Traveling by Seattle public transit with a small dog
Photo by City of Seattle
King County Metro Transit has a long list of transportation services, but the ones you’re most likely to use are Seattle’s buses and the King County Water Taxi. Metro’s pet policy for its buses is as follows:
Service animals for persons with disabilities ride without charge, as do small dogs that will fit in their owners’ laps. Large dogs, leashed, pay the same fare as their owner and may not occupy a seat, but should ride on the floor of the coach next to their owner.
Other animals, cats, etc. that are not service animals must be carried in appropriate pet carriers.
I couldn’t find any language about pets on the water taxi (which has a seasonal route between Seattle’s Pier 50 and West Seattle, and a regular weekday route between Pier 50 and Vashon Island), but the two Metro representatives I spoke to said that dogs are allowed to travel on the water taxi, for free. (They couldn’t give me any more specifics than that, and I got the impression they’d never been asked the question before. The captain is the final arbiter of any pet-related issues that arise on board the water taxi.)
Please note that Seattle’s waterfront streetcar line has been out of service since late 2005. Some Metro buses have been painted to look a bit like streetcars and are labeled “Seattle Waterfront Streetcar Line” (their less romantic designation is Route 99). These buses serve “the downtown Seattle waterfront, Pioneer Square Historic District and Chinatown/International District.” The Metro pet policy applies to these buses.
The Seattle Monorail, a beloved vestige of the 1962 World’s Fair, is actually a privately-run business. The Monorail travels between Westlake Center in downtown Seattle and the Seattle Center; the trip is a mile long and takes about two minutes. Dogs, either leashed or in a carrier, are allowed on the Monorail.
Sound Transit operates buses (ST Express Bus, serving nearby cities including Everett, Issaquah, Tacoma, etc.), commuter trains (Sounder, stretching between Everett and Tacoma) and light rail (Tacoma Link, serving downtown Tacoma). The light rail system is currently in the process of expanding from Westlake to Tukwila, and on to Seatac Airport. On all Sound Transit transportation systems, “service animals and pets in small containers are allowed.”
Seattle Streetcar runs the South Lake Union line of streetcars (its early, popular acronym, SLUT, seems to be here to stay) from downtown’s Westlake Center to the corner of Fairview and Ward. Leashed pets are allowed: “Guide dogs and companion animals are allowed on leash only.”
Community Transit operates local bus routes within Snohomish County, and commuter bus routes linking Snohomish County with the University of Washington, downtown Seattle, and the Eastside. Community Transit will soon launch a bus rapid transit system called Swift, serving ”a 17-mile stretch of the Highway 99/Evergreen Way/Rucker Avenue/Pacific Avenue corridor between Aurora Village Transit Center in the south and Everett Station in the north.” Community Transit’s pet policy, disappointingly, allows pets on local buses but not on commuter buses:
Only service animals are allowed on commuter buses. Non-service animals are allowed on local buses with the following rules:
- Dogs must be on a leash and wear a commercially-produced muzzle that covers the mouth and is secured behind the head.
- Small animals such as reptiles, birds or cats must be in a confined carrying container and held on the owner’s lap or at their feet.
- Animals cannot at any time wander or annoy other passengers.
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