Planning Your Commute

Choosing a bike route

Just because a route works well for cars or buses doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the most convenient or comfortable when you’re traveling by bike. Fortunately, there are many great resources to help you find bike routes that work for you:

• Ride the City is a route planning tool that gives you three different routes to choose from. Just decide whether you want a “Direct,” “Safe,” or “Safer” route.
• Google Maps now provides bicycle directions! Enter your start and end points and let Google do the rest.

Bike maps

• City of Seattle
• King County
• Snohomish County
• City of Bellevue
• City of Redmond
• Washington State
• Other local jurisdictions

Taking your bike on buses, vanpools, and light rail

All buses and most vanpools have easy-to-load bike racks so you can pedal one way, or part way, and ride the bus or vanpool for the rest of your journey. Bus and vanpool bike racks typically hold 2-3 bicycles. Bikes can also be taken on Sounder commuter rail, Central Link light rail, and Tacoma Link light rail.

Practice makes perfect

A practice bus-bike rack is available at the University Transportation Center at 3745 15th Ave NE. The demonstration rack is located outside the main lobby entrance along the front of the building. Instructions are posted next to the bus-bike rack so feel free to practice loading and unloading your bike anytime you like. If you’d like to make an appointment for personal assistance, please contact Commuter Services at (206) 616-7493 or bikehelp@uw.edu. For instructions on how to load and unload your bike see Metro’s Loading Your Bike on a Bus video below:

Curious about bicycle etiquette on Sound Transit light rail trains and express buses? Check out the video below:

More bikes on transit videos after the jump:

• Sound Transit Sounder Trains
• Tacoma Link Light Rail
• Sound Transit Express Bus

The recommendations on this page are by no means exhaustive. If you have questions or comments about these or other aspects of route planning or biking and transit, feel free to contact us at bikehelp@uw.edu. Interested in taking your bike skills to the next level? Consider signing up for one of Commuter Services’ free Bike Classes taught by certified instructors from Cascade Bicycle Club. Enjoy the ride!