Metro’s updated web-based Trip Planner offers better searching, real-time departure predictions, plus a whole lot more!

Real-time departure prediction information is built in for each route, shown in this graphic.

King County Metro continues making your transit experience better and easier with the launch of its improved web-based Puget Sound Trip Planner. The new site includes upgraded accessibility features and a responsive design for mobile users, along with a list of other notable enhancements. The new web-based Trip Planner is live and ready for use now.

For years, Trip Planner has been an important planning tool used by transit riders throughout the Puget Sound region. This new release has a robust search function with enhanced recognition of both locations and landmarks. Going to your local community center but don’t know the address? Just type in the location’s name and let Trip Planner find the right route for you! The search feature makes planning your trip much simpler.

Trip Planner map showing new search features integrating address and location recognition

Another great feature built into the Trip Planner provides real-time departure prediction information for stop locations, along with online timetables for your favorite bus routes. Want to know where your bus is? You can view the route details while the integrated tracker provides a real-time map view of bus locations from the last time they pinged—so you know how far your bus is from your stop.

Real-time departure prediction information is built in for each route, shown in this graphic.

Graphic showing a bus route with small bus icons representing a prediction where the bus <a href=is based on the last known ping" width="616" height="327" />

The new Trip Planner also gives you the ability to set your trip planning options. If you want your plan to contain more detail, such as choosing different modes of travel, maximum walking distance or future travel times or dates, just click the gear icon next to the destination field and a new window will open. From there, select your preferred options and click the “done” button in the bottom right-hand corner. This is a great tool to get the travel plan that is right for you.

Clicking the gear icon next to your destination opens up a detailed trip planning option window for more detailed customization of your itinerary

If you just want to see options for the near future, when you might only need to adjust time departure or arrival in 15-minute increments or see your options for tomorrow, the quick change options appears after you search. You can quickly change the Travel Mode, Time, and Date fields with arrows that move forward and backward for those fields. This is really useful when you’re planning to leave relatively soon.

When you enter your starting and <a href=end points and search, all available itineraries open up in the window shown here. Quick change options allow you to move your time in 15 minute increments and you can move forward or backward one full day at a time. Use the gear icon to get more detailed trip planning options." width="616" height="593" />

Other upgrades to Trip Planner include easy access to transit alerts for your stops and routes, the ability to find the bus stops closest to you, and an option that lists all the direct transit trips between two points within a specific time window.

Please note, the Puget Sound Trip Planner apps for Android and iOS have not been upgraded with all the same features.

As you use the new Trip Planner, please share any feedback about your experience via our feedback form, found by clicking here. We value your user suggestions as we continue improving your transit planning tools.