Transiterranean

A Sound Transit bus travels in a red-painted bus-only lane in the University District.

As someone who commutes a few days a week between Tacoma and UW's Seattle campus via transit, I never take the 586 express bus, which is often delayed on I-5 and proposed to be axed next year. Last Wednesday, the 586 was running 51 minutes behind!

transiterranean.beehiiv.com/p/sound-tran...

Sound Transit Express bus changes proposed for 2026 Also: Pupusas via the South Tacoma Station and Route 3; and getting home from Tacoma Opera's ‘Das Rheingold’ via transit.

My most recent edition includes:

🚍 Sound Transit's proposed express bus changes for fall 2026.

📍Transit-oriented pupusas via the S Line's S. Tacoma Station and Pierce Transit's Route 3.

🎼 Getting home from Tacoma Opera's Das Rheingold via transit.

transiterranean.beehiiv.com/p/sound-tran...

Transiterranean A Tacoma-centric newsletter-blog exploring commuting, food, drink and destinations across the City of Destiny, Western Washington, and beyond using transit.

I've rebranded my transit-oriented account on Bluesky to align with my new Tacoma-centric transit blog-newletter: transiterranean.beehiiv.com

#Tacoma #TacomaWA #PublicTransit

Lawrence cta station

Argyle cta station

Berwyn cta station

Bryn Mawr cta station

Went to the new Red Line stations tonight, they’re beautiful!

💯💯💯

Funny you mention that, I have something else in progress related to that particular theme, but I'm working on a handdrawn map.

Avoid the ‘Pack of Locusts’ Looking for Parking at Beach Cat’s Bellingham Location WTA’s June 2025 service expansion provides more transit options for waterfront destinations like Beach Cat Brewing.

There's a newish waterside brewery in #Bellingham where "a pack of locusts" regularly swarms on the limited parking. In a newsletter-blog post, I discuss how to use #transit, including WTA's new waterfront bus service, to reach Beach Cat Brewing: bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/beach-cat-be...

There's no Sunday bus service in Boise!

Rite Aid’s Bankruptcy Complicates Transit Access to Pharmacies in Bellingham Local non-drivers may have new hoops to jump through to get their prescriptions filled.

Some Bellinghamsters spend their weekends in the mountains hiking. I ended up writing a newsletter-blog post about transit-accessible pharmacies and the local impacts of Rite Aid's bankruptcy.

bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/rite-aid-ban...

#Bellingham #BellinghamWA #transit

There is a lot of money to be extracted from people if transit agencies are allowed to keep falling off fiscal cliffs across the country.

As a transit-oriented lapswimmer, I've been on some *interesting* California transit-travel adventures (and walked across plenty of overbuilt and mostly empty parking lots) to swim laps.

But there are some pools with some handy transit connectivity.

An Atypical Loop of Bellingham Using Some of WTA’s New Bus Routes Checking out the new Routes 9, 10, and 18, introduced as part of June's service expansion.

Earlier this week for my Bellingham transit blog-newsletter, I documented an atypical loop of the city using WTA's new Routes 9, 10 and 18 (plus Route 3), including stops at Little Squalicum Pier, Cornwall Park and El Sueñito for a tamale lunch.

bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/bellingham-l...

Public transit in Southern Oregon community suffers cuts to service, staffing amid funding fight with feds The Rogue Valley Transportation District has laid off 82 employees and expects to cut services by 60% in the coming months, as $7 million in federal reimbursements remains in limbo.

A Jackson County public transportation district is laying off employees and reducing bus service after the administration tied its federal funding to immigration enforcement.

June 2025 edition of Seattle Transit Map

After over a year of neglect, I finally updated my Seattle Transit Map! September will mark the tenth anniversary of the map. The website itself needs work but the new layer is now online. seattletransitmap.com/app/

When SUVs junk up a perfectly nice streetscape photo of a bus ...

#transit

There is a consensus in literature and empirical evidence out there that the driving factors in boarding times for transit vehicles are:

1. vertical & horizontal gap (the most important one)
2. width of doors
3. number of doors
4. Internal flows

Yet, some bus operators just ignore this.

YouTube video by Community Transit The Transit Effect - Ep. 2: The Route to Prosperity

Community Transit here in the Seattle area asked me to narrate a new video series about the importance of public transit and it turned out great! Second ep just dropped.

