Seattle
General Information
Dense network of bus and trolley routes across the city, combined with ferries across the bay, two streetcar and one light rail lines, trains along the Puget coast and the historic Monorail. Services are all covered by a single ticketing system (ORCA at the time of visiting) which allows for interchanges between services for either the same fare or just the excess if moving to a more expensive form (e.g. bus to monorail). |
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| operated by |
King County Metro | 
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| web | kingcounty.gov/metro | |
| description | A dense network of slightly confusing lines as many routes change number as they cross the city to pop out the opposite side as a different route - it means depending on where you are in the city you may need to look for a totally different bus is you want to go to the other side of town. Services weren't very reliable with buses often either late or very early. | |
| operated by |
King County Metro |
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| web | kingcounty.gov/metro | |
| description | Operating alongside the bus routes is a relatively extensive network of trolley buses | |
| operated by |
Seattle Streetcar and Sound Transit Link | 
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| web | seattlestreetcar.com and www.soundtransit.org | |
| description | Two streetcar lines (Seattle Streetcars - South Lake Union and First Hill) and one light rail line (SoundTransit Link). The Streetcar lines run from the South end of Lake Union to the Westlake Centre and the First Hill line runs through the southern part of Downtown. The Link line runs north south through the city centre in a tunnel, and is the most useful of the lines providing cross city links in Downtown, as well as providing a direct link to the airport | |
| operated by |
Various Operators including Washington State Ferries | 
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| web | wsdot.wa.gov/ferries | |
| description | WSF provides massive car ferries that cross the Elliott Bay to Bainbridge Island and Bremerton, providing vital links across the sound. There are also other operators who provide high-speed catamaran services or links to closer destinations across the bay | |
| operated by |
Seattle Centre Monorail | 
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| web | www.seattlemonorail.com | |
| description | Built for the 1962 worlds fair as a vision for the future the Monorail is still running backwards and forwards between the Westlake Centre in the heart of the City Centre and the Seattle Center with a station at the base of the Space Needle. It's a surprisingly useful and quick link to get to different parts of town and is included in the public transport fares scheme | |