West Seattle’s straight-shot bus to the airport may be living on borrowed time. Sound Transit is floating a plan to truncate ST Express Route 560 so it would stop at Burien Transit Center instead of rolling all the way into West Seattle, cutting off the one-seat ride many neighbors rely on to reach Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. Riders would have to transfer at Burien or hop to other Metro routes. The change is bundled into the agency’s draft 2027 Service Plan, which is now out for public comment.
What Sound Transit Is Proposing
In its draft materials the agency is blunt about the shift: “Route 560 would no longer serve stops in West Seattle, ending at Burien Transit Center.” Alongside the cutback, Sound Transit says it wants to boost service on the Bellevue–Burien portion of the route, aiming for buses every 20 minutes on weekday daytimes and every 30 minutes in evenings and on weekends. Burien is also slated to become the western terminus of the Stride S1 line, which is expected to replace Route 560 as early as 2028. These changes, along with maps of the revised routing, appear in the agency’s service-plan proposal, according to Sound Transit.
How Riders Would Connect
For West Seattle residents, the fallback is already on the street: King County Metro’s RapidRide H Line. It runs roughly every 10 minutes most weekdays and about every 15 minutes on weekends, offering a frequent local link into Burien. That would give riders more regular “short hops” to a single transfer point, but at the cost of extra walking, waiting and juggling luggage for those used to rolling straight from West Seattle to Sea–Tac in one shot. For current schedules and project information, see King County Metro.
Local Context And Past Cuts
The truncation idea first surfaced publicly in the Morgan Community Association newsletter, and it is not the first time Route 560’s West Seattle segment has been trimmed. The Junction leg of the route was eliminated in 2013. Community groups and frequent riders argue that losing the last remaining one-seat airport connection would make trips with suitcases, families and odd flight times noticeably more of a hassle, according to West Seattle Blog.
How To Weigh In
Sound Transit is actively taking feedback. The agency’s news release says the 2027 Service Plan survey is open through July 27 and notes that a virtual information session was held on July 21. The survey includes a dedicated section on Route 560 along with maps showing the proposed truncation, and the online form is available via the service survey. Final proposals are set to be reviewed this fall and, if the board signs off, could roll out in 2027, subject to partner-agency capacity, according to Sound Transit.
