Sound Transit Express

Sound Transit Express (ST Express) is a network of regional express buses, operated by the multi-county transit agency, Sound Transit. The routes connect major regional hubs throughout 53 cities in three counties (King, Pierce, and Snohomish) in the Puget Sound region. Sound Transit Express ranks first in the nation in the number of commuter bus passengers carried and in vehicle miles driven.^[3] The first nine routes and 114 buses began carrying passengers on September 19, 1999.^[4][5] In 2023, the system had a ridership of 8,565,100, or about 32,900 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.

Sound Transit Express

A double-decker Sound Transit Express bus on Route 513 at Mountlake Terrace Freeway Station
Parent	Sound Transit
Founded	1996
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington
Locale	Puget Sound region
Service area	King, Pierce, and Snohomish
Service type	Public Transit
Routes	23
Hubs	8
Fleet	312 buses
Daily ridership	32,900 (weekdays, Q2 2024)[1]
Annual ridership	8,565,100 (2023)[2]
Fuel type	CNG, Diesel, and Diesel-electric hybrid
Operator	Community Transit, King County Metro, and Pierce Transit
Website	www.soundtransit.org

Unlike a typical transit bus, Sound Transit Express routes typically make limited stops as they travel longer distances on the freeways. Most routes operate seven days a week, with runs throughout the day. Where available, buses use transit-only lanes, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, high-occupancy toll lanes, express lanes, bus bypass shoulders,^[6] and direct access ramps to speed travel times.

While Sound Transit oversees, plans, and funds the service, operation and maintenance of the buses is contracted out to Community Transit (who subcontracts with Transdev), King County Metro and Pierce Transit.^[7]

Fares

ST Express uses a flat fare system, where each ride costs the same regardless of distance.

The fares are as follows:

Fare type	All
Adult	$3.25
Senior (65+) / Disabled / Medicare (Regional Reduced Fare Permit required)	$1.00
Low-income (ORCA LIFT card required)	$1.00
Youth (6–18 years)	Free
Children (0–5 years, with fare paying passenger)	Free

Paper transfers are not accepted or issued on Sound Transit routes. Passengers who use ORCA may transfer between ST routes or routes operated by most other agencies within two hours of initial payment. If the fare for the second route is higher, the difference will be charged.

Routes

Sound Transit Express route 545 serving the Montlake Freeway Station

23 Sound Transit Express bus routes are overseen by the agency.^[8] Buses are operated under contract by King County Metro, Pierce Transit and Community Transit (who subcontracts with Transdev).^[9] When Sound Transit implements a new bus route, changes are frequently made to existing routes that serve the area to avoid overlapping.

The ST Express routes and operators as of September 14, 2024^[update] are:^[10]

