Federal Way Downtown station is a future

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

station at the site of the Federal Way Transit Center, a

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

Federal Way, Washington Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Feder ...

, United States. The bus station opened in 2006 and has 1,190 parking spaces available in its

parking garage A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...

and surface lots. It is served by

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

Pierce Transit Pierce Transit, officially the Pierce County Public Transportation Benefit Area Corporation, is an operator of public transit in Pierce County, Washington. It operates a variety of services, including fixed-route buses, dial-a-ride transportatio ...

, and

Sound Transit Express Sound Transit Express (ST Express) is a network of regional express buses, operated by the multi-county transit agency, Sound Transit. The routes connect major regional hubs throughout 53 cities in three counties (King, Pierce, and Snohomish) ...

buses and is the southern terminus of the

RapidRide A Line The A Line is one of eight RapidRide lines (routes with some bus rapid transit features) operated by King County Metro in King County, Washington. The A Line began service on October 2, 2010, running from Tukwila to Federal Way, mostly along ...

. The transit center is located adjacent to

The Commons at Federal Way The Commons at Federal Way (formerly SeaTac Mall) is a regional shopping mall located in Federal Way, Washington, and is the only indoor shopping center in the city. Steadfast Commercial Properties changed the mall's name to The Commons at Feder ...

shopping mall and

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

, connected via a direct access ramp to its

high-occupancy vehicle lane A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and at least one passenger, ...

s. A similar park-and-ride lot, on the south side of South 320th Street and east of the shopping mall, opened on November 5, 1979, using land donated by a local businessman. The bus bays were moved south to the new light rail station in March 2025. Light rail service is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Light rail station

As part of the expansion of

Link light rail Link light rail is a light rail system with some rapid transit characteristics that serves the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit pro ...

Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It manages the Link light rail system in Se ...

, the transit center is planned to be the southern terminus of the Federal Way Link Extension, which would extend light rail south from its current terminus at Angle Lake station to Federal Way. A voter-approved plan passed in 2008 proposed funding to design, but not construct, a light rail station and other bus and parking improvements at the transit center. In 2016, the

Sound Transit 3 Sound Transit 3, abbreviated as ST3, was a referendum, ballot measure during the November 2016 elections in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, proposing an expansion of the regional public transit system. The measure was proposed by Sound ...

plan approved a 2024 completion date for light rail to Federal Way Transit Center, as well as a light rail extension from Federal Way to

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

to be opened by 2030. The light rail station consists of an elevated platform along 23rd Avenue South approximately two blocks south of the current transit center. A second garage with 400 parking stalls was originally planned to be built, along with

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...

on the site of a former shopping center. Demolition of several vacated retail buildings at the site began in April 2020. A series of 35 murals by local artists were installed on the construction site's fences, but were damaged in an act of vandalism in August 2020. Sound Transit officials called the incident racially-motivated, as the murals were primarily celebrating the area's Pacific Islander, Black, and Asian communities. The new bus loop, directly under the light rail platform, opened on March 30, 2025; the old transit center was then closed for demolition. , there are 7,000 daily boardings at Federal Way Transit Center. Testing of light rail trains at Federal Way Downtown station began in early 2025. Light rail service is expected to begin in 2026. The station will include permanent glass artwork designed by Catherine Widgery while the garage is covered in an art screen designed by Christine Nguyen. A proposal by sculptor

Donald Lipski Donald Lipski (born May 21, 1947) is an American Sculpture, sculptor best known for his installation art, installation work and large-scale Public art, public works. Early life and education Donald Lipski was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947. ...

to install a three-story piece with a

circus elephant A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

balancing on a tall tree trunk with a

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

on its head was rejected by the Federal Way city council.

References

External links

{{Sound Transit railway stations, Central=y, state=collapsed Transport infrastructure completed in 2006 2006 establishments in Washington (state) Federal Way, Washington Future Link light rail stations Transportation buildings and structures in King County, Washington Bus stations in Washington (state) Sound Transit Express King County Metro Link light rail stations in King County, Washington Railway stations scheduled to open in 2026 Transit centers in the United States