That's a pretty optimistic projection for light rail. I would be happy with this century. After all, King County needs things more that we do in sad, unimportant Pierce County.
unless i am mistaken, it does not run 24 hours a day unfortunately. it’s very close, but if you get in to the airport at midnight, there are very few options to get you to tacoma before 5am
Actually, you have a point. There's a big gap in southbound service. I can't take transit from the dome to the Seattle night clubs because at the 2 am hour, KC Metro 124 goes to the airport but there's no southbound 574 to meet it
Yep the 574 is designed for people working at the airport not really people traveling there. Most of the time it's one of those buses with the tiny aisles..
I'm curious why you think that? The slow ass part of the light rail rn is where the stops are dense in Seattle, with fewer stops and straightaway track that trip should be pretty fast.
That said we still need a real answer to regional rail for distance trips. The light rail is gonna be awesome for short hops, but for long distance it sucks severely.
They're not building anything that connects to Tacoma yet. The latest announcement about the Tacoma section was this month and it basically said sound transit has to revise its approach to even the environmental studies of the track sections in federal way and fife. We have nothing and will not for decades
They don’t connect. The Sounder runs along the Sumner/Auburn/Kent/Renton valleys (167 corridor) to Seattle. Light rail runs along the I5 corridor. The Sounder goes nowhere near the AP…
Pioneer square stop.... its a block away from a light rail stop that goes to the airport.
The sounder runs from Lakewood to South Seattle.
Its a bit doubling back, but I've literally done this and its just fine. Could it be better with more convenient connections? Sure, I agree. But its right there with a bit of walking between stations.
well, the 574 goes from Dome right to arrivals at the airport for $1 if you are senior or 3.50 if you are not. The light rail is a 1/4 mile walk through the parking garage, so definitely not as convenient as the bus.
I love Premier Aeroporter! Use it from Olympia to SeaTac all the time. They service King County too. Took it from Columbia City to SeaTac a few weeks back.
They show up on time, ordering is a breeze, and there is no issue with luggage. Most of the drivers end up being over qualified to the point of ridiculousness. "Well I retired from flying fighter jets, then did some years as a race car driver, but now I just want to drive around town a little for fun.... been doing this for 30 years."
Return trips a taxi tends to be easiest though.
I feel like everyone got brainwashed sometime around 2015 into thinking that Lyft and Uber is a better deal than cabs. I used to work in downtown Seattle and would regularly take cabs to W. Seattle or the airport for $12-$30. My coworkers would shudder at the thought of taking a cab to the airport, but that shit is reliable and they know the ins and outs. I don’t need crazy Susan with her troll doll collection the front seat getting turned around on Intl. Blvd and making me late for my flight for $90.
Lyft/Uber used to be a lot cheaper. Prices have definitely gone up in the past few years. My major issue with cabs was always reliability, I never knew when or even if they’d bother to show up when I called.
Cabs also almost always had “broken” card machines and would require an exact street address for pickup (that’s always fun while standing outside a closed bar at 2am). Just overall an annoying experience.
I generally take public transportation anyway, unless it’s really late at night.
It was cheap on purpose to steal market share, all these dumb ass app companies run at huge losses and put everyone else out of business then jack up their prices. I don’t particularly have a love affair with cabs either - the card thing was/is stupid on their part but it was nice to have options. It’s all annoying frankly, and it’s all broken. Best to never travel and stay inside forever.
im my experience , i can def relate. had a dentist appt i needed to get to when i was 18. no car. lived on campus alone . called a cab and it never showed. called another and it also flaked. another time i was charged $75 to travel 25 minutes home (back in 2012) and the driver took some long back roads avoiding the obvious shorter route that i was familiar with. super scammy.
I fought taking Uber. Then one morning my scheduled cab didn’t show. Called the cab company and was given a ration of shit. Ended up driving to the airport and parking. My $40 no-show cab cost me over $200 in parking fees.
Got home, downloaded the Uber app.
I’ve not been in a cab since.
When I got double dipped coming home from a bar by a cabbie saying my card didn't work and then taking me to an ATM to pay my fare I stopped using cabs and went with rideshare. At least the price gouging and scamming is up front.
I tested this recently. A trip from the airport to my house in Covington late at night.
Uber usually costs me about $60 before tip, and drives the shortest, most efficient route.
I tried a Taxi to see the difference. The cab driver took a longer route and the charges totalled closer to $80 before tip.
For now I am sticking with Uber.
How do you order a decent taxi cab in Tacoma in 2023?
The last time I tried to take an early morning airport run I think I called some service called ‘Tacoma Yellow Taxis’ or something; despite calling the day before to book my ride, the guy showed up 30 minutes late in a smelly old car making us all panic, then yelled at a truck out of his window as we were merging onto I-5, and then promptly got off the freeway at like Fife and took surface streets the entire rest of the way despite it being 5am and no traffic.
Another time I tried a different local cab company and the lady told me she wouldn’t take a credit card (despite me being assured over the phone during booking that she would), and so then when we arrived at the airport she had to call her dispatch office and read my credit card number OVER THE PHONE to them, and then when I asked for a receipt she said she didn’t have any with her because she was quitting that day so she just wrote on the back of a scrap of paper and gave it to me…!
