Where’s my bus? Stop changes and new corridors coming to downtown Seattle

Editor’s note: This article was originally published February 21, 2019. It has been updated to include the most recent information.

Some major changes are coming to downtown Seattle bus routes starting March 23—that’s Saturday!—including buses moving out of the tunnel and a major reshuffling of downtown transit corridors. And while there are some notable logistical changes to boarding—like tapping your ORCA card in advance on Third and not going into the tunnel at all—even some buses not making a vertical change could be moving to a different stop.

In short: A brand-new busway on Fifth and Sixth is absorbing a lot of bus traffic, but more buses than ever are using the existing busways on Second and Fourth. And which buses go where isn’t always consistent—a bus that runs on Sixth northbound won’t necessarily run on Fifth southbound.

If you already catch your bus on Third, though, it shouldn’t be moving (but you’ll still have to deal with the all-door boarding change).

Here are the routes that we know are experiencing changes so far. We’ll update this space if any more come up—and the Seattle Department of Transportation even prepared a map (below).

Stop changes coming March 23

• Route 41: Moving from the downtown transit tunnel to the Third Avenue surface transit corridor, stopping at Pine, Union, Marion, and James.
• Route 74: Moving from the downtown transit tunnel to the Fifth and Sixth Avenue transit corridor northbound—stopping on Jackson, James, and Marion on Fifth, then Sixth and Union and Seventh and Pike—and the Second Avenue transit corridor southbound, with stops at Fifth and Union, Fourth and Union, then Marion, James, and Jackson on Second.
• Route 76: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to the new Fifth and Sixth corridor. On Fifth, the stops are at Jackson, James, and Marion—then it stops at Sixth and Union and Seventh and Pike.
• Route 77: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to the new Fifth and Sixth corridor. On Fifth, the stops are at Jackson, James, and Marion—then it stops at Sixth and Union and Seventh and Pike.
• Route 101: Moving to Second Avenue southbound and Fourth Avenue northbound. Fourth Avenue stops are Royal Brougham, Jackson, Washington, James, Cherry, Madison, and Union; Second Avenue stops are Seneca, Marion, Cherry, Yesler, and Jackson.
• Route 102: Moving to Second Avenue southbound and Fourth Avenue northbound. Fourth Avenue stops are Royal Brougham, Jackson, Washington, James, Cherry, Madison, and Union; Second Avenue stops are Seneca, Marion, Cherry, Yesler, and Jackson.
• Route 150: Moving to Second Avenue southbound and Fourth Avenue northbound. Fourth Avenue stops are Royal Brougham, Jackson, Washington, James, Cherry, Madison, and Union; Second Avenue stops are Seneca, Marion, Cherry, Yesler, and Jackson.
• Route 252: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to Fifth and Sixth Avenue: Fifth and Jackson, James, and Marion, then Sixth and Union.
• Route 255: Moving to the new Fifth and Sixth Avenue transit corridor. Heading into downtown (westbound), it’ll stop on Stewart and Yale, Ninth, and Seventh before heading south on Fifth Avenue, stopping at Pine, Seneca, Marion, Jefferson, and Jackson. Heading away from downtown (eastbound), it’ll stop northbound on Fifth and Jackson, James, and Marion, then on Sixth and Union before heading east up Olive to Eighth, then Boren.
• Route 267: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to Fifth and Sixth Avenue: Fifth and Jackson, James, and Marion, then Sixth and Union.
• Route 301: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to the new Fifth and Sixth corridor. On Fifth, the stops are at Jackson, James, and Marion—then it stops at Sixth and Union and Seventh and Pike.
• Route 308: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to the new Fifth and Sixth corridor. On Fifth, the stops are at Jackson, James, and Marion—then it stops at Sixth and Union and Seventh and Pike.
• Route 311: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to Fifth and Sixth Avenue: Fifth and Jackson, James, and Marion, then Sixth and Union.
• Route 316: No changes southbound. Northbound, it’s moving from Fourth Avenue to the new Fifth and Sixth corridor. On Fifth, the stops are at Jackson, James, and Marion—then it stops at Sixth and Union and Seventh and Pike.
• Sound Transit 550: Moving from the tunnel to Second and Fourth avenues. Heading away from downtown (eastbound to Bellevue), it stops on Union Street at Fourth and Fifth avenues, then runs southbound on Second, stopping at Seneca, Cherry, and Yesler. Heading into downtown (westbound), it runs north on Fourth, stopping at Jackson, Washington, Cherry, Seneca, and Union before heading east on Pike, stopping at Sixth and Ninth.

Service increases coming March 23

• Route 11: One or two extra trips per day.
• Route 40: 11 additional daily trips.
• Route 41: One or two extra trips per day.
• Route 50: Extra trips in the middle of the day.
• Route 102: Two additional trips, plus some changes to existing afternoon service times.
• Route 106: Sunday service increases in frequency from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes.
• Route 111: One or two extra trips per day.
• Route 120: In preparation for becoming the Rapidride H, this route gets 28 new weekday trips and 43 more Sunday trips. This means 10 to 12-minute service all day on weekdays and service every 15 minutes on Sundays.
• Route 204: Previously just a weekday commuter route, this Mercer Island bus is getting Saturday service.
• Route 312: One or two extra trips per day.