Route	Off-peak service	Weekend service	Start	Via	End	Operator
510	No (use route 512)	No (use route 512)	Downtown Seattle	I-5, South Everett Freeway Station, Mountlake Terrace Freeway Station	Everett Station Downtown Everett (select trips only)	Community Transit
512	Yes	Yes	Lynnwood City Center Station	Ash Way Park & Ride, South Everett Freeway Station
513	No	No		Ash Way Park & Ride, Eastmont Park & Ride	Seaway Transit Center
515	No	No		I-5, Mountlake Terrace Freeway Station	Downtown Seattle
522	Yes	Yes	Roosevelt Station	Lake City Way, Bothell Way NE, Ballinger Way, Kenmore Park & Ride	University of Washington, Bothell/Cascadia College Woodinville Park & Ride (select trips only)	King County Metro
532	No (use routes 535 & 512)	No	Downtown Bellevue	Bellevue Transit Center, Totem Lake Freeway Station, Brickyard Freeway Station (reverse peak only), I-405 & NE 195th (reverse peak only), Canyon Park Park & Ride , Ash Way Park & Ride, South Everett Freeway Station	Everett Station	Community Transit
535	Yes	Saturday only		Bellevue Transit Center, Totem Lake Freeway Station, Brickyard Freeway Station, Bothell Park & Ride, University of Washington, Bothell/Cascadia College, Canyon Park Park & Ride, Alderwood Mall	Lynnwood Transit Center
542	Yes	Yes	U District Station	University of Washington, University of Washington Station, Evergreen Point Freeway Station, Yarrow Point Freeway Station, Overlake Transit Center, SR 520 & NE 51st Freeway Station, Downtown Redmond	Redmond Transit Center	King County Metro
545	Yes	Yes	Downtown Seattle	Capitol Hill (select trips), Montlake Freeway Station (closed since 2019),[11] Evergreen Point Freeway Station, Yarrow Point Freeway Station, Overlake Transit Center, SR 520 & NE 51st Freeway Station, Downtown Redmond, Redmond Transit Center	Bear Creek Park & Ride
550	Yes	Yes		Mercer Island Park & Ride, South Bellevue Park & Ride, Bellevue, Bellevue Transit Center	Bellevue (Library)
554	Yes	Yes		Mercer Island Park & Ride, Eastgate Freeway Station, Issaquah Transit Center, Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride	Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride Redmond (185th Avenue NE & Redmond/Fall City Road, select weekday trips only)
556	No	No	U District Station	University District (Seattle), University of Washington, University of Washington Station, Evergreen Point Freeway Station, Yarrow Point Freeway Station, Bellevue Transit Center, South Bellevue Park & Ride, Eastgate Freeway Station, Issaquah Transit Center	Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride
560	Yes	Yes	Bellevue Transit Center	Newport Hills Park & Ride, Kennydale Freeway Station, Renton, Renton Transit Center, Sea-Tac Airport, SeaTac/Airport Station, Burien Transit Center	Westwood Village	Pierce Transit
566	Yes	No	Remond Technology Station (select trips) State Route 520 & NE 40th St (select trips)	Bellevue Transit Center, Newport Hills Park & Ride (off peak only), Kennydale Freeway Station (off peak only), Renton, Renton Transit Center, Kent Station (select trips), Auburn Park & Ride (select trips)	Kent Station (select trips) Auburn Transit Center	King County Metro
574	Yes	Yes	Sea-Tac Airport	SeaTac/Airport Station, Kent/Des Moines Freeway Station, Star Lake Freeway Station, Federal Way Transit Center, Tacoma Dome Station, SR 512 Park & Ride	Lakewood Transit Center	Pierce Transit
577	Yes	Yes	Downtown Seattle	I-5	Federal Way Transit Center
578	Yes	Yes		Federal Way Transit Center, Auburn Station, Sumner Station	Puyallup Station
586	No	No	University District (Seattle)	University of Washington Medical Center, SR 520, I-5, Federal Way Transit Center	Tacoma Dome Station
590	No (use route 594)	No (use route 594)	Downtown Seattle	SODO Busway, Tacoma Dome Station	Tacoma Dome Station Downtown Tacoma (one early morning trip only)
592	No	No		SR 512 Park & Ride, Lakewood Station	DuPont Station
594	Yes	Yes		SODO Busway, Tacoma Dome Station, University of Washington Tacoma, Downtown Tacoma, SR 512 Park & Ride	Lakewood Station DuPont Station (select trips only)
595	No	No		SODO Busway, Tacoma Community College Transit Center, Narrows Park & Ride, Kimball Drive Park & Ride	Gig Harbor (Purdy Park & Ride)
596	No	No	Sumner Station	SR 410	Bonney Lake Park & Ride

Fleet

Sound Transit owns a fleet of 360 buses^[12] operated by three different local transit agencies. Sound Transit buses are painted white with aqua, turquoise, and blue waves along the sides, representing the Puget Sound region ST Express serves, and most feature a freely-adapted representation of the Sound Transit bus and train system map on the seating fabric.

