Central Puget Sound State Route 520 - Commute times
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Commute times for SR 520 in the central Puget Sound region
Commute times
This page displays average (mean) and reliable (95th percentile) morning and evening peak commute times for weekday trips on SR 520 between Seattle and Redmond, and Redmond and Bellevue.
The average peak commute times indicates how long it took, on average, to make trips during the worst part of the morning (or evening) commute in a given year. The reliable peak commute time shows how much time someone traveling during the worst part of the morning or evening commute must allow to arrive at their destination on time on 19 out of 20 days. For details on the methodology used to calculate commute times, refer to WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).
Highway capacity constraints vary based on the presence of managed lanes and multimodal travel options; the SR 520 corridor is served by transit buses and HOV lanes.
Sources: WSDOT Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division, WSDOT TRACFLOW (https://tracflow.wsdot.wa.gov/), Community Transit, King Country Metro and Sound Transit.
Note: Commute times are rounded to the nearest minute. GP and HOV commutes include only the freeway section, while transit includes the freeway section and city surface streets. In addition, the transit commute time is influenced by the number of scheduled stop and their times.
Performance highlights
In 2023, the travel times on SR 520 worsened compared to 2022.
The 14-mile trip from Redmond to Seattle in the GP lanes on SR 520 during the peak evening commute took an average of 31 minutes, which was:
- 17 minutes more than traveling this route at the posted speed limit, and
- 20 minutes below the reliable travel time of 51 minutes.
The average travel time for the same commute in the HOV lane was 27 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 38 minutes).
In 2022, the travel times on SR 520 slightly worsened compared to 2021. The 14-mile trip from Redmond to Seattle in the GP lanes on SR 520 during the peak evening commute took an average of 26 minutes—up five minutes from 2021 and 12 minutes more than the posted speed limit. The reliable travel time for this trip was 44 minutes—up 14 minutes from 30 minutes in 2021.
The average travel time for the same commute in the HOV lane was 23 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 34 minutes) in 2022, up one minute from 22 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 31 minutes) in 2021.
In 2021, travel times on SR 520 were similar to 2020. The 14-mile trip from Redmond to Seattle in the GP lanes on SR 520 during the peak evening commute took an average of 21 minutes—up one minute from 2020 and seven minutes more than the posted speed limit. The reliable travel time for this trip was 30 minutes—down 10 minutes from 40 minutes in 2020.
The average travel time for the same commute in the HOV lane was 22 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 31 minutes) in 2021, up five minutes from 17 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 22 minutes) in 2020.
In 2020, due to the statewide response to COVID-19 there was significant decrease in commute times on both GP and HOV lanes compared to the previous year. The 14-mile trip from Redmond to Seattle in the GP lanes on SR 520 during the peak evening commute took an average of 20 minutes—down 14 minutes from 2019 and six minutes more than at the posted speed limit. The reliable travel time for this trip was 40 minutes—down 13 minutes from 2019.
The average travel time for the same commute in the HOV lane was 17 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 22 minutes) in 2020, down six minutes from 23 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 29 minutes) in 2019.
In 2019, the 14-mile trip from Redmond to Seattle in the GP lanes on SR 520 during the peak evening commute took an average of 34 minutes—up two minutes from 2018, and more than double the 13 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit. The reliable travel time for this trip was 53 minutes—up three minutes from 2018.
The average travel time for the same commute in the HOV lane was 23 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 29 minutes) in 2019, down two minutes from 25 minutes (with a reliable travel time of 34 minutes) in 2018.
The average transit travel time for the evening commute from Redmond to Seattle was 54 minutes, and the reliable transit travel time was 65 minutes.