"Bus route 550, from South Bellevue P & R. Get off at 5th Ave. & Jackson."

That is still the first Bellevue option in the Seahawks' own transportation guide, under "From The East." The route no longer runs. Sound Transit eliminated the 550 in its fall service change, which took effect Saturday, August 29, and named the 2 Line and Route 556 as the alternatives. The guide does already list South Bellevue and East Main as Link stations, so the fix is just below the outdated line.

The guide is a good place to start because it shows how quickly the habits changed. For years, getting from Bellevue to a game in Seattle meant one bus and one stop. Since late August, it means picking a train station and a time to come home. The ride across the lake is now the dependable part. The trip out of your neighborhood and the trip home late at night are the parts to plan.

What Actually Changed on August 29

The 2 Line has crossed the I-90 floating bridge since March 28, 2026. It joins the 1 Line at International District/Chinatown and runs one continuous line from Lynnwood to Downtown Redmond. For five months the buses ran alongside it. The August restructure ended that overlap. The Seattle Transit Blog described it as cutting service that duplicated the 2 Line while adding frequency and reliability elsewhere.

For Bellevue, the changes that matter most on a game night are these:

• Route 550 is gone. Its alternatives are the 2 Line and Route 556.
• Route 556 now runs all day between Issaquah and Bellevue, every 15 minutes during the day, every day. In Bellevue it uses the old 550 stops on Bellevue Way and serves Bellevue Downtown Station instead of University District Station.
• Route 271 is gone, replaced by routes 270, 220 and 203.
• Route 270 is new. It runs between downtown Bellevue and the University District via Bellevue Way and SR-520, with daytime trips every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends.
• Route 220 is new. It connects Eastgate to downtown Bellevue by way of Bellevue College, Lake Hills and East Main station.

The train was already busy before the buses were cut. The Seattle Times reported about 3,700 average daily boardings at Bellevue Downtown this spring, with a similar number of riders getting off there. That is roughly double the station's traffic before the cross-lake segment opened.

Pick the Stop Before You Pick the Seat

Every fall venue in Seattle now has its own Link stop, and the 2 Line reaches each one without a transfer. On one early-morning trip in Sound Transit's October 4 timetable, Bellevue Downtown to International District/Chinatown takes about 22 minutes, to Westlake about 27, and to Capitol Hill about 30. That is time on the train only.

Husky games used to mean the 271 or a drive over 520. Now there's a direct train, because the 2 Line runs north past Westlake and Capitol Hill to the University of Washington station, which both lines serve. For arena events, the Monorail says it stays open one hour past the expected end of Climate Pledge Arena concerts and sports events. That covers the transfer back to Westlake on a normal night.

Where the Return Trip Backs Up

Getting there spreads out over an afternoon. Getting home happens all at once. Sound Transit tells riders to expect bigger crowds on game and event days. It recommends ORCA, contactless payment or the Transit GO Ticket app so you don't wait in line at a ticket machine.

This summer showed what a crowd that size looks like. After Seattle's first World Cup match, the Seattle Times reported that some passengers waited up to an hour at International District/Chinatown. Sound Transit metered entry to the station from the plaza, even while trains ran about four minutes apart with no breakdowns. The trains kept moving. The line formed at the station entrance.

Sound Transit's advice for those match days carries over to any sold-out night. Spread out along the platform, use the first and last cars, which tend to be less crowded, arrive early and leave later. The extra trains every eight minutes from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. were promised only for World Cup match days. For the October 11 Seahawks game against the 49ers, Sound Transit's event notice adds Sounder trips and extra T Line service but lists Link as regular service.

Regular service is not thin. Sound Transit's opening plan called for trains about every eight minutes at peak and every 10 to 15 minutes the rest of the day at the new stations. North of International District/Chinatown, where the 1 and 2 Lines share track, combined service runs every four to five minutes. For Bellevue riders, that gap matters. A Husky crowd heading south from the University of Washington station has trains every few minutes. Once you're past the junction, you're waiting for a 2 Line train specifically, and those come less often.

The Bellevue End of the Ride

Half of every round trip happens in Bellevue, and that's where the options depend most on the day of the week.

Visit Bellevue started the Bellevue Light Rail Shuttle on August 3. It's a pair of blue battery-powered Volkswagen vans parked at the curb beside Bellevue Downtown Station. There's no fare and no app. Each van carries up to seven passengers and drops riders anywhere in a zone that includes Bellevue Square, Meydenbauer Bay Park, Overlake Medical Center, Bellevue Botanical Garden, Lake Bellevue, Wilburton, the Spring District, H Mart, Uwajimaya and Whole Foods. It carried 937 passengers in August. It runs only on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and it's a pilot through December. Amazon contributed $150,000 to the budget, and whether it continues will depend on ridership, public satisfaction and funding.

The shuttle fits a Friday afternoon at the start of a trip. BellHop covers evenings and weekends better. Its free electric Kia cars run 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. You book through the app or hail one at a downtown curb. It has carried 265,000 passengers since it launched three years ago, and about half of them are Bellevue residents.

That leaves a gap. Most of the games and concerts in the table end after 9 p.m., when both free services have stopped. The Monday-night Bears and Cowboys games kick off at 5:15 p.m., and the Rams game on December 25 does too. Riders coming home from those games will get back after the shuttles stop. The ride home from Bellevue Downtown is then on foot, by car or on one of the new bus routes. The 270 runs on weekends from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., about every half hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and mostly hourly outside those hours. Its timetable is in effect through March 26, 2027.

The neighborhood stations make the return easier for some households. East Main sits by Old Bellevue's restaurants and boutiques, and Spring District is near Bellevue Brewing Company. If one of Bellevue's six stops is closer to home than the downtown one, start and end the trip there. The six are South Bellevue, East Main, Bellevue Downtown, Wilburton, Spring District and BelRed.

After the Last Train

Link runs from about 5 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. The August change also added a way home after that. Route 547 is a new Night Bus between downtown Seattle and Redmond. Sound Transit runs it under the ST Express name and King County Metro operates it.

1. Hours toward Redmond. On weekdays and Saturdays it runs 12:50 a.m. to 5:20 a.m. On Sundays service starts at 11:50 p.m. Departures are every 30 minutes.
2. Bellevue stops. South Bellevue Station at Bay 3, Bellevue Transit Center at Bay 3, NE 10th and 116th, NE 12th and 120th, and Bellevue-Redmond Road at 132nd.
3. Walks to know. It stops near every 2 Line station in this stretch except East Main. Riders headed to Wilburton, Spring District or BelRed walk a short distance from the bus stop to the station area.

If you're coming home from Old Bellevue, plan to finish before midnight. If you're coming home to the BelRed corridor, the 547 still gets you within a few blocks.

One Friday Shows How It All Works

Friday, October 9 is a good test. The Huskies host Iowa at 6 p.m., and aespa plays Climate Pledge Arena the same night. Both venues are on the 2 Line north of International District/Chinatown, so both crowds ride the shared 1 and 2 Line track. That afternoon, the shuttle vans are still running at Bellevue Downtown until 6. A Husky fan from Lake Hills can take the 220 to East Main and ride the 2 Line all the way to the stadium. On the way back, the fan rides the shared track south and then waits for a 2 Line train across I-90. If the night runs past midnight, the 547 leaves on its 30-minute schedule.

Transit changes like this one change how a neighborhood's daily life works, and they come up again whenever a home is listed and its buyers start asking questions. We follow those changes because our clients ask us about them. If you're wondering how these new transit options show up in what your Bellevue home is worth today, Shane & Anne would be glad to walk you through it. Request your free home valuation.