King County Metro, Sound Transit and other regional transit partners are teaming up to provide free rides for one of the busiest New Year’s Eves in years. Beginning on Dec. 31 riders can travel without paying fares on King County Metro, Water Taxi, Metro Flex, Sound Transit Link, Sounder trains, Community Transit, Everett Transit and the Seattle Streetcar. Whether you’re headed to see the Seattle Seahawks fight for the playoffs at Lumen Field, are a hockey fan making their way to the NHL Winter Classic Fan Village, joining the large crowds for the fireworks at the Space Needle or going out to other events throughout the region transit’s got you covered.
“People from around the Northwest will gather in downtown Seattle to cheer on the Hawks and ring in the New Year with football, fireworks, and more,” said Executive Constantine. “Transit systems across the region are offering you the chance to skip traffic, parking, or getting behind the wheel. From Lumen Field, to the Space Needle, to a thousand celebrations across King County and around the Sound, ring in the New Year with transit!”
The fareboxes and ORCA card readers on Metro buses will be covered to remind customers not to pay. The Transit GO mobile ticketing app will not allow activations during this period for all Metro services, the Seattle Streetcar, and Sound Transit.
Regional transit agencies will be operating on the following schedules on Sunday, Dec. 31, to accommodate fare-free New Year’s Eve rides:
- King County Metro: Buses will operate on their regular Sunday schedule and be fare-free from 3 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 31, through 3 a.m. Monday, Jan. 1. Other Metro services operating fare-free include DART, Metro Flex, Community Van, and Access service.
- Sound Transit: Link light rail and Sound Transit Express buses are fare-free from 5 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 31, to 3 a.m. Monday., Jan. 1. The Sounder Game Train will be available for the Seahawks game and will be fare-free. Sound Transit will operate extended 1 Line rail service on New Year’s Eve, with 15-minute, late-night service. The last southbound trip will leave Northgate Station for Angle Lake Station at 1:57 a.m. The last northbound train will leave Angle Lake Station for Northgate Station at 1:40 a.m. For New Years Eve, the T Line will run extended service every 20 minutes until the last train departure. The last train for the night will depart Tacoma Dome at 12:40 a.m. For more information go to the Sound Transit website.
- Community Transit: All Community Transit buses and Snohomish County DART paratransit services will operate on a Sunday schedule. Zip Alderwood Shuttle will operate regular hours from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. All services are free from the start of service on Sunday, Dec. 31 through the end of the service day. Please check the Community Transit website, as route times vary.
- Everett Transit: All services will operate fare-free on a regular Sunday schedule. Please check Everett Transit’s website as times may vary.
- Seattle Streetcar: Both streetcar lines will operate fare-free on regular Sunday service hours. The South Lake Union Streetcar will operate on New Year’s Eve until 12:30 a.m. to accommodate fireworks viewing downtown.
- King County Water Taxi: The water taxiwill operate fare-free on Dec. 31 but will be out of service on Jan. 1.
- Seattle Monorail: The monorail will collect regular fares and will operate from Westlake to the Seattle Center until 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. After the evening’s events at Seattle Center, service to Westlake will run from 12:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
New Year’s Day service
On Monday, Jan. 1, transit customers are reminded that King County Metro buses, Metro Flex, DART, Community Van and Access, Sound Transit Express buses, Link light rail, and Tacoma Link will operate on Sunday schedules, and regular, valid fare will be required on all services beginning at 3 a.m., Jan. 1. The Sounder Game Train will be in service for the NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1. Details are posted on Metro’s and Sound Transit’s holiday and reduced service pages. Everett Transit will not be providing service.