Federal Way Downtown is a future light rail station at the site of the Federal Way Transit Center, a

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

Federal Way, Washington Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-large ...

. The bus station opened in 2006 and has 1,190 parking spaces available in its parking garage and surface lots. It is served by

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

Pierce Transit Pierce Transit, officially the Pierce County Public Transportation Benefit Area Corporation, is an operator of public transit in Pierce County, Washington. It operates a variety of services, including fixed-route buses, dial-a-ride transportat ...

and

Sound Transit Express Sound Transit Express (ST Express) is a network of regional express buses, operated by the multi-county transit agency, Sound Transit. The routes connect major regional hubs throughout 53 cities in three counties (King, Pierce, and Snohomish) i ...

buses and is the southern terminus of the

RapidRide A Line The A Line is one of six RapidRide lines (routes with some bus rapid transit features) operated by King County Metro in King County, Washington. The A Line began service on October 2, 2010, running from Tukwila to Federal Way, mostly along Pac ...

. The transit center is located adjacent to

The Commons at Federal Way The Commons at Federal Way (formerly SeaTac Mall) is a regional shopping mall located in Federal Way, Washington, and is the only indoor shopping center in the city. The previous owners, Steadfast Commercial Properties, changed the name to The Com ...

shopping mall and

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

, connected via a direct access ramp to its

high-occupancy vehicle lane A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...

s. A similar park-and-ride lot, on the south side of South 320th Street and east of the shopping mall, opened on November 5, 1979, using land donated by a local businessman. As part of the expansion of

Link light rail Link light rail is a light rail rapid transit system serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit providers, and consists of two non-connected lines: ...

Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, ...

, the transit center is planned to be the southern terminus of the Federal Way Link Extension, which would extend light rail south from its current terminus at Angle Lake station to Federal Way. A voter-approved plan passed in 2008 proposed funding to design, but not construct, a light rail station and other bus and parking improvements at the transit center. In 2016, the

Sound Transit 3 Sound Transit 3, abbreviated as ST3, was a ballot measure during the November 2016 elections in Seattle, Washington, proposing an expansion of the regional public transit system. The measure was proposed by Sound Transit, which was established ...

plan approved a 2024 completion date for light rail to Federal Way Transit Center, as well as a light rail extension from Federal Way to Tacoma to be opened by 2030. The preliminary design for the light rail station consists of an elevated platform along 23rd Avenue South that is located two blocks south of the current transit center. A second garage with 400 parking stalls would be built, along with

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

on the site of a former shopping center. Demolition of several vacated retail buildings at the site began in April 2020. A series of 35 murals by local artists were installed on the construction site's fences, but were damaged in an act of vandalism in August 2020. Sound Transit officials called the incident racially-motivated, as the murals were primarily celebrating the area's Pacific Islander, Black, and Asian communities. Light rail service is expected to begin in 2025.

References

External links

{{Sound Transit railway stations, Central=y, state=collapsed Transport infrastructure completed in 2006 2006 establishments in Washington (state) Federal Way, Washington Future Link light rail stations Transportation buildings and structures in King County, Washington Bus stations in Washington (state) Sound Transit Express King County Metro Link light rail stations in King County, Washington Railway stations scheduled to open in 2025