Transportation
At this time the Lakeside-Metro custom bus program is not available due to COVID-19 restrictions. More details are below under the Metro Custom Bus Program tab.
Lakeside has put together a targeted custom bus program, in partnership with First Student, a private school bus provider. This program will run when the school is in blended learning. To learn more about this program, please see the First Student Custom Bus Program tab below.
Lakeside has also created a special Transportation Coordinator role for the 2020-2021 school year to address concerns and provide answers to transportation-related questions. Please contact Nadia Selim at 206-440-2818 or transportation@lakesideschool.org. Student and employee safety is our highest priority and we appreciate your flexibility as we navigate the constantly changing landscape of transportation options.
First Student Custom Bus Program
Lakeside has put together a targeted transportation program that will run when the campus reopens for blended learning on Oct. 26, in partnership with First Student. While we are not able to provide the broader coverage of the Metro program due to the pandemic, our goal is to provide custom bus routes to students who cannot get to campus without a bus option.
The First Student custom bus program is available to Lakeside School students only.
The three-phase bus registration opens on Sept. 21. First priority will be given to families who have indicated that bus transportation is critical for them. In phase II, available seats will be offered to all other families. Families will receive detailed route maps, stop information, and time schedules in the registration email. Route maps and bus schedules are also available in the links below.
Key information regarding bus safety during COVID-19.
- The First Student school bus capacity is 72 passengers, seated. Ridership is reduced to 24-26 riders per bus, with one rider per bench. Siblings will sit on the same bench.
- The distance between students in window seats across the aisle is six feet. The seatbacks on buses are 25' tall, creating a barrier. Tape and stickers on seats will convey social distancing requirements.
- Buses will be disinfected daily.
- There will be one-way movement on the buses, with loading back to front and exiting front to back.
- During the trip, bus windows and ventilation roof hatch will remain open, unless it is unsafe to do so due to driving rain or snow.
- Drivers are trained to follow safety protocols, such as wearing a face covering while driving (unless it impairs vision) and while loading/unloading the bus, self-screening for COVID symptoms, and staying home if unwell.
- Students are expected to wear facemasks while riding the bus, maintain social distance while waiting, embarking, and disembarking, minimize touching surfaces on the bus, and wash/sanitize their hands after completing their ride.
- More information is available here: Safe Start; Bus Seating.
For questions related to the First Student custom bus program, please reach out to Ying Purcell at custombusprogram@lakesideschool.org.
Thank you for your patience and flexibility. We appreciate you working with us through this unusual year!
Attachments/links:
Metro Custom Bus Program
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. Due to COVID-19 the custom bus program is not yet available for fall 2020. We are in constant contact with Metro as the situation develops, and hope to start running the buses as soon as safely possible.
Limited routes with reduced ridership limits may become available for the 2020-2021 school year as King County progresses through Gov. Inslee's Safe Start phases. When we are able to resume Metro service for the 2020-2021 school year, the program will first be made available to families who responded to the June 9 transportation survey indicating that the custom routes are critical for their students. Families must sign up for the route they indicated in the transportation survey. Any spaces available after that will be offered to other families.
We appreciate families' flexibility until Metro operations return to full service levels.
General Information
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 riding custom buses must use the special ORCA card issued by Lakeside. A normal ORCA pass is not sufficient. (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.
Costs
For the 2020-2021 school year, the cost of the Metro custom bus program is $169 per month. When the program becomes available, 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.
Once a route is set, changes are not made during the school year. Requests for 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, with masks on, 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 are 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 not under 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 business office.
The card must be tapped on a card reader to show proof of payment (sometimes in both directions depending on the mode of transportation). Failure to tap the card may result in a citation. Lakeside School is not responsible for this citation.
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 “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.
Parking
Lakeside has limited car parking available on campus. Restrictions are in place for the 2020-2021 school year due to COVID-19 safety measures. 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.