This post will be of particular interest to High Pointers, but nevertheless the pictures and info. are good for anyone in West Seattle. Since yesterday (morning) was so picturesque, and since the MT21 (aka the bus that takes you from High Point / 35th Ave SW to downtown) is so wholly unpreferable; I decided to take the Elliot Bay Water Taxi. I could write a post all about the indignity I suffered on my first day of ever using the homeless mobilization unit bus. I’ll spare you.
The Elliot Bay Water Taxi was great! Not too many people were using it at 12:00 when I boarded and taking the water taxi is almost more entertainment than it is a mode of transportation. It’s faster and cleaner (hygienically, not environmentally) than the bus and these are reasons enough to prefer it over the bus. It’s a little pricey as a means of everyday transit if you’re going to do it M-F both ways, as it is $3.00 each way. With a metro pass though, it’s free.
If you’re coming from High Point and don’t have a metro pass, I’d recommend taking the MT21 from 35th & Raymond to 35th and Avalon and then taking the free water taxi shuttle (Route 773) from there to the Seacrest Marina. The reason I suggest starting on the forsaken bus is because you only have to ride it for a few blocks and it will save you $.75 when you transfer to the water taxi. Normally, the water taxi is as I said, $3.00, but with a valid metro transfer it only costs an additional dollar when you board.
NB: I found out that if you call DART, the subsystem that runs the short bus which takes you to Seacrest; they may be able to come pick you up at your front door! I plan on trying this soon so I’ll let you know how it works out.
I don’t think I’ll take the water taxi to work everyday and certainly not on rainy days, but I’ll probably be using it at least once a week and maybe more if I renew my U-PASS. I would have taken more pictures, but my camera’s battery died 
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Update:5/9/07 – The DART short bus system will not pick you up from High Point. The closest I got the route-planner-customer-service-man to agree to come get me is at the California-Morgan-Fauntleroy intersection. I decided to pass. Good news if you live in and around the Junction though. Give them a call a day (or two hours) in advance and they’ll pick you up like Enterprise.
May 9, 2007 at 6:01 am
I have yet to try to water taxi to go downtown. Your photos are so beautiful…I just might have to give it a try!
May 9, 2007 at 8:45 am
One of the weekends real joys is jumping the water taxi in the morning and heading over to downtown for breakfast and a day in the city beats the city parking blues by a mile.
May 10, 2007 at 1:27 pm
A great tip I got from the west Seattle blog: if you take the water taxi on the weekend get a day pass. Its 2.50 so your already saving .50 plus 3.00 more if you take the taxi back. Wish they did that on the weekdays!
May 10, 2007 at 8:13 pm
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May 13, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I love the EBWT!! I sometimes take my dog, Sophia (an Italian greyhound) and we take the boat over, walk up to Pike Place Market, go to Three Dog Bakery, get a humbow for lunch, and some gelatto for dessert, and then head back. It’s great exercise, and a good adventure. Taking Sophia on different modes of transportation is great conditioning for her (she does now believe she will live to see another day…).
Tomorrow is her 2nd adoption anniversary! 2 fabulous years with my walking buddy.
PS We are moving to High Point in August – we are waiting for our townhome to be completed.