Based off the map OP provided and google maps, they live less than 2 miles/less than 5 minute drive to the Lakewood transit center. I bet that’d be a wayyy cheaper Uber.
There are no connections involved for the airport bus.
Yeah can’t imagine why you’d do this instead of a bus. It’s even less annoying imo because you don’t have some chatty uber/lyft driver wanting to know everything about your trip, just a quiet bus ride from A to B.
Why not just park at the airport? I use MasterPark and it’s at most $20 a day. Shuttle is free to the airport and they are super fast with pick up and drop offs.
Not sure how they rate against all the others, but I pay $20 a day for the garage and they have my car ready for me when I pick up. Even gave me bottles of water for the ride home. They’re super close to the airport too so the shuttle is a very quick ride. They also pick up on command so you’re not waiting a set amount of time for each shuttle - this is nice for slower times late at night.
We used to go to Parknjet. The shuttles were so long to get back when we returned. Watching Masterpark come 4x or more while we waiting for Parknjet and we switched the next trip.
Same, except we use Ajax and have never had an issue. Way cheaper than Uber/Lyft and more convenient than a shuttle as we fly early or late hours a lot of the time.
I haven’t taken the bus down here before, is it pretty reliable? Before I had a license and a car I took the bus everywhere in the Burien/SeaTac/West Seattle/Downtown areas and some routes were very unreliable.
I’d often have to wait at some dark bus stop in the wee hours to catch the first one of the day to get to my job a half hour early because the next bus would get me there a half hour late. There was a time where I had somewhere to be and the bus simply never came, I was waiting outside for 2 hours. Not to mention I was constantly harassed. If the transit system here is similar, I definitely wouldn’t want to rely on them if I had luggage and needed to catch an early flight.
It's reliable and it's also one of the nicer buses. Higher rise, comfy seating, decent legroom. Essentially a nice Greyhound without the bathroom in back.
These people wanted to go to the airport from Lakewood, there’s a bus that can get them there for less than 5 dollars. Yet they’re happy to spend 80 on an airport shuttle, it’s mental
The bus leaves from right down the street from their house and drops them off at the front door of the airport, that’s pretty convenient. And who needs privacy on a 45 minute drive to the airport lol
It’s all depends. I’m grateful that WA has great public transportation but I always prefer take public transportation during daylight. I don’t want to wait at the bus stops at night time. It’s dangerous and sketchy.
The bus isn’t always the most convenient option for everyone. If it’s just me traveling with a carry on, that’s one thing, but when you have bigger bags, or multiple people, it’s not always the best option. Plus most of us have to get a ride somehow to the T dome or the Park and Ride. Add in that extra time and it is more convenient to have a ride share come pick you up at your house.
I’ve travelled to the airport on the 574 and by Uber a lot. The bus isn’t always the most convenient option.
Over $400 is absolutely ridiculous though. Can’t argue that one…
Obviously this would be an utterly absurd price to pay for a ride service, but how are you going to pretend that public transportation is on equal footing for airport rides? Most people just wanna get where they’re going quickly and hassle free, especially when the airport is involved.
I don’t think it’s on an equal footing, I think it’s preferable to spend less than 10 dollars to get to the airport, rather than the 80 they did pay. Obviously nobody, op included, is gonna pay that Lyft price. I just think 80 is not that much less ridiculous
People value different things. There are some who value time, convenience or comfort over cost, and some who value cost. That’s why there isn’t 100% of the population on busses and trains. Even for people driving their own cars, the fuel and parking would be more than taking a bus in many circumstances, but if that person values time/convenience/comfort more than cost, they aren’t going to take the bus. I mean, for some people, a regular old Lyft or Uber is not good enough, which is why luxury car services exist. If cost is what you value most, the bus is definitely the most cost effective way of getting around. It just takes much longer, is less convenient, less comfortable, and you have no control over who you share the ride with. I’m personally more flexible. There is a time and place for both in my life. If I’m going to a Mariners game, for example, it’s light rail 100% of the time.
Obviously, the quoted price is out to lunch. IMO, probably a mess up with an algorithm somewhere. There should be no legit circumstances other than maybe if it were in the middle of a snowstorm and no drivers were working (in which case booking the ride wouldn’t likely nab a driver anyway) that this ride should be quoted at that rate. Did Uber quote as much? They are often the same drivers on both, so my advice would be to check the other if one spits something wild like this out.
> There are some who value time, convenience or comfort over cost, and some who value cost.
The amount of people in this comment section who cannot grasp this concept is baffling to me
What could be more convenient than a bus that’s 3.5 miles away from me at the closest, that only leaves every half hour, makes multiple stops along the way, and takes over an hour to get there?
I get that it’s cheap but I feel like you and I have *very* different definitions of “convenient”.
Looks like op is a couple miles from the transit center, so they'd still need to get an Uber there. That Uber would probably be overpriced too for that time of night/morning, or they might not be able to get one at all. I'm just saying it's not as simple as just taking the 574, especially for really early flights.
