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Bus-Bike Commuting in the Ride Free Area
If you are one of the many Seattleites biking AND busing to work downtown in the same trip, you are probably already familiar with bike loading rules in the Ride Free Area. For those who aren’t as familiar, or may not have realized it, there are rules in place to help with efficient travel during peak hours. We want to make sure you have the info you need if you’re planning your multimodal morning commute, so please read on.
Bus stops on surface streets
During off peak hours: Metro King County allows bikes to be loaded or unloaded anywhere in the Ride Free Area, including on weekends and major holidays.
During the peak hours of 6am – 9am and 3pm – 7pm Monday through Friday: Bikes can only be loaded or unloaded on surface streets at each bus route’s first and last stops in the Ride Free Area.
Bus stops in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel
Bikes can be loaded or unloaded at any tunnel station during all hours the tunnel is open.
If you have questions, or want more information, about traveling with your bike on Metro click here.
Posted: November 17th, 2009 under Bikes, General, Transit.
Thanks! What kind of evidence is available to say that not allowing bike loading/unloading during peak times has a nonneglible impact on bus times? Was there a noticeable impact once bike load/unloading was allowed in the tunnel?
From my own personal experience, I would be able to load and unload my bike in about the same or less amount of time it takes for all the passengers to load and unload from full buses (which are the norm in downtown during peak times).
Hi Michael. Thank you for reading the blog! As the bike loading policy is set by King County Metro, I would like to provide you a link to their customer comment website for more information.
[...] Bike restrictions at downtown bus stops. [...]
I understand the concern for keeping buses traveling on time, but doesn’t this simply discourage people from biking/busing to work each and every day?
Thank you for reading the blog! As the bike loading policy is set by King County Metro, I would like to provide you a link to their customer comment website for more information.
Hi,
Thank you very much for listing the rules regarding travel during peak hours.Some of the rules were new for me.Your link also helped me in getting answers of my questions.