Traveling to the airport this holiday season? If you’re like me you’re always left scrambling at the last minute to have family or friends bring you to and from the Airport. Although we aren’t fortunate enough to have light rail in Downtown Bellevue yet, we do have one great inexpensive and effortless option.
Every 30 minutes on the weekdays from 5:00am – 10:30pm, the Sound Transit 560 Bus picks up at the Bellevue Transit Center (Bay 6). The ride is an express route that only takes about 45 minutes and lets out at Sea-Tac Airport (Bay 2). The bus picks up and drops off on the arrival level, which is even more convenient than where the light rail stop is now located.
Weekend service comes once an hour, 25 minutes after the hour at the Bellevue Transit Center from 5:25am – 10:25pm.
The ride from Bellevue to Sea-Tac International Airport is extremely affordable at $2.50. Stop bothering your friends and family with rides to the airport, just take the bus – it’s convenient, dependable, and cheap!
Route
Credit: Sound Transit
Another option is to take the 550 over to Seattle, get off in the Seattle Bus Tunnel, and then hop on the new Link Light Rail. The line extension that will go all the way to Sea-Tac airport will be opening on Saturday, December 19!
It is a good idea if you are the only one traveling. I can’t imagine dragging my family up and down the bus with all our suitcases.
i use it all the time to get to the airport (just pack light)
the upsides: cheap, don’t have to worry about parking and parking expenses
the bad: sketchy people in the renton area / having to wind through renton and not stay on 405. it would be nice to have more frequency, it seems like i always just miss it and an extra half hour (or hour on the weekeneds) at the airport after a long day of traveling is not fun.
I travel to the airport often and always weigh up offsite parking costs against taxi, break even is 10 days. Onsite is 4 days. Drives me insane that taxi drivers don’t know where they are going. This is your livelihood, invest $99 on a GPS for god’s sake. Now if I could only bring myself to walk to the transit center I would be on a winner.
Using the 550 to seattle and the new “all-the-way-to-the-airport” light rail makes so much more sense. The bus and the rail all have level boarding, so no lugging suitcases up and down, and compared to either taxi or parking, it’s nearly free. Been a long time coming, and can’t wait to travel this way!
leslie i’m not sure what you are talking about, the 550 does NOT have level boarding.
it’s a bit slower to take the 550 to link, and having to transfer with luggage is a pain. The only reason to do this is if you just miss the 560 and have to wait