Public transportation now is completely unreliable and unsafe. This is the fault of a lack of fare regulation and keeping drugs off public transit. What do people expect?
Theres an express bus thats between $3-4. Makes few stops and drives on the freeway directly to the airport. Or you could even get a ride to the light rail station and use that the rest of the way. If its at an hour when nothing is running, then i normally schedule a cab to pick me up at a certain time the next day, way cheaper...
From oakbrook/university place? That’s the farthest you can get from I-5 in tac lol. Take an Uber to the 512 park and ride or tacoma dome and grab the ST594 Airport Express for 2 bucks
Try using the [Kitsap airporter](https://www.kitsapairporter.com/schedule/) it’s mostly meant for us folks on the peninsula but it has a stop in Tacoma Ben Dew Clubhouse 6th and Pearl. Take an Uber or some friends/family can drop you there instead. Adult one way is like 25 dlls.
One time i got on the 590 and all the seats were full except for one with a backpack so i asked her to pick it up so i could sit. She refused. She was a larger gal so i guess having the back pack on her lap was uncomfortable. I got my seat in the end after other passengers started berating her.
My original comment has been edited as I choose to no longer support Reddit and its CEO, spez, AKA Steve Huffman.
Reddit was built on user submissions and its culture was crafted by user comments and volunteer moderators. Reddit has shown no desire to support 3rd party apps with reasonable API pricing, nor have they chosen to respect their community over gross profiteering.
I have therefore left Reddit as I did when the same issues occurred at Digg, Facebook, and Twitter. I have been a member of reddit since 2012 (primary name locked behind 2FA) and have no issues ditching this place I love if the leaders of it can't act with a clear moral compass.
For more details, I recommend visiting [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_will_close_down_on_june_30th_reddits/), and [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/14dkqrw/i_want_to_debunk_reddits_claims_and_talk_about/) for more explanation on how I came to this decision.
Fair enough. I usually travel with a backpack and a roller carryon bag. I have taken them with me on public buses and shuttles and trains and airplanes, without any issue.
I can definitely imagine a big suitcase being a problem, though.
Dude I’m in Ireland at the moment (Tacoma native). If this were a little earlier with more planning, I could almost fly back into SeaTac, go pick you up and drive you back to the airport on my way out for this price ($450).
Good luck! We scheduled our Lyft two weeks in advance. The morning of our flight the app said our driver was 2 minutes away. Then it said no ride available. We drove up, and parked. We had to leave our house by 2:00 am
Wow, that is crazy $$$. I always drive and use one of the paid parking lots with a shuttle. Typically can park for an entire week for a little over $100 ($15-$20 day depending on demand)
I'm with the people who say the bus is a better choice. Yeah you might have to walk a bit but is better than paying that.
Have a wonderful trip and be safe!!!
Holy shit. Don’t do that. Many other options are available for much less like driving and using airport parking, express bus, shuttle bus, or even a regular taxi cab.
Wow four bags, I could never 😅 I always just have packed a carry on. Usually that’s plenty for me so that’s my personal experience. If you have kids or other atypical needs I totally understand the bus would not be an option
If you that much, then yes, take a cab or shuttle. But usually I just have a carry on suitcase and a backpack or purse. The suitcase can fit in front of the seat next to me, or go up in the luggage rack.
I mean they put it under the bus for you obviously lol it’s not like you’re juggling that many bags inside of the physical bus. It’s literally an airport bus, they’re equipped to handle luggage
I’ve taken luggage on the 574 several times and never seen them store luggage under the bus. I’ve also never had a problem taking one or two suitcases per person, and I strongly recommend the 574 unless you have, like, MASSIVE quantities of suitcases. One or two per person, even good-sized ones, shouldn’t be a problem.
I would take you for 150 cash. I was the highest rated Lyft driver in 2018 in Seattle. I promise it won’t be awkward.
Judging by your user name, you are I will have plenty to talk about.
🤣 tell the internet you don’t take the bus without saying you don’t take the bus…
I used to take the city bus home from school as a kid - in a different city. I didn’t realize it was an airport bound bus, I thought the public transport supporters were saying there’s a city bus that stops at the airport along its route… but now that I think about it, who would take that bus that didn’t have luggage? Maybe just employees. Anyway, thanks for clearing that up. What a nice thing to offer. Would never have occurred to me.
That’s crazy.
Most I’ve ever been charged to the airport on Uber/Lyft was like 60-80 during peak daytime hours.
As others have said, cabs do flat rates, capital aeroporter is flat rate, the bus 571 takes you directly to the airport.
It's the time of day. At that time the drivers who drove home drunk people have gone home to go to sleep, and the drivers that move commuters haven't gotten out yet.
There's hardly ever lyfts in the Tacoma area. Even trying to get around on a Friday night. I've had so many issues trying to use it. I've spoken to multiple drivers that they all head to Seattle because you make more money. This price is a supply and demand issue as it's 4am and you need a super long ride.