Occasionally, vehicles that are not in Sound Transit livery are used on Sound Transit routes by the operating agencies. Also, Sound Transit vehicles may also be used by the local agencies for other commuter routes. This is due to vehicles having mechanical problems, vehicle allocation issues, and assignment errors.

Manufacturer and model	Image	Motor	Length	Passengers	Purchased	Qty	Fleet Numbers	Operator
Gillig Phantom		Cummins ISL	40'	42 (seated)	2007	22	9092-9113	Pierce Transit
New Flyer DE60LF		Cummins ISL / GM-Allison EP50	60'	56 (seated)	2007-2008	2[13]	9622-9623	King County Metro
2009	13[13]	9624-9636
Orion V		Cummins ISL / Allison B400R	40'	35 (seated)[14]	2008	22[14]	6901-6930	Pierce Transit
Motor Coach Industries D4500CL		Cummins ISM	45'[15]	57 (seated)	2008	7[12]	9713-9719
					2009	3[12]	9720-9722
					2010	17[12]	9723-9739
New Flyer D60LFR		Cummins ISL9	60'	56 (seated)[16]	2010	13[17]	9553-9565	Community Transit
					2011	1	9566	Community Transit
						17	9567-9583	King County Metro
		Cummins ISL9	60'	56 (seated)	2011	3	9584-9586	King County Metro
						10	9587-9596
					2012	14	9800-9813
						5	9818-9822
New Flyer DE60LFR		Cummins ISL9 / Allison H 50 EP	60'	56 (seated)	2010	11[17]	9637-9647	King County Metro
					2011	4[12]	9648-9651
Gillig Low Floor BRT Hybrid		Cummins ISL9 / Allison H 40 EP	40'	35 (seated)[14]	2012	22[14]	9201-9222	Pierce Transit
Gillig Low Floor BRT		Cummins ISL9	40'	35 (seated)	2012	2[12]	9122-9123
					2015	3[12]	9124-9126
New Flyer Xcelsior XDE60		Cummins ISL9 / Allison H 50 EP	60'	57 (seated)	2014	8[12]	9652-9659	King County Metro
					2014	7[12]	61401-61407	Pierce Transit
		Cummins L9 / BAE Systems HybriDrive Series-E	60'	52 (Seated)	2020	31	9660-9690	King County Metro
New Flyer Xcelsior XD60		Cummins ISL9	60'	57 (seated)	2014	4[12]	9814-9817	King County Metro
					2014	3[12]	51401-51403	Pierce Transit
Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC		Cummins ISL9	42'	82 (seated)	2015	5[12]	91501-91505	Community Transit
					2017	32	91701-91732
		Cummins L9	42'	82 (seated)	2020	13	91901-91913
Gillig Low Floor BRTPlus CNG		Cummins Westport ISL G	40'	35 (seated)	2015	17[18]	41501-41517	Pierce Transit
					2016	5	41601-41605
Motor Coach Industries D4500CT CNG		Cummins Westport ISX12 G	45'	57 (seated)	2016	12	9301-9312	Pierce Transit

