Bus directions to NWG from Sea-Tac Airport
Note: 7x indicates route 71, 72, or 73)
At Sea-Tac airport, Metro buses call just outside the baggage claim.
There are two bus stops, one for northbound, one for southbound buses.
Make sure you get the route 194 marked for downtown (northbound).
To get to UW, first board 194 and get a transfer from the driver when
you pay. There are four buses per hour, and time to downtown Seattle
is a half hour. Fares are $1.50 until about 4 pm, when they go to
$2.00 until about 7 pm (drivers do not make change).
One other thing about paying the fares is an apparent irregularity that
does make sense. There is a ride-free zone in downtown Seattle, so on
trips to downtown fares are paid when getting on, on trips from downtown
when getting off. Thus, when you board the 194 at the airport, pay the fare
and get a transfer; when you get off the 7x near UW show the transfer.
In downtown Seattle, until about 7 pm on weekdays both the 194 and
7x run in the bus tunnel below 3rd Ave. There are five stations in
the tunnel, and you can change buses at any of them. After 7 pm on
weekdays and on weekends, the 194 runs into town on 4th Ave., and to
the airport on 2nd Ave.; during these times the 7x runs on 3rd Ave.
Coming into town on the 194 when it is running on 4th Ave., get off
downtown, among the skyscrapers, and walk one block downhill to 3rd Ave.
There are bus stops about every block but any given bus route serves only
alternate stops, so check the big sign.
Get off the 7x at NE Campus Parkway and Brooklyn Avenue NE, at which
point the bus is heading east. Get off and show the transfer to the driver.
Return is similar except 7x runs westbound on NE Campus Parkway.
Get a transfer from the driver when you pay. Downtown either change
to the 194 in the tunnel or, when it is not open, get off on Third Ave.,
walk one block downhill to 2nd Avenue, and catch southbound 194. Show
the transfer when you get off at the airport.
If ever in doubt, ask people -- bus drivers, passengers, pedestrians.
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