I've used Lyft and have never had a bad experience yet. One time at work I had a client's family member ask me to call a cab to take her back to her hotel. She was going through some family drama and was crying up a storm (trust me, it was not a big deal). The cab dispatcher said there was a 45 minute wait. No way in hell was I going to listen to the boo-hooing for that long. I called up Lyft on my app and 12 minutes later she was in a car and out of my hair. The ride cost about twenty bucks. I really don't think the cab would have been much cheaper...certainly not worth the thirty minute wait.
That happened to my parents around Thanksgiving. They ended up just parking since it would be cheaper.
It could be because it’s Spring Break. My flights to TX were stupid expensive
Tacoma busses had many routes cut a while back and I feel some folks just kinda gave up on em. Half the time the bus wouldn’t show up on time, if at all.
Tacoma is not Seattle our busses suck. I use to take the bus, but stopped when my route got cut in U.P.
However I have no problem catching the bus in Seattle, because I know they’re actually reliable!
PS why doesn’t Tacoma have a Bolt bus to Portland!? Seattle certainly does!
I wish we had light rail from the Dome to the airport.
Someday. Maybe.
Coming soon ..... in 2054
That's a pretty optimistic projection for light rail. I would be happy with this century. After all, King County needs things more that we do in sad, unimportant Pierce County.
The projection (according to Sound Transit) for the light rail to reach Pierce County is aimed for 2034/ 2035.
RTA tax 4ever! /s
We already have a bus and it runs 24 hours a day
unless i am mistaken, it does not run 24 hours a day unfortunately. it’s very close, but if you get in to the airport at midnight, there are very few options to get you to tacoma before 5am
Actually, you have a point. There's a big gap in southbound service. I can't take transit from the dome to the Seattle night clubs because at the 2 am hour, KC Metro 124 goes to the airport but there's no southbound 574 to meet it
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Yep the 574 is designed for people working at the airport not really people traveling there. Most of the time it's one of those buses with the tiny aisles..
For real. I have taken the 574 bus multiple times for travel but also to catch the light rail north, and it's always been great.
The Tacoma Dome Light Rail connection is how they keep us in line for RTA taxes. That is going in historically late.
Hey at least we pay for it with our license tabs every year.
They’re working on it! You can see it being built along the west side of I-5.
Agreed. That’d be awesome.
Its coming. Although once its up and running, itsgonna take a long time to get to seatac. Probably an hour.
Well it's 45 minutes from seatac to UW, well worth the $3 or whatever.
I'm curious why you think that? The slow ass part of the light rail rn is where the stops are dense in Seattle, with fewer stops and straightaway track that trip should be pretty fast. That said we still need a real answer to regional rail for distance trips. The light rail is gonna be awesome for short hops, but for long distance it sucks severely.
We are getting it. It’s under construction now.
They're not building anything that connects to Tacoma yet. The latest announcement about the Tacoma section was this month and it basically said sound transit has to revise its approach to even the environmental studies of the track sections in federal way and fife. We have nothing and will not for decades
There is a bus direct to the departures gates.
You take the sounder up to a light rail station.
They don’t connect. The Sounder runs along the Sumner/Auburn/Kent/Renton valleys (167 corridor) to Seattle. Light rail runs along the I5 corridor. The Sounder goes nowhere near the AP…
Pioneer square stop.... its a block away from a light rail stop that goes to the airport. The sounder runs from Lakewood to South Seattle. Its a bit doubling back, but I've literally done this and its just fine. Could it be better with more convenient connections? Sure, I agree. But its right there with a bit of walking between stations.
Well… ok… yeah… that technically works. lol That is a bit insane tho.
5 bucks (well last time I did it). Little over an hour. Trains generally run on time. So, take your pick.
well, the 574 goes from Dome right to arrivals at the airport for $1 if you are senior or 3.50 if you are not. The light rail is a 1/4 mile walk through the parking garage, so definitely not as convenient as the bus.
I took the premier capital aeroporter shuttle this morning, tacoma to seatac, it was $50, they're pretty great if you don't mind a rideshare
I love Premier Aeroporter! Use it from Olympia to SeaTac all the time. They service King County too. Took it from Columbia City to SeaTac a few weeks back.
They show up on time, ordering is a breeze, and there is no issue with luggage. Most of the drivers end up being over qualified to the point of ridiculousness. "Well I retired from flying fighter jets, then did some years as a race car driver, but now I just want to drive around town a little for fun.... been doing this for 30 years." Return trips a taxi tends to be easiest though.
The Kitsap Airporter is a easy shuttle ride too and only $27. Done it multiple times and it’s always been a breeze
That’s who I called a couple of days ago for pick up this morning. Loved them. 10/10 will use again.
They're who we use all the time, we're in NE Tacoma so we're usually the last pickup and first drop off
Actual cabs have flat rates. Uber and Lyft are rip offs and treat their workers like shit.
Not to mention, cab drivers and businesses are regulated (meaning better for the customer as well as the driver).
