Washington’s summer months, the peak of the tourist season, often bring additional transit options as agencies increase service to handle extra demand. As Memorial Day approaches, Puget Sound residents will be able to take full advantage of the additional mobility offerings that aren’t available through the winter months, including shuttles to hiking trails and weekend open streets events.
These additional routes and events are on top of additional service existing routes through the summer, including the Kingston Fast Ferry and the West Seattle Water Taxi. This summer, Washington State Ferries is also set to restore ferry service to pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2020, adding boats to the Bremerton/Seattle route, the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route, and the Port Townsend/Coupeville route. If you’re looking for car-free adventures, this summer includes a lot of options.
Trailhead Direct
King County’s summer hiking shuttle, Trailhead Direct, returns for its 2025 season on May 24, providing half-hourly service between Seattle and popular Eastside hiking destinations on weekends and holidays. The two routes remain the same as in 2024: a shuttle to Mount Si, Mount Teneriffe and Little Si leaving from Capitol Hill, and a shuttle to the Issaquah Alps, serving Squak Mountain and Poo Poo Point, leaving from Mount Baker Transit Center.
The big change this year is that both routes will stop at the South Bellevue 2 Line light rail station, connecting Trailhead Direct trips with 10-minute all-day service into Downtown Redmond. But the Issaquah Alps route will also see a big increase in frequency, with buses arriving every 30 minutes compared to every hour last year.
The fare is a standard King County Metro fare — $2.75 for adults, $1 for seniors or ORCA Lift, and free for kids 18 and under — and transfers to and from other Metro services apply as normal.
Trailhead Direct’s shuttle buses seat up to 27 people, with space for three bikes on the front rack. This can lead to overcrowding and even some riders being left behind at the most in-demand times on Saturday and Sunday mornings. That being said, the direct connections to the 2 Line now mean that Seattle riders can take advantage of a one-seat ride between Mount Baker and Capitol Hill stations and the Eastside without having to connect downtown. And don’t forget about the connection the Mount Si shuttle makes to downtown North Bend, even if you’re not a hiking person.
Transit-oriented hikers will need to get their trips in earlier this year, with service ending on September 1, two full weeks earlier than the last day of Trailhead Direct in 2024.
Half of the funding for Trailhead Direct comes from the City of Seattle, via the 2020 Seattle Transit Measure.
Seattle’s Waterfront Shuttle
For Seattleites exploring locally, or folks from around the region heading downtown this summer, there’s a seasonal option that makes it easier to get around on Seattle’s waterfront, which is otherwise a bit of a black hole when it comes to Metro coverage — something the county is still looking at solving. For the summer, the free waterfront shuttle fills an underserved niche when it comes to downtown visitors. Service started on May 2 and is already operating.
Running every 20 minutes between the Space Needle and Pioneer Square, the waterfront shuttle is really the only transit option if you’re trying to directly access the new Overlook Walk and Seattle Aquarium Expansion, or trying to find a direct route between Downtown and the Olympic Sculpture Park in Belltown. Shuttles run from 10am to 7pm, with a separate shuttle to downtown hotels running in the early evening.
Funding for the Waterfront Shuttle is jointly provided by Seattle, King County, Friends of Waterfront Park, Alliance for Pioneer Square, and the Seattle Historic Waterfront Association. An exact date when it will stop running for the season is not yet known, but is likely to be sometime in September.
Bicycle Weekends on Lake Washington Boulevard
Seattle’s only annual open streets event, Bicycle Weekends along South Seattle’s Lake Washington Boulevard, returns in 2025 with the same minimalist schedule that was seen in 2024. For ten weekends, Lake Washington Boulevard will close to motor vehicles between Seward Park and Mount Baker Beach, allowing walkers, bikers, and rollers to take advantage of a direct north-south route through South Seattle that simply doesn’t exist outside those times.
But to avoid any impact on potential drivers who want use Lake Washington Boulevard on weekdays, the street doesn’t open to walking and rolling until 10am on Saturday and closes by 6pm on Sunday, shutting out a big window of weekend uses, from early morning Saturday riding to Friday and Sunday evening strolls. The 2025 bicycle weekends are as follows:
- May 17 – 18
- May 31 – June 1
- June 14 – 15
- June 28 – 29
- July 12 – 13
- July 26 – 27
- August 9 – 10
- August 23 – 24
- September 6 – 7
- September 20 – 21
Last year, The Urbanist reported the reasoning behind these reduced schedules after Seattle Parks and Recreation briefly released an expanded Bicycle Weekend schedule, then quickly reversed itself. Emails between Parks and Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office revealed behind-the-scenes negotiations that were keeping the schedule restricted, following a long public process to determine a longer-term future for Lake Washington Boulevard. That process led to spot improvements along the corridor but a full revamp isn’t any closer to becoming a reality.
Harrell’s predecessor, Jenny Durkan, expanded Lake Washington Bicycle Weekends to every summer weekend in 2021 (including adjoining holidays) as part of her administration’s pandemic response.
Hurricane Ridge Shuttle
One of Washington’s more unique summer transit options is Clallam Transit’s Hurricane Ridge Shuttle, a route that makes accessing Olympic National Park without a car much easier. Leaving hourly from Gateway Transit Center in Port Angeles, the Hurricane Ridge Shuttle operates every single day, including weekends and holidays, with the last shuttle leaving Gateway at 4pm and the national park at 5:30pm.
As the Hurricane Ridge shuttle serves a national park, riders will be asked to show a valid entrance pass, which can include a $15 seven-day individual pass or a longer term national park pass. The shuttle fare is $1 for adults or free for kids 18 and under.
Paired with the all-year Straight Shot bus that connects Port Angeles with the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal three times a day, a car-free camping trip to one of the state’s most beautiful national parks is within reach for the broader region. A day trip is trickier, but doable from Port Angeles.
Region-wide, the summer transit options are a big boost to access for carfree travelers and serve to make outdoor access more accessible and within reach.
Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including Capitol Hill Seattle, BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
