The distance between Seattle’s southwest corner, where I live, and my mom’s house near Renton, is about eight miles. It feels like a mule ride across the prairie, though, because I’m riding the bus.

My daily trip starts with a southbound #99 from my house to the Burien Transit Center, then the long ride from Burien to Renton on either the RapidRide #F or the #560, and then a short ride on the #105 to Mom’s house. Those beginning and ending routes are OK; the aggravation comes from the middle leg of the journey, on either the #F or #560, the only two routes connecting Burien and Renton.

First, let’s consider the RapidRide #F. Christ, it sucks.

It’s a “rapid ride” compared to walking, but it’s in ordinary traffic all the way, and other than a few blocks without traffic lights where the driver tends to gun it, the #F is as slow as any city bus anywhere. Public transit isn’t about getting anywhere rapidly, but it’s nice to at least be making progress, rolling onward toward your destination. That’s why the #F is so frustrating — instead of approaching the destination, we’re making left turns, right turns, and stopping everywhere along the way.

Eastbound from Burien, the #F takes a straight shot down 156th Street, which becomes 154th, which becomes Southcenter Blvd as the bus approaches the Tukwila light rail station. If the route stayed on Southcenter Blvd, it would become Grady Way and take us directly to Renton. The whole trip would take maybe 20 minutes — much more rapid than the RapidRide #F. That, however, would be pleasant and efficient, neither of which is allowed.

Instead, the #F makes its first wrong turn at that stupidly-designed light rail station. The bus waits at a traffic light, then winds through the station’s parking lot to the bus stops, then rolls through the parking lot again from the opposite direction, weaving past Volvos and Volkswagens and pedestrians hurrying to the bus stop or light rail. Finally we’re back at the same traffic light where we entered the station’s parking lot, waiting again for the red to turn green. Depending on the lights, looping through Tukwila Station adds 3-5 minutes to the trip.

Riding the #F damned near daily, the Tukwila Station loop drives me nuts. If the walk/don’t walk sign at International Blvd is in your favor, you could walk from the bus stop before the station to the bus stop after the station, and beat the bus without breaking a sweat.

Also, there are frequently driver changes at Tukwila Station — one driver’s shift ends, a new driver comes on, and spends 3-4 minutes adjusting the mirrors, the driver’s seat, and (I don’t know why but always) testing the air brakes half a dozen times, before we finally pull away. And then, after a few 90-degree turns in the parking lot, we’re waiting at the same traffic light again.

Technology has long been available to turn traffic lights green for public transit as a bus approaches. Metro may have this tech on some route, somewhere, but it’s certainly not on the RapidRide #F. It passes through 40 intersections with traffic lights, and the bus waits its turn at all of them, same as every driver in every SUV.

Onward to Southcenter, the biggest and ugliest shopping mall in the region. For reasons with no reasonable reason, the #F skips 61st Ave, which would take it directly to the mall. Instead it rolls five blocks further, to 66th Ave, before turning, crossing the freeway, and looping backwards toward Southcenter. There’s no popular destination along those extra blocks, only two stops where passengers rarely step off or on. The #150 route services those two stops, and it’s going to Southcenter too, so why does the #F go the long way? It only adds a few more minutes to what’s already an anti-rapid ride.

The mall is surrounded by miles of smaller strip malls and office buildings, and the #F stops at most of them. Turn left, go a few blocks, turn right, go a few blocks, turn left …

After wandering through miles of blah surrounding Southcenter, the #F twists around in the parking lot at the Sounder train station — a commuter rail service that’s only in operation Monday-Friday during rush hours. Sounder makes just 13 trips on weekdays, and none on weekends or holidays, but the RapidRide #F goes to the station 24/7, adding a few minutes to every trip as we pick up and drop off nobody.

Mostly, though, the frustration is the all the sharp turns instead of straight lines as the #F rolls along. The route has sixteen 90-degree turns (yes, I’ve compiled stats), not including 8 inside the Tukwila station, 3 at the Renton station, and two 180-degree turns at the Sounder station. Between Southcenter and Renton, the bus spells out a mile-long W as it norths, souths, easts, and wests all over the map. For two stretches, it makes sharp turns to go through areas with only swamps, stickerbushes, and empty beer cans.