Retired fleet

Manufacturer and model	Image	Motor	Length	Passengers	Purchased	Retired	Qty	Fleet Numbers	Operator	Notes
OBI Orion V CNG (05.501)		Cummins L10G / ZF HP500	40'	42	1994	2008	27	801-827	Pierce Transit	Ex-Pierce Transit; bought in 1998. Retired in 2008.
Breda DuoBus 350 (ADPB 350) Dual-mode		Detroit Diesel 6V92TA / ZF 4HP590C	60'	63	1990	2005	20	5019-5021, 5194-5210	King County Metro	Leased from King County Metro Transit in 1999. Retired in 2005. Replaced by DE60LFs.
Gillig Phantom 40'		Cummins ISM / Allison B400R	40'	42	1999	2014	70	9000-9069	King County Metro / Pierce Transit / Community Transit	All retired from Sound Transit Fleet. *As of June 2014, some of the coaches sold to Pierce Transit are temporarily wrapped in ST for PT operated routes due to a bus shortage. *Ben Franklin Transit purchased a handful. *Transit Sales International purchased some as well.
					2001	2014	20	9070-9089	King County Metro	Retired in 2014.
		Cummins ISL / Voith D864.5			2005	2020	2	9090-9091	King County Metro	Retired in 2020. Replaced by XDE60s.
		Cummins ISL			2008	2020	8	9114-9121	Community Transit	Retired in 2020. Replaced by ADL Enviro500 MMC.
New Flyer DE40LF		Cummins ISB / Allison EP40	40'	34	2003	2020	1	9200	King County Metro	Retired in 2020. Replaced by XDE60s.
New Flyer C40LF		Cummins Westport C Gas Plus / Allison B400R	40'	39	2001	2014	20	9400-9419	Pierce Transit	Retired in 2014. Replaced by Gillig CNG Low Floor BRT.
New Flyer D60LF		Detroit Diesel Series 50 / Allison B500R	60'	56	1999	2016	25	9500-9524	Pierce Transit / King County Metro / Community Transit	Retired in 2016. Some units were bought by Transit Sales International.
		Detroit Diesel Series 50 EGR / Allison B500R			2000	2019	12	9525-9536	Community Transit / King County Metro	Retired in 2019. Some units were bought by Transit Sales International.
		Caterpillar C9 / Allison B500R			2004	2020	16	9537-9552	Community Transit / King County Metro / Pierce Transit	Retired in 2020.
New Flyer DE60LF		Caterpillar C9 / Allison EP50 Hybrid System	60'	56	2005	2020	22	9600-9621	King County Metro	Retired on Thursday, August 27, 2020; 9609K - final active unit. Replaced by XDE60s.
Motor Coach Industries D4500		Detroit Diesel Series 60 EGR[15]	45'[15]	57 (seated)	2005	2022	13[19]	9700-9712	Pierce Transit	Retired on Friday, July 29, 2022; 9712P - final active unit service was on rt. 578 to Puyallup via Federal Way and I-5.

References

1. "Transit Ridership Report Second Quarter 2024" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
2. "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
3. Rogoff, Peter (January 29, 2016). "CEO Report for January 29, 2016". Sound Transit. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
4. Collins, Eric (September 20, 1999). "Sound Transit's airport bus hits road". The News Tribune. pp. A1, A10. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Regional transit history 1997 - 2003". Sound Transit. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
6. Gutman, David (November 9, 2018). "Buses can avoid morning congestion by using I-5 shoulder lane in Snohomish County". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
7. Johnson, Matthew (December 10, 2015). "Q. Who's driving those Sound Transit buses and trains?". The Platform. Sound Transit. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
8. "Sound Transit: ST Express Regional Bus Service". Sound Transit. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
9. "Lost and found". Sound Transit. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
10. "Sound Transit announces March 2024 Service Change" (Press release). Sound Transit. March 22, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
11. "Montlake Freeway Station closure begins June 22, 2019" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. May 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
12. "Draft 2015 Service Implementation Plan - Appendix B: Fleet Plans" (PDF). Sound Transit. p. 111. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
13. "MOTION NO. M2009-15: Contract with New Flyer Corporation" (PDF). Sound Transit. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
14. "MOTION NO. M2011-04 Purchase 24 Forty-Foot Replacement Buses" (PDF). Sound Transit. February 24, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
15. "ST Express 45-foot Long-Haul Bus Specifications (MCI)". Sound Transit. Archived from the original on September 19, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
16. "Sound Transit: Sound Transit board approves purchase of clean diesel and hybrid buses". Sound Transit. February 24, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
17. "MOTION NO. M2010-01: ST Express Bus Procurement – ST2 Expansion Service" (PDF). Sound Transit. January 14, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
18. "MOTION NO. M2014-06" (PDF). March 27, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
19. "MOTION NO. M2009-09: Contract with Motor Coach Industries" (PDF). Sound Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2009.

External links

• ST Express Rider Guide