![]() They then stop at Tacoma Dome Station, then continue non-stop to SODO. While it is a simple change that will bring dramatic improvement in service to Tacoma – Seattle passengers, it also misses an opportunity to speed up service to Lakewood.Ĭurrently, riders from Lakewood to Seattle during off-peak hours need to detour into downtown Tacoma, looping up I-705 and down Pacific Ave. They way they want to do this is very straightforward: introduce service on route 590 during off-peak hours (currently peak-only), and stick route 590 trips in between every route 594 trip, which would double service frequency from downtown Tacoma to downtown Seattle. Sound Transit is also proposing an increase of midday and weekend service between Seattle and Tacoma by having service run every 15 minutes instead of every 30 minutes like it is today. Routes 590 and 594 off-peak (image: Sound Transit) So it would be a shame if Sound Transit moved the 592 over to the right lanes just as new HOV lanes are opening. While primarily used by carpools, these lanes would speed up route 592 (and only 592) dramatically. Furthermore, WSDOT is working on HOV lanes on I-5 through downtown Tacoma. And while ST makes a great case for hypothetical trips connecting to Tacoma Link from DuPont, it’s not clear (nor do they make the case) that these trips are in demand. Some trips on route 592 even exceed two hours from end-to-end, and with that kind of commute, any kind of additional travel time can massively dissuade riders from transit altogether. Indeed, these commuters do a great deal of good by not taking their car for the 40-50 mile commute each way. While expanding transit service to enable new use cases is a laudable goal, it may not make sense to make this change at the cost of travel time to such an established service serving some of the longest commutes in the region, and has (or at least did have) the ridership to justify as direct service as it has. Additional stops are proposed for route 592 (Images from Sound Transit, modified to focus on affected areas) The reason for this change is to be consistent with other Tacoma service, allowing passengers to rely on either route 590 or route 592 (whichever comes first) to reach Tacoma Dome Station without having to think about potential differences in travel time. What’s more, Sound Transit also would add stops on the Seattle side, moving the route off of the Seneca Street off-ramp (which takes passengers to the middle of downtown Seattle quickly) and onto the SODO busway, just like with routes 590 and 594. The proposal is to add a stop at Tacoma Dome Station, for which the stated reason is “to better connect with the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension and other Pierce Transit routes and improve local connections within Pierce County.” It is also noted that this would introduce a direct connection from DuPont to Tacoma, a trip which currently requires a transfer in Lakewood. And for route 594, Sound Transit is passing up an opportunity to speed up service, something which is made easier with the additional service hours that is likely coming to Tacoma in 2022. However, Sound Transit is proposing to add additional stops to this route in 2022, slowing it down and making it less of an express bus. Off-peak, people riding to Seattle also need to ride through downtown Tacoma (as both Tacoma and Lakewood are served by route 594 off-peak), but express service to Seattle from SR 512 P&R is a big time saver when it is available. One important feature of route 592 is its non-stop service from Lakewood to Seattle. This route is the only peak-direction service other than Sounder to run from Lakewood to Seattle (route 594 only runs off-peak and in the reverse-peak direction). But there are also plans to make changes to peak-only route 592, which runs from DuPont Station to Seattle, with intermediate stops in Lakewood. This bus is set to get slower in 2022 with added stops in Tacoma and SODO (photo: Zack Heistand)Īs part of an overall improvement in ST Express service Sound Transit is planning to roll out in 2022, Sound Transit is expanding all-day service from Seattle to Tacoma, improving midday and weekend headways from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. ![]()
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