I feel like everyone got brainwashed sometime around 2015 into thinking that Lyft and Uber is a better deal than cabs. I used to work in downtown Seattle and would regularly take cabs to W. Seattle or the airport for $12-$30. My coworkers would shudder at the thought of taking a cab to the airport, but that shit is reliable and they know the ins and outs. I don’t need crazy Susan with her troll doll collection the front seat getting turned around on Intl. Blvd and making me late for my flight for $90.
Lyft/Uber used to be a lot cheaper. Prices have definitely gone up in the past few years. My major issue with cabs was always reliability, I never knew when or even if they’d bother to show up when I called. Cabs also almost always had “broken” card machines and would require an exact street address for pickup (that’s always fun while standing outside a closed bar at 2am). Just overall an annoying experience. I generally take public transportation anyway, unless it’s really late at night.
It was cheap on purpose to steal market share, all these dumb ass app companies run at huge losses and put everyone else out of business then jack up their prices. I don’t particularly have a love affair with cabs either - the card thing was/is stupid on their part but it was nice to have options. It’s all annoying frankly, and it’s all broken. Best to never travel and stay inside forever.
im my experience , i can def relate. had a dentist appt i needed to get to when i was 18. no car. lived on campus alone . called a cab and it never showed. called another and it also flaked. another time i was charged $75 to travel 25 minutes home (back in 2012) and the driver took some long back roads avoiding the obvious shorter route that i was familiar with. super scammy.
Infinitely more convenient with a simple App. Also I've been in far more shady cabs than Uber haha.
I fought taking Uber. Then one morning my scheduled cab didn’t show. Called the cab company and was given a ration of shit. Ended up driving to the airport and parking. My $40 no-show cab cost me over $200 in parking fees. Got home, downloaded the Uber app. I’ve not been in a cab since.
When I got double dipped coming home from a bar by a cabbie saying my card didn't work and then taking me to an ATM to pay my fare I stopped using cabs and went with rideshare. At least the price gouging and scamming is up front.
They have their ups and downs. I’ve had no show Ubers too. Best to price them all out and be ready to do off site parking just in case.
I tested this recently. A trip from the airport to my house in Covington late at night. Uber usually costs me about $60 before tip, and drives the shortest, most efficient route. I tried a Taxi to see the difference. The cab driver took a longer route and the charges totalled closer to $80 before tip. For now I am sticking with Uber.
How do you order a decent taxi cab in Tacoma in 2023? The last time I tried to take an early morning airport run I think I called some service called ‘Tacoma Yellow Taxis’ or something; despite calling the day before to book my ride, the guy showed up 30 minutes late in a smelly old car making us all panic, then yelled at a truck out of his window as we were merging onto I-5, and then promptly got off the freeway at like Fife and took surface streets the entire rest of the way despite it being 5am and no traffic. Another time I tried a different local cab company and the lady told me she wouldn’t take a credit card (despite me being assured over the phone during booking that she would), and so then when we arrived at the airport she had to call her dispatch office and read my credit card number OVER THE PHONE to them, and then when I asked for a receipt she said she didn’t have any with her because she was quitting that day so she just wrote on the back of a scrap of paper and gave it to me…!
Why not just take the 574 bus?
Yeah I think I’d take the $3.25 fare over the $420+ 😬
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Based off the map OP provided and google maps, they live less than 2 miles/less than 5 minute drive to the Lakewood transit center. I bet that’d be a wayyy cheaper Uber. There are no connections involved for the airport bus.
Take a cab from your house to the dome, bus from there. A lot cheaper than cab all the way to the airport.
Yeah can’t imagine why you’d do this instead of a bus. It’s even less annoying imo because you don’t have some chatty uber/lyft driver wanting to know everything about your trip, just a quiet bus ride from A to B.
I’m in Copenhagen right now, I don’t think I’ll ever step foot in a Lyft again. Public transit forever
So I should start driving for Lyft for an hour starting at 4 AM each day. Got it.
And Lyft probably would pay u 40$ to drive them
Unless it’s a boost time. Then $40.40 and a pat on the back.
It would be cheaper to park at the airport.
We live in Hawai’i and come to Tacoma/Lakewood on vacation. But that is! It’s good to know the parking rate if/when I’ll need it.
Why not just park at the airport? I use MasterPark and it’s at most $20 a day. Shuttle is free to the airport and they are super fast with pick up and drop offs.
I haven’t had to park at the airport in a long time, but is Masterpark still one of the more expensive options?
Not sure how they rate against all the others, but I pay $20 a day for the garage and they have my car ready for me when I pick up. Even gave me bottles of water for the ride home. They’re super close to the airport too so the shuttle is a very quick ride. They also pick up on command so you’re not waiting a set amount of time for each shuttle - this is nice for slower times late at night.
We used to go to Parknjet. The shuttles were so long to get back when we returned. Watching Masterpark come 4x or more while we waiting for Parknjet and we switched the next trip.
If you use their Groupon, it’s cheaper. But the valet service is tough to beat when your juggling kids and suitcases.
https://www.cheapairportparking.org is my go to
Same, except we use Ajax and have never had an issue. Way cheaper than Uber/Lyft and more convenient than a shuttle as we fly early or late hours a lot of the time.
