Transportation
Transportation
Lakeside School contracts with King County Metro and ZUM, a private school bus provider, to provide specially designed routes that students can use for traveling to and from school. Our custom bus routes are commuter-style, running on major arterials with occasional stops to serve the greatest number of families in the shortest amount of time. Families generally drive or carpool to the stops. To learn more about this program, please see the Lakeside Custom Bus Program tab above.
For questions about the custom bus program or other transportation-related concerns, please contact Ying Purcell at 206-440-2941 or transportation@lakesideschool.org.
Custom Bus Program
Lakeside School partners with University Prep and The Evergreen School to provide six specially designed AM/PM and two evening routes that our students can use traveling to and from school. Five AM/PM routes and one evening route are operated by King County Metro. One AM/PM and one evening route is operated by ZUM, a private school bus provider.
Students must be enrolled in the custom bus program in order to take the bus; the program does not allow for occasional riders. Ridership is nontransferable and nonrefundable. Students enrolled in the program receive a custom bus sticker to be affixed on the back of their student ID card that must be shown to the driver when embarking. Riding the custom buses while not enrolled in the program is against the school's Statement of Community Expectations.
Costs
Program costs are based on the direct costs that Metro and ZUM charge the school. The school covers all overhead costs of the program. For the 2025–2026 school year, the cost of the custom bus program is $375.00 per month. Families will receive bus registration information through Veracross in late May 2025.
Financial aid is available and automatically applied for students receiving tuition financial aid. Please contact Tearon Joseph at financialaid@lakesideschool.org with questions about financial aid.
Routes
The custom bus routes are commuter-style, running on major arterials with occasional stops, and serving the greatest number of families in the shortest amount of time. Families generally drive or carpool to the stops.
Metro does not allow for mid-year route changes. Requests for route changes are reviewed each December for implementation in the following academic year. Route-specific information and maps are located below.
Bus Stops
Students should be waiting at the bus stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to depart. Riders must be at the stop, not sitting in cars where the driver cannot see them. Students should not ask drivers for special stops.
What are the buses like to ride?
The majority of our custom buses are regular King County Metro buses designed to meet the needs of commuters. If a student has never ridden a Metro bus before, we encourage parents and guardians to take a trip on a Metro bus with their student before the beginning of the school year and discuss expectations and respectful and safe behavior on public transit. For the 2025-2026 school year, ZUM, a private yellow school bus provider, is operating two routes for our students.
While the special routes are used primarily by our students and employees, non-students looking for transportation along the Metro routes can find them on Metro’s website and use these buses if they pay the custom fare. This does not happen often.
Bus timetables are constructed to take traffic into account. However, traffic and weather are beyond our control, and buses can sometimes run late. As on all Metro buses, there are occasions where students may need to stand.
ORCA cards
An ORCA pass is not required nor valid on the school’s custom buses; however, it can be used to ride regular Metro transit, including the Light Rail, for free. We encourage students to apply for a Youth ORCA Card at Free Youth Transit Pass.
Attachments/links:
Custom Bus FAQs and Expectations for Riders
Carpooling
It’s easy to form a carpool with other Lakeside families. Current Lakeside families can sign in to the Veracross family portal, click on “Online Directory” button on the right; next, from the "Household" tab, click on the "Nearby Student Households" link to access a list of families living near you. There are designated carpool spots in all student parking lots on the Upper School campus.
Please note that Lakeside School is not responsible for any risk or liability associated with carpools created by families using Veracross directory information.
Parking
Lakeside has limited car parking available on campus. Please follow posted signs.
For major events, signs will direct attendees to available parking. Please note that cars parked on campus without proper identification or inappropriately parked on campus or neighboring streets may be towed.
Accessible parking: The visitor parking lot, between Allen-Gates Hall and 1st Avenue NE, has four stalls reserved for accessible parking; The Paul G. Allen Athletics Center parking lot has two spots reserved. Cars must have a valid accessible parking permit to park in these spaces.
Street Parking: There is limited street parking in the area around Lakeside. Please be considerate of our neighbors; Seattle’s municipal code states that there is no parking within five feet of a driveway, mailbox, or alley.
Employees: Lakeside faculty and staff who register vehicles are assigned a parking lot at the beginning of the year.
Parents and guardians: Parents and guardians may park in any available spot in the Middle School lot (enter off NE 135th Street). Parents and guardians visiting the Upper School (who do not have a permit) should park on the street. The Wright Center parking lot (across 4th Avenue NE from the Wright Community Center) and parking along 4th Avenue NE between NE 145th Street and the book depot are for faculty/staff and parents/guardians by permit only.
Students: Student parking on the Upper School campus is on a first-come, first-served basis. Students who register their vehicles may park in lots next to Stimson field and The Paul G. Allen Athletics Center; there is also a lot reserved for seniors. There are designated carpool spots in all student lots.
Visitors: Visitors to the Middle School should park in the visitors’ lot outside the main entrance on NE 137th Street. Upper School visitors should park in the south parking lot between Allen-Gates Hall and NE 1st Avenue. All visitors to campus will be asked to sign in and register their cars in the main office of either campus. Cars without a visitor parking permit will be towed.