Beta
Getting around
Seattle Transit
Right now in Seattle
I-5 closed — Monday, May 11, nightly until the morning of Friday, May 15 - The eastbound SR 520 off-ramp to Montlake Blvd. will close nightly for construction beginning at 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. All traffic from I-5 will pay the SR 520 Bridge Toll during the hours this ramp is closed. Those who do not want to pay the toll or who need to access Montlake Blvd. from I-5 must use alternate routes..
99 helps but fills fast. Surface streets clog within an hour of any I-5 closure. If your trip can wait, wait. If it can't, take Link or 99 and add real buffer.
Link is the calm path
Live ferry departures
Next ferries — Seattle → Bainbridge
Checking live schedule…
Next ferries — Seattle → Bremerton
Checking live schedule…
Two car ferries leave Pier 52 (Colman Dock). Use the swap button on any card to flip outbound ↔ return. The Fauntleroy → Vashon and Edmonds → Kingston routes have their own schedules — for those, use wsdot.com/Ferries.
Today affecting service
‘It wasn’t our best work that day’ — Protest disrupts Seattle City Council committee session on SPD May 2025 crackdown in Cal Anderson Park: Expect denser movement and slower crossings in the affected neighborhoods.
What matters right now
Current Seattle transit signals
- WSDOT: Monday, May 11, nightly until the morning of Friday, May 15 - The eastbound SR 520 off-ramp to Montlake Blvd. will close nightly for construction beginning at 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. All traffic from I-5 will pay the SR 520 Bridge Toll during the hours this ramp is closed. Those who do not want to pay the toll or who need to access Montlake Blvd. from I-5 must use alternate routes.
- WSDOT: The I-5 express lanes are operating northbound-only during the northbound I-5 Ship Canal Bridge preservation work, which has reduced the I-5 mainline to two lanes across the bridge, to help maintain northbound freeway capacity.
- WSDOT: From 11 p.m. Friday, May 15 to 7 a.m. Saturday, May 16, the southbound Interstate 5 on-ramp from Mercer Street and the northbound I-5 left lane and off-ramp to Mercer Street (milepost 166) will close for maintenance.
Recent network changes
The 2 Line and Judkins Park Station
Sound Transit's 2 Line now runs across I-90 from Redmond and Bellevue to downtown Seattle, meeting the 1 Line at International District / Chinatown Station. Transfers are cross-platform. The line added Judkins Park Station on the western edge of the Mount Baker / Central District neighborhoods — the first light rail station east of I-5 in inner Seattle. For Eastside-to-SoDo trips on match days or game days, the 2 Line into ID/Chinatown plus a one-stop 1 Line ride south is now the calmest option.
Bike today?
YesYes — conditions are fine.
Mild day, AQI in normal range. Burke-Gilman is the call for Cascade-trail riders; Lake Washington Blvd for the views. The SODO Trail is reliable through the city.
Why: 50°F · AQI 53
Live cameras
Three cuts worth checking
WSDOT publishes 200+ traffic cameras across the metro. Three cuts answer most of the “is it actually backed up” questions:
- I-5 at Mercer — the canonical “is downtown moving” check.
- I-90 floating bridge — cross-lake commute, FIFA match days, Seafair air-show closures.
- SR 520 at the bridge — the alt cross-lake when I-90 is bad or closed.
Bridges
When the drawbridges open
Four city drawbridges over the Ship Canal lift for boat traffic — the Ballard, Fremont (the most-opened drawbridge in the U.S.), University, and Montlake bridges. Federal regulation blocks openings during weekday commute hours (7–9 AM, 4–6 PM). Outside that window, openings are unscheduled and add 5–10 minutes to your trip.
The West Seattle Bridge has been fixed since the 2022 reopening — no more rotating closures or detours.
Live status: SDOT movable bridges · @SDOTbridges
Trip-planning tools
Where Seattle locals actually look
Direct links to the real-time tools that answer most transit questions. Seattle.net tracks live alerts; for live arrival times use the operator's own app.
King County Metro · OneBusAway
Live bus arrivals at any Seattle stop — the tool locals actually use.
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Sound Transit · trip planner
Link Light Rail (1 Line through downtown, 2 Line across I-90 from the Eastside), Sounder, and ST Express bus — with live arrival times.
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Washington State Ferries
Sailing schedules, terminal status, and vessel watch for the Seattle routes.
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Sea-Tac Airport — ground transportation
Light rail, taxi, rideshare pickup, and parking specifics.
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WSDOT — Seattle real-time traffic
Highway conditions, bridge status, traffic cameras for I-5, I-90, SR 520.
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Amtrak Cascades · regional rail
Seattle ↔ Portland and Vancouver BC daily service from King Street Station.
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World Cup · June 8 – July 7
Planning ahead for match days?
Routes, timing, and parking for travel to and from Lumen Field this summer. The official mode-shift campaign from SDOT and partners is at flipyourtrip.org.