Lakeside School, University Prep, and The Evergreen School contract with King County Metro to provide specially designed routes that our students can use traveling to and from school. 

Students in the Metro custom bus program receive a special unlimited-use ORCA card. It can be used on the custom bus and anywhere else ORCA is accepted – including Metro, Sound Transit (including Link Light Rail), Community Transit, and passenger-only ferries – any day of the week including weekends and holidays. These cards must be purchased through the Lakeside business office. 

Students can only use Lakeside-issued ORCA cards to ride the custom buses; they must not use regular Metro ORCA cards for these buses. (See “Custom ORCA cards” below for more information.) Students must be enrolled in the Metro custom bus program in order to take the bus; the program does not allow for occasional riders. ORCA Cards are nontransferable and nonrefundable. Riding the custom buses while not enrolled in the program is against the school's Statement of Community Expectations.

COVID-19 protocols

Face masks are optional but recommended to be worn at the bus stops and while riding the buses. Visit here to learn more about the COVID safety protocols for Metro transit service. 

Costs

Program costs are based on the direct costs that Metro charges the school. The school covers all overhead costs of the program. For the 2022-2023 school year, the cost of the Metro custom bus program is $233.80 per month. Families will receive registration information through Veracross. 

Financial aid is available. Please contact Tearon Joseph at financialaid@lakesideschool.org

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 buses are regular King County Metro buses designed to meet the needs of commuters. Additional restrictions may be in place as safety precautions due to COVID19. 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.

While the special routes are used primarily by our students and employees, non-students looking for transportation along these 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.

Custom ORCA cards

Students in the program receive a special unlimited-use ORCA card. These cards must be purchased through the Lakeside School business office. Students can only use Lakeside issued ORCA cards to ride the custom buses; they must not use regular Metro ORCA cards for these buses.

The card must be tapped on a card reader to show proof of payment. Failure to tap the card may result in a citation. Lakeside School is not responsible for this citation.

Lakeside-issued youth ORCA cards will expire on June 30th. Students who enrolled in the custom bus program for the following school year will receive a digital bus pass via email in late August, as well as the new ORCA card on the first day of school. 

2022 Summer Youth ORCA Pass

Students in grades 8-12 who are eligible for the Free or Reduced-Price Lunch Program and are not enrolled in Lakeside Summer School, can get a free Summer Youth ORCA Pass. The Summer Youth ORCA Pass gives King County students unlimited rides on transit all summer long! For more information about this program, please read Overview Summer ORCA Pass below.  

Attachments/links: 

2022-2023 Bus Schedule

2022-2023 Google Maps

Custom Bus FAQs 2022-2023

Expectations for Riders and How to use your ORCA Card

Overview Summer ORCA Pass

 

It’s easy to form a carpool with other Lakeside families. Current Lakeside families can sign in to the Veracross family portal, click on “Directory” (with the @ symbol) at the top of the page, choose the "Nearby Families" tab, and a list of families living near you will be shown. There are designated carpool spots in all student parking lots on the Upper School campus.

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.

Bike racks are available at the Middle School, between the gym and main building, and at the Upper School next to Pigott Memorial Library in Red Square and at the southeast corner of The Paul G. Allen Athletics Center parking lot.