More sailings, buses and higher taxi fares during I-5 construction

Changes to taxi, ferry and bus service during the upcoming Interstate 5 lane-closure project were announced by local officials Tuesday.

Taxis

A taxi ride from the downtown hotel district to the airport will cost at least $7 more than usual, and city officials are warning it could be more.

Seattle's standard $28 flat rate for a cab driving south from downtown to the airport will be suspended through the Aug. 10-29 construction, the city announced.

Instead, meters will compute the cab fare, which adds up to $35 if a taxi is moving at a regular speed from downtown to the airport, said Denise Movius, director of the city's revenue and consumer-affairs division.

However, a 40-minute delay could add $20 to the total. That means if you are in a cab stuck in traffic, the cost of a trip to the airport could be $55 or more.

Although construction will be on the northbound freeway lanes, delays and backups will affect those traveling south as well, Movius said.

"They're not going to go out there if they're going to lose money," said Movius of cab drivers.

The flat rate from downtown to the airport, established in 2000 in Seattle, will be reinstated when construction ends.

Ferries

Washington State Ferries will increase service beginning Sunday.

The 188-car Walla Walla will be replaced by the 144-car Kaleetan on the Seattle-Bremerton route. While the Kaleetan carries fewer vehicles, it carries 500 more passengers than the Walla Walla.

The 6:20 a.m. sailing from Bremerton will have passenger space available to accommodate walk-on passengers hoping to avoid I-5.

On Monday, the ferries will add two passenger-only sailings to the Seattle-Vashon Island route. In addition to the scheduled 7 and 8:15 a.m. sailings from Vashon, there will be a 5:50 a.m. sailing to Seattle and a 6:25 sailing from Seattle to Vashon. In the afternoons, in addition to the 4:45 and 6:10 p.m. sailings from Seattle to Vashon, the ferry system will add a 3:35 p.m. sailing. There also will be a 4:10 p.m. sailing from Vashon to Seattle.

Buses

King County Metro Transit says it will put 15 spare buses on standby in the south county Monday.

Metro had said earlier that its bus fleet was too "maxed out" to add service.

The 15 standby buses would start running if regular trips fall behind schedule, or to relieve overcrowding, spokeswoman Linda Thielke said Tuesday. Metro says its existing buses already have room for a few thousand more passengers.

Seattle Times staff reporters Christina Siderius, Susan Gilmore and Mike Lindblom contributed to this story.