Mercer Island's First Winter With Light Rail Runs Late. The Island Bus Doesn't.

Sound Transit runs the 2 Line from about 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and from 6 a.m. to midnight on Sunday, and the city lists the same hours for Mercer Island Station. On a weekday, the last southbound Route 204 bus leaves that station at 7:03 p.m. That leaves about six hours each night when the train still runs and the island bus does not. As of late October, no shuttle or on-demand service had been announced to cover them.

In summer that gap barely mattered because it was light out until late. This is the island's first winter with the 2 Line, which opened across Lake Washington on March 28, 2026. Now the sun sets before the commute is over, and Town Center's holiday calendar fills up with evening events. How you get between your house and the station now shapes most evenings out.

Two Clocks at One Station

Sound Transit's published 2 Line timetable puts Westlake about 15 minutes from Mercer Island, Downtown Bellevue about 12 minutes away and Downtown Redmond about 31. Those are scheduled times on the train, not door to door. The island's buses run on a much shorter day. Here is how the two compare under the Metro schedules in effect from August 29, 2026, through March 26, 2027:

Route 204 also has a flexible side. Its vans can leave the fixed route to serve SE 26th St, North Mercer Way, SE 70th Pl, East Mercer Way, West Mercer Way and SE 72nd St. Trips have to be requested at least two hours ahead, and the vans cannot go up private residential lanes. That deviation service runs only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. It helps with a midday errand. It does nothing for an 8 p.m. train home from a downtown dinner.

The gap was clear soon after opening. In April, KOMO News reported that the 204 and 630 ended service before 7 p.m. on weekdays while light rail ran until midnight. Mayor Dave Rosenbaum told the station that "how am I supposed to use this?" was the question residents kept bringing to him.

Metro Rebuilt the Station Around Riders From Off the Island

The August 29 service change did bring big changes to Mercer Island Station, but they mostly serve people arriving from elsewhere. New Route 215 replaced Route 208, connecting Mercer Island with Eastgate, Issaquah Highlands, Snoqualmie and North Bend. It runs every 30 minutes between Mercer Island and Issaquah Highlands, and every third trip continues to North Bend, according to Seattle Transit Blog's rundown of the change. Route 218 no longer goes to Downtown Seattle and ends at Mercer Island Station. Route 269 was extended from Issaquah Highlands to the station, with 15-minute weekday peak service and new weekend trips. ST Express Route 550 between Bellevue and Seattle stopped running after August 29. Sound Transit lists the 2 Line and Route 556 as the alternatives.

All of that makes the station a transfer hub for the I-90 corridor. The island's own routes saw much less change. Metro's change page lists one revision to Route 630, a more direct route to First Hill via 9th Avenue. Route 204 does not appear among the adjusted routes. The on-demand Metro Flex pilots that King County Metro announced for August went to Federal Way and South Auburn.

People are riding anyway. Sound Transit's first station-level figures, reported by Seattle Transit Blog, counted an average of 1,723 weekday boardings at Mercer Island in April 2026. Judkins Park, the other station opened with the Crosslake Connection, counted 2,130. Those early numbers come from a station that was busy before any of the August bus changes.

The Late Train Is Also a Town Center Story

The station sits in the middle of I-90, near Town Center, with entrances on 77th Ave SE and 80th Ave SE. On opening day, Hap's Burgers and Taps, a short walk from the platform, saw activity about 50 percent above a typical day, KOMO News reported. Its owner credited the good weather as well. About ten days later, David Huffman of Shawn's Cafe and Bakery told KIRO 7 that he was seeing one or two light-rail customers a day and a steady rise in sales. Chamber CEO Jen Dean called the added foot traffic exciting.

Customers on foot are only half of it. Most people who come to Town Center in the evening arrive by car, and that is the mayor's other concern. He told KOMO News he worried that commuters would fill Town Center parking, and said, "We need these spots to turn over so we have opportunity for customers to come in." He also said the city was looking at shuttles, shared rides and public-private parking partnerships. None of those had been announced as of late October. The rules below are the ones that apply this winter.

After Seven, the Station Is a Parking and Bike Question

Once the last 204 has left, there are four ways to reach the station from home, each with its own rules:

1. Mercer Island Park-and-Ride, 8000 N Mercer Way. 447 spaces, 10 of them ADA. In April, KOMO reported that the lot filled early in the day. That matters most for a morning commute. For an evening trip it is less of a constraint.
2. Town Center Parking Area, 7810 SE 27th St. 33 stalls, with registration through ParkMobile required. The first two hours are free, then $2.50 an hour up to $12.50 a day, with a 14-hour limit. The rules apply from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. A car parked at 6 p.m. for an evening in Seattle gets two free hours, then pays $5 for the two hours before the rules lift at 10 p.m.
3. Town Center street parking. Spaces are limited to two hours from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. After two hours, the city's Town Center parking rules require you to move to a different block. That works for dinner on the island. It does not work for a night in Seattle.
4. Bike. The station has 32 spaces in a secure bike room and 50 rack spaces. There are 24 BikeLink lockers at the Park-and-Ride and eight at the Town Center lot. All are first come, first served, available 24 hours a day, and cost $0.05 an hour.

North of the station, the North Mercer Restricted Parking District covers 76th through 82nd Avenues SE north of North Mercer Way. According to the city, it was created in 2003 to keep commuters from parking on residential streets. Permits cost $25 per two-year period, and each household can get up to two guest permits. Households there who host holiday guests coming by train should take care of guest permits before they arrive.

The west entrance on 77th Ave SE was under sidewalk work through Saturday, October 31, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. During work hours the sidewalk and the pickup and drop-off area were closed to northbound traffic, and the station could be reached only from the south. If you get dropped off there, check Sound Transit's station page for any alerts still posted.

The Holiday Calendar, Set Against the Last Bus

The island's own late-fall and December events cluster around Town Center and the Mercer Island Community & Event Center at 8236 SE 24th St. Lining their times up against the 204 schedule shows which ones you can still reach by bus:

ArtWalk falls on the first Friday of every month, so the December walk should land on December 4. The tree lighting includes performances by the High School Choir and Creation Dance Studio and is sponsored by BECU and Puget Sound Energy. The city's event page does not yet list a location. The Holiday Market is the only event on the list that ends well within bus hours. The Community Holiday Party ends 87 minutes after the last weekday 204 leaves the station.

The holidays also change the schedules. Metro runs Sunday schedules on the 1 and 2 Lines on Thanksgiving, November 26, on Christmas Day and on New Year's Day. Route 630 does not run on holidays. For a Thanksgiving trip into Seattle, plan on the Sunday train schedule, a station that closes at midnight, and an island bus that has stopped running before dark.

Proximity to the station has quickly become one of the first things people ask about on Mercer Island, and the answer varies a great deal from one part of the island to another. If you are weighing how the 2 Line changes the value of your home or your plans for it, Patricia Wallace is glad to walk through it with you. Contact Patricia directly for a private consultation.