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.
Ride our connections to light rail
Updated bus service brings you connections to light rail stations in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, and Shoreline.
Popular Destinations
Community Transit ridership increased 23% in 2023
If you rode the bus, took a vanpool, or took a DART paratransit ride in 2023, you are part of the nearly 7.1 million boardings that increased Community Transit ridership by 23% over the previous year. As Community Transit actively works on expanding services across Snohomish County in 2024, it is exciting to see our community members choosing transit to get where they need to be.
Swift Bus Rapid Transit accounted for 34.6% of total boardings
A large part of this ridership increase is from boardings on our Swift Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, which accounted for almost 2.5 million, or 34.6%, of our total boardings in 2023. These rides took place on the Swift Blue Line (Aurora Village – Everett Station) and Swift Green Line (Seaway – Canyon Park).
Fixed-Route boardings went up
In 2023, fixed-route bus boardings went up 22.9% over the previous year. Fixed-route means all our regularly scheduled bus service. In 2024 and beyond, Community Transit is expanding bus service in Snohomish County and you can learn more about these changes.
DART paratransit boardings went up
In 2023, Dial-A-Ride Transportation (DART) paratransit boardings increased 14.9% over the previous year. DART is an on-demand ride-sharing service that provides transportation for eligible Snohomish County residents who can’t access or use Community Transit’s fixed-route bus service due to a disability or condition.
Vanpool boardings went up
In 2023, Vanpool boardings increased 35.4% over the previous year. Vanpool is a shared-ride service where you and a group of coworkers, or others heading in your direction, share your workday commute in a van that Community Transit provides and maintains for you. Vanpools are designed to help you save time, money, and reduce your climate impact when you share your ride to work.
Zip Alderwood Shuttle
The Zip Alderwood Shuttle is an on-demand shared-ride service for travel anywhere within a defined area in Alderwood, for the same price as local bus fare. Zip had a successful pilot testing program, and it officially went into regular service in October 2023. While there has not yet been enough data collected to do a year-over-year analysis, Zip ridership has been about 4,000 boardings per month.
Pictured above: A look at the data showing an increase in Community Transit ridership from 2021-2023.
Looking ahead
It’s exciting to see more people choosing to ride public transit in the post pandemic era. Travel and work habits have changed, so Community Transit is continuing to expand services in Snohomish County to meet the needs of riders. Find out more on the Service Changes webpage.
The expansion of bus service in Snohomish County includes the launch of the new Swift Orange Line on March 30. The Swift Orange Line will run between Edmonds College and McCollum Park and will bring even more people on board with Community Transit. If you haven't tried Swift BRT yet, hop on any of the Swift BRT lines and find out why this is our most popular service!