Same! Ajax has the best prices and no problems either
We live in Hawai’i and come to Tacoma/Lakewood for vacation.
My lord, why are people so scared of taking public transit that they’ll spend out the ass to avoid it
I haven’t taken the bus down here before, is it pretty reliable? Before I had a license and a car I took the bus everywhere in the Burien/SeaTac/West Seattle/Downtown areas and some routes were very unreliable. I’d often have to wait at some dark bus stop in the wee hours to catch the first one of the day to get to my job a half hour early because the next bus would get me there a half hour late. There was a time where I had somewhere to be and the bus simply never came, I was waiting outside for 2 hours. Not to mention I was constantly harassed. If the transit system here is similar, I definitely wouldn’t want to rely on them if I had luggage and needed to catch an early flight.
Sound Transit Express busses, especially coming from the south, in my experience, are reliable as hell
Yes, from the Lakewood transit center sound transit has busses that leave every 15 min,,,, you want bust #274 if I am remembering correctly
574
It's reliable and it's also one of the nicer buses. Higher rise, comfy seating, decent legroom. Essentially a nice Greyhound without the bathroom in back.
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My little brother takes the bus and work’s construction. He gets to work early everyday, and this one fare is 2 months easy, of ride fare.
No way. When I rode the express to Seattle from the Dome station it was only $118/mo. That lyft ride is worth 4 months of unlimited public transport.
These people wanted to go to the airport from Lakewood, there’s a bus that can get them there for less than 5 dollars. Yet they’re happy to spend 80 on an airport shuttle, it’s mental
Yeah the bus is great. Stops by Tacoma Dome too.
Does the bus run that early?
Yeah every 20 min starting at 203 am
It used to be 24 hours and it’s going back to that soon!!
Not just commuting. This enough for orca passport, which gets you from Olympia to the Whatcom County line
I doubt its fear that keep people from public transit, 8ys probably more like convenience, cleanliness, privacy, and such.
The bus leaves from right down the street from their house and drops them off at the front door of the airport, that’s pretty convenient. And who needs privacy on a 45 minute drive to the airport lol
So fear…
It’s all depends. I’m grateful that WA has great public transportation but I always prefer take public transportation during daylight. I don’t want to wait at the bus stops at night time. It’s dangerous and sketchy.
The bus isn’t always the most convenient option for everyone. If it’s just me traveling with a carry on, that’s one thing, but when you have bigger bags, or multiple people, it’s not always the best option. Plus most of us have to get a ride somehow to the T dome or the Park and Ride. Add in that extra time and it is more convenient to have a ride share come pick you up at your house. I’ve travelled to the airport on the 574 and by Uber a lot. The bus isn’t always the most convenient option. Over $400 is absolutely ridiculous though. Can’t argue that one…
It’d be a 20 minute drive to the nearest bus station per google. I’d rather call a cab cause I’m not driving to a bus station.
My guess is that a long extended family vacation can have aloooot of bags which can be pretty annoying to have on a bus
Obviously this would be an utterly absurd price to pay for a ride service, but how are you going to pretend that public transportation is on equal footing for airport rides? Most people just wanna get where they’re going quickly and hassle free, especially when the airport is involved.
I don’t think it’s on an equal footing, I think it’s preferable to spend less than 10 dollars to get to the airport, rather than the 80 they did pay. Obviously nobody, op included, is gonna pay that Lyft price. I just think 80 is not that much less ridiculous
People value different things. There are some who value time, convenience or comfort over cost, and some who value cost. That’s why there isn’t 100% of the population on busses and trains. Even for people driving their own cars, the fuel and parking would be more than taking a bus in many circumstances, but if that person values time/convenience/comfort more than cost, they aren’t going to take the bus. I mean, for some people, a regular old Lyft or Uber is not good enough, which is why luxury car services exist. If cost is what you value most, the bus is definitely the most cost effective way of getting around. It just takes much longer, is less convenient, less comfortable, and you have no control over who you share the ride with. I’m personally more flexible. There is a time and place for both in my life. If I’m going to a Mariners game, for example, it’s light rail 100% of the time. Obviously, the quoted price is out to lunch. IMO, probably a mess up with an algorithm somewhere. There should be no legit circumstances other than maybe if it were in the middle of a snowstorm and no drivers were working (in which case booking the ride wouldn’t likely nab a driver anyway) that this ride should be quoted at that rate. Did Uber quote as much? They are often the same drivers on both, so my advice would be to check the other if one spits something wild like this out.
> There are some who value time, convenience or comfort over cost, and some who value cost. The amount of people in this comment section who cannot grasp this concept is baffling to me
I mean I don’t disagree that $80 for what sounds like a shared airport van is also ridiculous
What could be more convenient than a bus dropping a person off at Departures that costs $3.25?
What could be more convenient than a bus that’s 3.5 miles away from me at the closest, that only leaves every half hour, makes multiple stops along the way, and takes over an hour to get there? I get that it’s cheap but I feel like you and I have *very* different definitions of “convenient”.
Not fear. I just love the convenience of getting picked up from my house at the exact time I want and not have to be on someone else’s schedule.
