Rick Steves launches video series to introduce Snohomish County towns

By Elisa Takahama / The Seattle Times

If you missed some of the recent public transit changes in Snohomish County, Rick Steves is here to explain them — and show off some of the Puget Sound area’s best spots to explore along the way.

Snohomish County’s Community Transit earlier this month shared four 5-minute videos of the famed travel writer, who hops on the agency’s buses to share information about its new schedule and connections with Sound Transit’s Link light rail extension.

“I’m Rick Steves, and I love to travel,” Steves says in an introduction to the series. “Whether enjoying the wonders of Europe or the local sites right here in my hometown of Edmonds, Washington, getting out and exploring brings me so much joy.”

Steves, who lives and works in Edmonds, is well-known worldwide for his European travel tips, which he promotes through a guidebook series, travel column, public television show and weekly public radio show.

“You’d be surprised how many cool places and activities are right here in our own neighborhood, and how easily you can get around these days using public transportation,” Steves says.

In the videos, Steves raves about Link’s 8½-mile expansion from Northgate to Lynnwood, which opened in August, and how it allows Snohomish County residents to easily pop down to Seattle for a show at Benaroya Hall, a game at Climate Pledge Arena or dim sum in Seattle’s Chinatown International District.

In one video, which features things to do in Edmonds, Steves urges visitors to enjoy local art and seasonal outdoor markets in Washington’s first certified creative district. In another, featuring Lynnwood, he also explains the history of the Interurban Railway, an electric trolley that ran between Seattle and Everett from 1910 to 1939, and how the Zip Shuttle Alderwood offers rides through an on-demand shared ride service for the same price as local bus fare.

The historic Mukilteo Light Station, a lighthouse built in 1906, and the 3.5-mile Japanese Gulch trail are also worth checking out, Steves says.

In addition, Steves adds, Community Transit buses can take riders to two ferry terminals, for the Edmonds-Kingston and Mukilteo-Clinton routes.

“And who doesn’t love a scenic ride on the water?” he says in one video.

Community Transit implemented some new bus routes earlier this month, increasing weekday service hours by 21%, Saturday service by 24% and Sunday by 32%. The new network of bus lines has six times as many trips with direct connections to light rail, with more frequent run times on the 102, 112, 119, 120, 130, 201 and 202 routes.

The agency has also expanded its bus rapid transit “Swift” blue, green and orange lines, which “provide fast and frequent service around town,” Steves says. The orange line now takes riders to the Lynnwood City Center Station.

“Swift buses stop at every station and are so frequent you don’t need a schedule,” he says.

The light rail expansion, which includes four new stops in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Shoreline, was approved by voters as part of the regional ST2 sales tax measure in 2008. Final costs were about $3 billion, funded by local and federal dollars. Between 25,000 and 34,000 people daily are expected to board at the four newest stations.

Steves recently announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but said he sees “a clear path forward to getting healthy” and hopes to become cancer-free by the end of October.