In addition to all the turns and traffic lights, there are 30 bus stops, two stop signs, and one roundabout that the bus cannot clear without riding up onto the curb, and bouncing down. The route has several “swoopady” sections, where the road itself is curving this way and that, and if the driver is doing 25 mph or more it feels like you’re on an un-fun rollercoaster. The #F has three stretches where shitty pavement makes the ride even bumpier, including six absolute ball-busters.

Pro tip: four of those ball-busters are as the bus approaches or leaves the Sounder station, so it’s best to rise up from the bus’s barely-padded seats and stand for those blocks. One afternoon, stuck in traffic, we passed so slowly over this area that I could see the ball-busters — the pavement drops an inch to other, earlier pavement, then climbs the inch up again mere inches later. It’s a series of intentional ruts in the pavement, and you can tell from the color of the asphalt that the ruts have been there for years. How many men’s gonads have been splattered on those ruts? The site needs a testicle memorial plaque. Or re-paving.

Whether the driver goes fast or slow, the ball-busters hurt. And most drivers prefer fast, hitting the gas while making turns, braking harshly at bus stops, accelerating enthusiastically when pulling away. With so many turns, bumps, stops and starts, no joke: I am reliably & literally in pain by the end of the ride, just from hanging on. It’s why I now carry a thick seat cushion in my backpack, which is always under my butt on the #F.

Eight miles from Burien to Renton, which takes the RapidRide #F about 42 minutes. How rapid is that? About 11 miles per hour. And all the way, a guy is sitting behind you blasting bad country music (but I repeat myself), and someone in front of you is chanting Muslim prayers every time the next turn has the bus facing Mecca.

There is, however, an alternative for the Burien-to-Renton trip: the #560. It’s operated not by Metro but by Sound Transit, the tri-county agency, with buses that are quieter and more comfortable, with plusher seats and smoother suspension.

Unlike Metro, Sound Transit buses take the freeway, so it could be almost as quick as driving. But, of course not — the #560 goes miles out of its way to service Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a loop that adds 15 minutes if airport traffic is light, but much longer on weekends, holidays, and on random rides when there’s no guessable reason for all the traffic.

Here’s a blatant insult to transit riders: As the bus drives through the airport, we roll past huge parking garages, a dozen taxi stands, the Hertz and Avis offices, departures and arrivals, international and domestic, check-in stations for all the airlines, hundreds of people with hundreds of cars in the half-mile-long loading/unloading zone, a dozen different shuttle bus stops, even stops for ‘airporter’ buses to distant counties, before the #560 reaches the airport’s one and only public transit bus stop. It’s the last piece of airport land before International Blvd, the main drag that runs beside the airport, and you’re closer to 13 Coins, the fancy restaurant on the other side of International, than to wherever you need to be if you’re checking in, passing through security, and flying away.

Another problem for air travelers is that buses going east and west both stop at that same stop, so passengers are often and easily confused. Is this bus going to Burien, or to Renton and onward to Bellevue? Many passengers are fresh off the plane, don’t know the area or transit system, and quite often they’re paying $3 to ride in the wrong direction. Kind drivers announce the destination when they open the doors, “This bus to Burien,” or “This bus to Renton,” but most drivers say nothing.

My dilemma is more ordinary: I do know the area and the transit system, but for every ride between Burien and Renton I must choose between the sluggish and ball-busting RapidRide #F and the #560 with its unpredictable delays due to airport traffic.

According to the schedule, the #560 is a 32-minute ride, which works out to 15 mph — lots quicker than the #F. But the #F runs more frequently, and generally stays on schedule, while the #560’s airport loop can take an hour if the airport is crowded. Both routes suck in different ways, and there’s no third choice except buying a car or taking an Uber.

The solution I’d propose is to require transit executives to ride the bus, twice daily, five days per week. Magically and immediately, routes would straighten out, roads would be patched with fresh asphalt, drivers would ease off the gas instead of slamming on the brakes, and there’d be an easy, efficient ride between the suburbs south of Seattle. And maybe the guy behind me would lower the volume on Parker McCollum and the Turnpike Troubadours.

5/25/2026

Transit Takes

itsdougholland.com
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