Getting around Mountlake Terrace with Community Transit
Community Transit is here to get you where you want to go. We are proud to be a part of the Mountlake Terrace community — we live here, ride here, and drive here. Wherever you need to go in Mountlake Terrace, feel good about how you get there.
About Mountlake Terrace
Mountlake Terrace lies on the southern border of the county, adjacent to Shoreline and Lynnwood, and is 13 miles north of Seattle. The city had a population of 21,315 people counted in the 2020 census.
Some of its most popular destinations include its various neighborhoods — Town Center, Cedar Terrace, Lake Ballinger, Gateway, Cascade View, and Melody Hill.
Major employers in the city include health insurance firm Premera Blue Cross, Umpqua Bank, and the many retailers throughout the city.
People traveling to and from the area can take bus routes provided by both Community Transit and Sound Transit. Mountlake Terrace Transit Center is a major hub for many of these regional transit options. The transit center is also served by a King County Metro route that connects Mountlake Terrace to Shoreline and Northgate Mall in Seattle. Other options include DART paratransit service and Vanpool. Many of its 18 public parks also offer nearby options for pedestrians and bikers, including Ballinger Park which is adjacent to the Interurban Trail. The Interurban Trail is an inter-city hiking and cycling trail developed in the late 1990s that travels between Seattle and Everett on the former interurban railway route.
Sound Transit's Lynnwood Link Extension project began construction in 2019 and will bring Link light rail service to Mountlake Terrace Transit Center when it opens in 2024.
Popular Destinations
Community Transit ridership increased 19% in 2022
Community Transit has released its end-of-the-year ridership numbers for 2022 and the data shows a positive trend in total system boardings.
The transit agency reported a total of 5.8M boardings in 2022, a significant increase over 4.9M boardings in 2021. Fixed-route bus service experienced a 19% increase. Breaking it down further, average weekday boardings increased by 20%, average Saturday boardings increased 14%, and average Sunday boardings increased 15% .
Swift Bus Rapid Transit
One of the significant contributing factors to the increase in boardings was Swift Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which accounted for almost 36% of total fixed-route boardings. The Swift Blue and Green lines together showed an average increase of 14% on weekdays, 11% on Saturdays, and 10% on Sundays. In comparison to the previous year, Swift BRT service had an increase of 240k total boardings.
DART Paratransit
The DART paratransit service performed well in 2022, with a 24% increase in total boardings. DART ridership was up 23% in average weekday boardings, 22% on Saturdays, and 34% on Sundays.
Vanpool
Vanpool total boardings went up 22% in ’22, almost 51k more boardings than the previous year. As of now there is 252 Vanpool vehicles on the road versus 219 at the end of 2021.
Zip
Zip Alderwood Shuttle started service in October 2022 and ridership numbers were not included in this report.
Many factors have contributed to the increase in transit ridership, including the loosening of COVID-19 policies and attitudes, which allowed people to return to office work and other activities. The introduction of the free youth transit pass in September 2022 also had a positive impact on the boardings.