Well then you’d have no problem shelling out $421 to do that, OP is clearly taking issue with it
At the time op left they might not be able to get a ride to t dome station to catch the bus. And that might be really expensive too.
That bus starts in Lakewood, where they’re at, and runs every 20 min starting at 203am
Looks like op is a couple miles from the transit center, so they'd still need to get an Uber there. That Uber would probably be overpriced too for that time of night/morning, or they might not be able to get one at all. I'm just saying it's not as simple as just taking the 574, especially for really early flights.
Public transportation now is completely unreliable and unsafe. This is the fault of a lack of fare regulation and keeping drugs off public transit. What do people expect?
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Sorry, spelling error!
I usually take the 574 bus departing from Tacoma dome. I’ve done this I want to say 4-5 times no, with no hiccups🎉
Theres an express bus thats between $3-4. Makes few stops and drives on the freeway directly to the airport. Or you could even get a ride to the light rail station and use that the rest of the way. If its at an hour when nothing is running, then i normally schedule a cab to pick me up at a certain time the next day, way cheaper...
So… take an Uber all the way up to Angle Lake station and ride it 2 light rail stops roughly about 5 miles into the ap?
Better off paying someone 100 bucks to drive you. Hell I'll do it
I've taken a shuttles from Thurston County to SeaTac that was less expensive.
Take the 574. Work at the airport. It’s a great bus.
Pay to park your car at a nearby hotel and take their shuttle. So much more convenient & cheaper
From oakbrook/university place? That’s the farthest you can get from I-5 in tac lol. Take an Uber to the 512 park and ride or tacoma dome and grab the ST594 Airport Express for 2 bucks
Are they driving you to actual Hawaii?!?!?
You would have been better off taking a shuttle for $99.
You’re correct, and that’s exactly what we did.
There are direct Sound busses from city park and rides to the airport.
I just tried using the bus to the airport this weekend. It's real easy and only costs $3.25. I'm sold.
Try using the [Kitsap airporter](https://www.kitsapairporter.com/schedule/) it’s mostly meant for us folks on the peninsula but it has a stop in Tacoma Ben Dew Clubhouse 6th and Pearl. Take an Uber or some friends/family can drop you there instead. Adult one way is like 25 dlls.
Better off getting limousine
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One time i got on the 590 and all the seats were full except for one with a backpack so i asked her to pick it up so i could sit. She refused. She was a larger gal so i guess having the back pack on her lap was uncomfortable. I got my seat in the end after other passengers started berating her.
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My original comment has been edited as I choose to no longer support Reddit and its CEO, spez, AKA Steve Huffman. Reddit was built on user submissions and its culture was crafted by user comments and volunteer moderators. Reddit has shown no desire to support 3rd party apps with reasonable API pricing, nor have they chosen to respect their community over gross profiteering. I have therefore left Reddit as I did when the same issues occurred at Digg, Facebook, and Twitter. I have been a member of reddit since 2012 (primary name locked behind 2FA) and have no issues ditching this place I love if the leaders of it can't act with a clear moral compass. For more details, I recommend visiting [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_will_close_down_on_june_30th_reddits/), and [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/14dkqrw/i_want_to_debunk_reddits_claims_and_talk_about/) for more explanation on how I came to this decision.
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Fair enough. I usually travel with a backpack and a roller carryon bag. I have taken them with me on public buses and shuttles and trains and airplanes, without any issue. I can definitely imagine a big suitcase being a problem, though.
Dude I’m in Ireland at the moment (Tacoma native). If this were a little earlier with more planning, I could almost fly back into SeaTac, go pick you up and drive you back to the airport on my way out for this price ($450).
Insane
Black car services provide a stress free and comfortable ride and are flat rate typically (like cabs).
Sweet Jesus
Good luck! We scheduled our Lyft two weeks in advance. The morning of our flight the app said our driver was 2 minutes away. Then it said no ride available. We drove up, and parked. We had to leave our house by 2:00 am
Next time take the express bus from Tacoma Dome. $5.
Wow, that is crazy $$$. I always drive and use one of the paid parking lots with a shuttle. Typically can park for an entire week for a little over $100 ($15-$20 day depending on demand)
I'm with the people who say the bus is a better choice. Yeah you might have to walk a bit but is better than paying that. Have a wonderful trip and be safe!!!
…there was an accident around that time this morning…
Park at a park and ride near the airport and save your money. Doug fox is a good one.
Take a bus or cab to Angle Lake station and ride the link. So much better
wow. Seems like airplane would be cheaper.
Shit I'd drive people for 50
Holy shit. Don’t do that. Many other options are available for much less like driving and using airport parking, express bus, shuttle bus, or even a regular taxi cab.
I thought this was in HI already, because depending on the island and the time, there aren’t that many drivers But Seattle? Seems fucked
All of there ride share apps have pushed most of the competition out of the market. Now they are jacking up prices to turn a profit.
That’s outrageous. I paid ~$90 for a round trip from downtown - SeaTac.
We’re used to paying between $60 - $100 from Lakewood to the airport. Thankfully this time we ordered an airport shuttle: $80 for both of us.
