Does it cost anything to park at the Park and Ride lots in the Seattle area? How much is bus fare to downtown (2100 block of 3rd St.) from one?
Park and rides are free. The cost of a bus ride depends on two factors…whether it is peak or non-peak, and whether it is one zone or two zones. Peak just means during rush hour. One zone is the city of Seattle, two zones is a ride that crosses the city limits.
The most expensive ride, peak 2 zone IIRC is 2.50, minus .50 for 1 zone, minus $.50 for non-peak.
Suppose a PAR is closed. How far from downtown must one be to find free and legal street parking?
I’m the park and rides never “close”. They’re just parking lots next to high traffic bus stops. They’re just like, say, supermarket parking lots only without the supermarket.
Free parking is pretty much nonexistant downtown, except parking meters don’t need to be fed after a certain time which should be posted on the meter. I think this is usually 7:00.
One more thing to consider, the Seattle downtown proper isn’t very busy at night. Sure, there is some nightlife in Pioneer square or Capital Hill and various places are open downtown, but downtown itself pretty much rolls up the sidewalks at 7:00. Or maybe this has changed, I hardly ever go to downtown Seattle anymore. But if you’re going to downtown in the evening it should be pretty easy to find a metered spot that is free in the evening. And getting into and out of downtown Seattle is pretty easy with the busses, there should be busses every 15 or 30 minutes depending on the route.
You’re going here?:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=2100%203rd%20Ave&city=Seattle&state=WA&zipcode=98121-2338&country=US&geodiff=1
To add to Lemur866, here’s the link to what should be the bus website for Seattle. Route finders, schedules, what have you.
True, but that address is more Belltown than downtown proper. Belltown has some significant nightlife, and on-street parking is definitely more difficult than downtown (after hours).
Over the past 15 years that I’ve been here, downtown parking has gradually moved from “always being able to find a spot after 6pm any day of the week”, to “don’t even think about finding a free spot on weekends”. Monday through Thursday is still dead enough that circling for a few minutes will nab you a place, but Fr/Sa/Su is frustrating enough that I’ll just cough up the money for a lot, instead of circling and fighting with the hundreds of other sharks looking for the tiny scrap of chum in the water.
That’s about where it is.
I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll be going there daily from about 8:00 to 5:00. That’s why I need to find free parking and a bus. 
Good luck with getting the job, Johnny!
That’s a fair old daily commute from Birch Bay. I have a friend who lives near Everett, and until recently commuted daily into downtown Seattle. She drove to the Eastmont Park & Ride on El Capitan Way (just off I-5 near the Everett Mall), and took the Sound Transit Express Bus #510 or #513. Theses buses stop at 5th and Pine in Seattle, about one-third of a mile from your future workplace (you can also transfer to a Seattle Metro bus for the last few blocks – it’s in the Ride Free Area). If she was running a couple of minutes late, she’d drive down I-5 to the Ash Way Park & Ride and take the #511 instead. Either way, it’s $2.50 each way or $90 for a monthly pass. Route maps for the 510/513 here, 511 here downtown Seattle stops shown on map here.
You could drive further down I-5 to a Park & Ride closer to downtown Seattle, but my friend said that the 50min-1hr express bus trips saved enough gas and vehicle wear to make it the best bet for her. Much less driving stress, too.
Thanks. Yeah, it’s 100 miles from my house. My longest commute was 75 miles (with 30-40 miles in L.A. traffic). If this happens I’ll try to find an efficiency apartment in Seattle and go home on weekends.