WTA’s June Service Expansion Has Started; No Kings Protesters in Bellingham Pack Local Buses Also, Route 1 stops have been consolidated in Fairhaven and South Hill. And some factoids from transit trivia night!

For my Bellingham transit blog-newsletter sidehobby, I look at WTA's long-awaited June 2025 service expansion; how No Kings protesters packed local buses on Saturday; and Route 1 bus stop consolidation. bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/wta-june-202...

#Bellingham #BellinghamWA #transit

How WSDOT I-5 Construction Impacts Regional Transit Connections in Skagit and Whatcom Counties With the County Connector buses, an increasingly important question: Will you make your connecting bus?

For my Bellingham transit newsletter-blog sidehobby, I examine how @wsdot.wa.gov fish passage construction work along I-5 is impacting County Connector bus service in Skagit and Whatcom counties.

bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/i-5-wsdot-co...

#transit #Bellingham #BellinghamWA

Photo Tour: Transit-Oriented Park and Trail Access via WTA’s Plum GO Line Bus Routes WTA's Plum Line hosts some of Bellingham’s best bus routes for transit-oriented parks access via Routes 512, 525, 533, and 540.

In case it's of interest, here are some other transit-oriented Bellingham parks/trails posts from my sidehobby newsletter-blog:

bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/bellingham-b...

bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/little-squal...

bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/making-lummi...

Voters sank Ship Free Saturdays, but Juneau’s debate over tourism is far from over Final election results showed just over 60% of registered voters were against the idea. But plans for a new cruise ship dock on Douglas Island are complicating things.

The 2024 ballot measure in Juneau failed: www.ktoo.org/2024/10/17/v...

And a similar effort for the 2025 fall municipal ballot didn't garner enough signatures: www.juneauempire.com/news/initiat...

A blue WTA hybrid electric bus passes in front of the Mount Baker Theatre and its Moorish style tower.

A WTA Route 15 bus, which turns into Route 14 at Bellingham Station, passes the Mount Baker Theatre in Downtown #Bellingham WA on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

#BellinghamWA #transit

So shiny and new! This is a photo taken from the front corner some new Amtrak Cascades train equipment at the Siemens factory in Sacramento, California, which shows the progress to date. The Evergreen background color has been applied but decals still need to be added to complete the final look.

So exciting! Who wants to see pics of factory progress of the new Amtrak Cascades trainsets? Follow the link for more photos. Enjoy! amtrakcascades.com/about/new-am...

Phoenix’s new two line light rail system, enabled by the opening of the South Central extension.

The new LAX station will provide rail service to LA’s airport (sort of, via people moved opening next year), and complete the K Line, which has been running in two separate segments.

Two big light rail projects open this weekend in the US:
—Phoenix’s 5.5 mi South Central extension, which will be the south branch of a 2nd line www.valleymetro.org/project/sout...
—LA’s new airport station on the C & K Lines, filling a missing gap www.metro.net/cklines/

Last year for my Bellingham transit newsletter-blog sidehobby, I wrote about how improving transit access to Bellingham-area trailheads would be a great way to reduce parking headaches and mitigate some environmental impacts of local tourism.

bellingham-by-bus-and-train.ghost.io/bellingham-t...

Weekend transit service from cities to trailheads seems to be a growth market. A data point from Seattle.

An Everett Transit bus stop sign listing a variety of bus routes, the 8, 201, 202, 510, 612, 532 and 970, serving it.

Looking down on a bus stop sign from a double-decker Sound Transit Express 512 bus in Everett, WA.

Hundreds of SEPTA employees at the transit agency’s largest bus depot in the city were met with a thick plume of black smoke early Thursday morning as a fire broke out in a rear lot reserved for decommissioned buses just ahead of peak rush hour. (1/2)

🔗 www.inquirer.com/transportati...

I dig the braiding of the lines as they approach Bellingham Station.

A new system diagram, focused on Downtown Bellingham, for the network of routes feeding into Bellingham Station.

Ahead of its June service expansion, WTA in #Bellingham WA has released a redesigned system map. This section shows the routes converging on Bellingham Station downtown.

Learn more the upcoming service changes: engage.ridewta.com/changes

#maps #transitmaps