Where do you catch the bus you used to take? For most Bellevue riders since August 29, the honest answer is "it depends which half of the old trip you mean." That Saturday, King County Metro and Sound Transit restructured Eastside service around the full 2 Line. They deleted the two routes that had carried Bellevue Way and the Bellevue College corridor for years.
Neither route was replaced one-for-one. Each was cut into pieces at a transfer point. The new network runs more often and later on several corridors, but it expects you to change vehicles somewhere. The busiest place to do that, Bellevue Transit Center, is under a construction reroute until December 20, with several buses moved off their usual bays.
So the useful question has changed. It used to be which bus. Now it's where you switch, and which curb to stand on when you get there.
The 550 Became Two Trips That Meet at South Bellevue
Sound Transit Route 550 carried riders between downtown Seattle and Bellevue for years. It's gone because the train now covers that trip. The 2 Line's Crosslake Connection opened March 28, 2026, crossing the I-90 floating bridge and adding Judkins Park and Mercer Island stations. That links Bellevue with Seattle and Redmond on a single line. Sound Transit says boardings at the stations served only by the 2 Line more than doubled once cross-lake service began.
The train doesn't run up Bellevue Way, though, and the 550 did. Those neighborhood stops now belong to Sound Transit Route 556, which was rebuilt as an all-day Issaquah–Bellevue route. Heading toward Issaquah, the Route 556 schedule lists these Bellevue stops:
- Bellevue Transit Center
- NE 4th St & 108th Ave NE
- Bellevue Way NE & NE 4th St
- Bellevue Way SE & Main St
- Bellevue Way SE & SE 3rd St
- Bellevue Way SE & SE 11th St
- Bellevue Way SE & SE 16th St
- South Bellevue Station
If you live along Bellevue Way SE and used to take the 550 into Seattle, the trip now has two legs. Ride the 556 south to South Bellevue Station, then take the 2 Line west. The Oct. 14 timetable shows the 556 running from 4:05 a.m. to midnight, about every 15 minutes for much of the day and about every 30 minutes later in the evening. Sound Transit's service-change notice says the route now serves Bellevue Transit Center and Bellevue Downtown Station instead of the University District, and connects with the 2 Line.
The 271 Was Split Among Five Routes
The 271's breakup went further. It used to run as one long line from Issaquah through Eastgate and Bellevue College to downtown Bellevue, then across SR 520 to the University District. Metro's service change page lists the replacements segment by segment:
| Old 271 segment | What covers it now | Daytime frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown Bellevue to the U District via Bellevue Way and SR 520 | New Route 270 | Every 15 minutes weekdays, 30 to 60 minutes weekends |
| Eastgate, Bellevue College and Lake Hills to downtown Bellevue | New Route 220, via East Main Station | Every 15 minutes weekdays, every 30 minutes weekends |
| Issaquah Transit Center and Eastgate to downtown Bellevue | Sound Transit Route 556 | About every 15 minutes |
| Issaquah to Eastgate via Newport Way | Route 203, ending at South Bellevue Station | Every 30 minutes, hourly after 7 p.m. weekdays |
| Downtown Bellevue toward Medina | DART Route 249, revised to run through Medina, Hunts Point and Clyde Hill instead of Bellevue Way | Not listed in the change notices |
Different sources group the replacements a little differently. Seattle Transit Blog's breakdown names Routes 270, 220 and 203, and Metro's own announcement highlights 220 and 270. On the street, every route in the table covers part of the old 271 corridor.
Route 249 changed in a way that matters on Bellevue Way. It used to share north Bellevue Way. It now runs between South Kirkland Park & Ride and downtown Bellevue through Medina, Clyde Hill and Hunts Point, and the new 270 took over north Bellevue Way. The 270 stops at Bellevue Transit Center and at Bellevue Way NE & NE 10th Street, then crosses the lake with stops at Evergreen Point Station, UW Station and the University District. That schedule runs through March 26, 2027.
The 203 does a different job. Its timepoints are Issaquah Highlands P&R, North Issaquah, Issaquah Transit Center, SE Newport Way & 150th Ave SE, Factoria and South Bellevue Station. For Factoria, that means a direct bus to the light rail platform at South Bellevue that the old 271 never offered.
The Bellevue College Ride Now Includes a Transfer
The splits matter most on one trip. Bellevue College to the University District used to be a single bus. It isn't anymore. Route 220 serves Bellevue College and Bellevue Transit Center, and Route 270 picks up at Bellevue Transit Center and runs to the U District. So the old one-seat ride now means getting off one bus downtown and boarding another.
Both legs run every 15 minutes during the weekday daytime, which keeps the wait short. On weekends the 220 drops to every 30 minutes and the 270 to every 30 to 60, so the transfer costs more time on a Saturday than on a Tuesday.
The fare side is simpler than the routing. Under Sound Transit's transfer rules, ORCA and contactless riders who transfer within two hours get credit for the first fare toward the next leg, and only pay the difference if the second leg costs more. Tap when you board a bus and before you board Link. You don't need to tap off either one. If you pay with a bank card, you have to use the same card each time to get the transfer credit.
The Transfer Hub Is a Construction Zone Until December 20
This is where the new network runs into a temporary problem. The network now depends on changing buses at Bellevue Transit Center, and from August 29 through December 20, several of the routes you'd connect to there aren't at their usual bays. Metro's service advisory, last updated September 21, puts it this way:
Routes 220, 240, ST 556 and ST 566 will be rerouted around Bellevue Transit Center from Sat Aug 29 through Sun Dec 20 due to construction.
Bays 5, 6, 8 and 9 are affected. Where to board depends on the route and direction:
- Route 220 in both directions, and ST 556 toward Bellevue: the temporary southbound stop on 110th Avenue NE, just south of NE 6th Street.
- ST 556 toward Issaquah and ST 566 toward Auburn: Bellevue Transit Center Bay 1, Stop #85630.
- Route 240 toward Renton and toward Bellevue TC: also Bay 1.
- ST 560 toward Westwood Village: the southbound temporary stop on 110th Avenue NE.
- ST 532 to Everett, ST 535 to Lynnwood and Route 908 to Snohomish P&R: the northbound temporary stop on 110th Avenue NE.
Put that next to the Bellevue College trip. If you're heading downtown on the 220 to catch the 270, your 220 arrives at the curb on 110th Avenue NE, not inside the transit center. The same goes for anyone riding the 556 in from Bellevue Way. The temporary stop pattern ends with the reroute, so it's a fall arrangement. The 2026 routes themselves stay.
South Bellevue Station Picked Up New Connections
South Bellevue Station now handles more of the work the old routes did. It's where the 556 meets the 2 Line, where the 203 ends, and where Route 111 from Renton now terminates. The 111 used to be peak-only. It now runs all day, every day, every 30 minutes, and every 15 minutes during peak hours. Route 269 from Sammamish expanded to all-day, all-week service as well, though its connection to the train is at Mercer Island Station.
For Bellevue residents on the south end, that means more ways to reach a platform without driving to one. That could matter more next year. Sound Transit's parking page says fees at selected Link station park-and-rides are planned to begin in 2027. It doesn't yet say which stations will be included.
Here's how the old trips map onto the new network. Bellevue Way service runs on the 556. Bellevue College runs on the 220. Trips across SR 520 start on the 270 at the transit center. Trips into Seattle start at South Bellevue Station or downtown on the 2 Line. Until December 20, the downtown connection for the 220 and for the 556 toward Bellevue starts at the temporary stop on 110th Avenue NE.
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