Trip Planner Tips - Fare and transfer information

Note: Trip Plans for 3/01/2008 or later reflect an increase in Metro Transit Adult cash fares. Trip Plans for 7/01/2008 or later reflect an increase in off-peak Reduced fares. See Trip Planner Notices for more information.

When your transit trip requires you to transfer, you need to know how to use transfers and when and how to pay your cash fare. This guide describes:

• Using Transfers
• When to pay
• Metro Custom Bus Fares
• Paying split fares

Using Transfers

If your trip involves two or more buses or trains, and you do not pay the full fare with a pass, you need a transfer. Ask for a transfer when you pay your first fare, except that when riding the South Lake Union Streetcar or Sounder, your ticket is your transfer. When your trip uses service provided by two different transit agencies, such as Metro Transit and Sound Transit, and if you pay an additional fare when you transfer, you may be asked to exchange your first transfer for one issued by the other agency. You may keep a transfer upon arriving at your destination. See Who's Who for a list of the agencies included in the Trip Planner.

Ask for a transfer even when your itinerary is only on one bus if it starts outside of downtown Seattle, continues through downtown, and ends on the other side of downtown. On trips like this, you pay when you board and pass through the Ride Free Area. Your transfer is proof that you have paid your fare.

Transfers are not available between the Monorail or Washington State Ferries and buses or trains.

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When to pay

Most of the time, show your transfer or pay upon boarding. For Sounder Commuter Rail and Washington State Ferries, you purchase your ticket before boarding. For trips on Metro Transit and Sound Transit Express buses that originate in downtown Seattle between 6:00 AM and 7:00 PM, show your transfer or pay your fare upon leaving the bus. The exceptions are Metro Transit routes 116, 118, and 119. For these routes, pay upon boarding when leaving downtown Seattle and travelling south. Pay when you leave when travelling to downtown Seattle

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Metro Custom Bus Fares

Metro Route 952 is a Custom Bus serving the Boeing Everett plant. It has a special fare structure that is different from other Metro Routes. The cash fares are:

Northbound:

• boarding between Auburn and Kennydale (NE 30th & I-405)
  - exiting south of Kennydale - $2.50
  - exiting north of Kennydale - $3.00
• boarding at Kennydale or points north - $2.50

Southbound:

• boarding between Boeing Everett and Kennydale (NE 30th & I-405)
  - exiting at or north of Kennydale - $2.50
  - exiting south of Kennydale - $3.00
• boarding south Kennydale - $2.50

If you transfer from Metro routes to a Boeing Custom Bus, pay the minimum fare due on the first bus. Your transfer is valid for the amount you paid toward the Custom Bus fare. If you pay more than the one-zone fare, ask that the transfer be punched for two zones. Transfers from other agencies are good for $1.50 on the Boeing Custom Bus.

Transfers from the Boeing Custom Bus are worth $2.25 on other Metro routes and for the local base fare on other agencies' routes. "Local base fare" is an agency's fare for local travel or local travel in one zone, where zones apply.

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Paying split fares

In some cases you can pay the full fare all at once, but often you pay part of the fare on the first bus or train, and the rest upon transferring. The Trip Planner calculates and displays the total fare for the trip, taking into account the transfer policies and fare structures of the various transit agencies. Use the table below to determine how to pay split fares depending on the details of your trip.

For more information on paying fares, visit What and How to Pay on Metro Transit.

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