5:15 PM, traffic and pedestrian congestion will most likely build during the early afternoon up until game time.  Most impacts are expected to be in the SODO, Stadium, Pioneer Square, downtown Seattle and adjacent areas, however, service that travels near or through those neighborhood could be delayed in other areas as well. 

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 crowds, traffic, weather or civic events - whether scheduled or unexpected - disrupting normal travel patterns or activities, transit riders are advised to be aware of conditions in their immediate vicinity, such as street closures, detours, police directions, etc., and be prepared for delays or to make revisions to travel plans, such as using a different bus stop or a different route, based on specific circumstances.

During these kinds of events, be prepared for unexpectedly revised traffic or routing, and for delays in transit service. Transit riders are encouraged to know the alternate stops or routes that may be near their starting points and destinations.

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

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

Visit Metro’s online regional Puget Sound Trip Planner to plan your travel, and for bus stop, schedule, predicted times at stops and other information.

Text your stop ID to 62550 for scheduled and estimated departure times at stops, as well as known individual trip cancelations.  Due to varying road and traffic conditions, transit service can operate slightly ahead of schedule, or may be delayed.  Metro suggests being at your bus stop about 5 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure time for your bus.

Sign up for Transit Alerts.

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

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

Have a good and safe weekend.

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