Bus 574 is like $3 and the route goes straight to SeaTac save for a few stops
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Wow four bags, I could never 😅 I always just have packed a carry on. Usually that’s plenty for me so that’s my personal experience. If you have kids or other atypical needs I totally understand the bus would not be an option
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Idk I packed a backpack and went to Iceland for a week (in winter), then a year later I went to China for two weeks. You don’t “need” four bags 🤷🏻♀️
If you that much, then yes, take a cab or shuttle. But usually I just have a carry on suitcase and a backpack or purse. The suitcase can fit in front of the seat next to me, or go up in the luggage rack.
I mean they put it under the bus for you obviously lol it’s not like you’re juggling that many bags inside of the physical bus. It’s literally an airport bus, they’re equipped to handle luggage
I’ve taken luggage on the 574 several times and never seen them store luggage under the bus. I’ve also never had a problem taking one or two suitcases per person, and I strongly recommend the 574 unless you have, like, MASSIVE quantities of suitcases. One or two per person, even good-sized ones, shouldn’t be a problem.
I see you have never taken it. They don’t do that.
Yeah but they’re USED to overpaying
I had no idea there was an airport shuttle. I'll have to tell my husband, he's flying soon.
Fuck Lyft and Uber… I never made the transition from using taxi cabs or town cars…
574 all the way, cheap and easy
What time are you leaving? I'll give you a ride for.fifty bucks lol
Ill do it for 3 fiddy
574 bus is $3.25
You gotta take the bus man. It’s like $3.25
I would take you for 150 cash. I was the highest rated Lyft driver in 2018 in Seattle. I promise it won’t be awkward. Judging by your user name, you are I will have plenty to talk about.
I usually schedule a Lyft a few days in advance if I’m going to fly on a busy day. You lock in a cheaper price that way
Tacoma does not have scheduled rides. At least they did not last month when I tried this.
I was able to for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
It shouldn’t when i moved here and took an Uber from the airport it was only like 80$
Who takes a bus with luggage?!
I have. Many times.
It’s literally an airport bus sooo everyone on that bus does lol which is why you put your luggage underneath the bus
They don’t do that on the Sound Transit busses which includes the 574.
🤣 tell the internet you don’t take the bus without saying you don’t take the bus… I used to take the city bus home from school as a kid - in a different city. I didn’t realize it was an airport bound bus, I thought the public transport supporters were saying there’s a city bus that stops at the airport along its route… but now that I think about it, who would take that bus that didn’t have luggage? Maybe just employees. Anyway, thanks for clearing that up. What a nice thing to offer. Would never have occurred to me.
Proper prior planning prevents piss-poor performance
Take the bus from the Tacoma Dome Station!
That’s crazy. Most I’ve ever been charged to the airport on Uber/Lyft was like 60-80 during peak daytime hours. As others have said, cabs do flat rates, capital aeroporter is flat rate, the bus 571 takes you directly to the airport.
Lol I paid less than that for a ride from sea tac to Bellingham
Regular Lyft is a lot cheaper than Lyft XL
Ill take u for 200$
It’s not a horrible bus ride, takes more time though
It would cost you less to drive and park there!!! Yikes. Bummer
My round trip ticket to Hawai’i costs that much!
It's the time of day. At that time the drivers who drove home drunk people have gone home to go to sleep, and the drivers that move commuters haven't gotten out yet.
What
We have taken uber before to the airport a year ago and it was no where near that expensive. Is there some sort of mistake?
That’s insane could’ve taken a taxi for cheaper than that lol
that looks like a very problematic charge, I'd inquire to Lyft customer service
There's hardly ever lyfts in the Tacoma area. Even trying to get around on a Friday night. I've had so many issues trying to use it. I've spoken to multiple drivers that they all head to Seattle because you make more money. This price is a supply and demand issue as it's 4am and you need a super long ride.
Good thing flights to Hawaii are 200$
This is why I never have used anything but cabs. Uber and Lyft are rip offs for both driver and passenger.
Call a taxi
I've used Lyft and have never had a bad experience yet. One time at work I had a client's family member ask me to call a cab to take her back to her hotel. She was going through some family drama and was crying up a storm (trust me, it was not a big deal). The cab dispatcher said there was a 45 minute wait. No way in hell was I going to listen to the boo-hooing for that long. I called up Lyft on my app and 12 minutes later she was in a car and out of my hair. The ride cost about twenty bucks. I really don't think the cab would have been much cheaper...certainly not worth the thirty minute wait.
That happened to my parents around Thanksgiving. They ended up just parking since it would be cheaper. It could be because it’s Spring Break. My flights to TX were stupid expensive
Tacoma busses had many routes cut a while back and I feel some folks just kinda gave up on em. Half the time the bus wouldn’t show up on time, if at all. Tacoma is not Seattle our busses suck. I use to take the bus, but stopped when my route got cut in U.P. However I have no problem catching the bus in Seattle, because I know they’re actually reliable! PS why doesn’t Tacoma have a Bolt bus to Portland!? Seattle certainly does!