Sound Transit Route 540

I ride the 540 morning and evening M-​F. Can’t bring myself to drive anymore because the service is so friendly and reliable. Since they put the 520 toll in it makes no sense to drive from a financial standpoint when you add the cost of parking, gas, and wear and tear on your car. The One Bus Away cell phone app makes it easy to use. I’ve noticed maintenance issues like a squeaky overhead rack and written in to the Sound Transit web site and they fixed it right away. Riding the 540 gives me a chance to read the paper, start or finish off the day’s emails, contemplate the bald eagles on the bridge approach, watch the construction of the new bridge, and so many other things that are a better use of time than focusing on driving. One time I was late, so far from the stop I wasn’t even running, and the driver, who sees me there every morning, pulled over and picked me up, saying I was «close enough!» How cool is that?

Oh my gosh! I’m glad that it’s not just me who loves the route 540. Haven’t ridden the bus since I graduated from undergrad. But now that I’m doing grad school and live in Kirkland, I’m more than happy to ditch my car and take this bus.
I looove the drivers of these buses. They’re all so nice and friendly. They always chat, talk about how lovely it is in Seattle when it’s sunny and tell you your stop.
On my last day of Winter quarter, I was walking back to my car and the bus comes and stops to make sure that I wasn’t going to miss his bus, in case I was just walking to the bus stop and didn’t notice he was coming. HOW NICE IS THAT?

is an addiction — using your fancy web-​enabled cell phones or using good old fashioned text messaging, you can find out when the bus is coming. Like, actually coming, not when it’s scheduled to come. But this is only slightly beside the point…
The point is: There are phantom 540s roaming.
No, really, I told my bus driver I hadn’t seen him on onebusaway site listing as a «coming soon» bus. He explained to me, there are a few extra drivers who deadhead through the U. District and pick up riders, cleverly disguised as the 540. This fact makes me oh so happy, because I get a girl boner over things like buses. Very few other deadheaders are willing to make themselves into a fake route :)
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, they’ll also drive you through campus rather than just dropping you off at 15^th.
I’ve also had on numerous occasions a bus driver who made a buswide announcement at the UW Medical Center for everyone to «have a wonderful day,» and that he really appreciated that we let him drive us around.
Really, 540 drivers are the nicest, hands down.
And as I must say in every Sound Transit review… Air conditioning! Woo!