South Puget Sound Interstate 5 - Commute time
On this page:
Commute times for I-5 in the south Puget Sound region
Commute times
This page displays average (mean) and reliable (95th percentile) morning and evening peak commute times for weekday trips on I-5 between Olympia and Federal Way, Olympia and Tacoma, and Tacoma and Federal Way.
The average peak commute times indicate how long it took, on average, to make these 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 would have to allow for their trip in order 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; I-5 in the south Puget Sound region is served by transit buses. Commute times for GP lanes and transit lanes are shown for each commute trip.
Sources: WSDOT Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division and WSDOT TRACFLOW (https://tracflow.wsdot.wa.gov/)
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, travel times worsened in most locations compared to 2022 due to the continued recovery of traffic volume across the state in the wake of COVID-19.
The 28-mile trip from Olympia to Tacoma in the GP lanes og I-5 during the peak morning commute took an average of 34 minutes, which was
- Seven minutes more than the 28 minutes more than traveling this route at the posted speed limit, and
- 15 minutes below the reliable travel time of 49 minutes.
Making the 28- mile trip from Tacoma to Olympia on I-5 during the peak evening commute took an average of 51 minutes which was:
- 23 minutes more than the 28 minutes it would have taken at the posted speed limit, and
- 24 minutes below the reliable travel time of 75 minutes.
In 2022, northbound morning commute times worsened compared to 2021 due to the continued recovery of traffic volume across the state in the wake of COVID-19, and were still slightly better than the pre-pandemic levels. The 28-mile trip from Olympia to Tacoma in the GP lanes on I-5 during the peak morning commute took an average of 34 minutes—five minutes more than the 29 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit, but 10 minutes below the reliable travel time of 44 minutes.
Making the trip from Tacoma to Olympia on I-5 during the peak evening commute took an average of 49 minutes—21 minutes more than the 28 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit and 24 minutes below the reliable travel time of 73 minutes. It significantly increased from 2021, surpassing the pre-pandemic level.
In 2021, commute times worsened compared to 2020, due to the recovery of traffic volume across the state in the wake of COVID-19. However, commute times in 2021 were still lower compared to the pre-pandemic levels. The 28-mile trip from Olympia to Tacoma in the GP lanes on I-5 during the peak morning commute took an average of 32 minutes—five minutes more than the 27 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit, but 10 minutes below the reliable travel time of 39 minutes.
Making the trip from Tacoma to Olympia on I-5 during the peak evening commute took an average of 42 minutes—14 minutes more than the 28 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit and 18 minutes below the reliable travel time of 60 minutes.
In 2020, due to the statewide response to COVID-19 there was significant decrease in commute times compared to previous year. Making the 28-mile trip from Olympia to Tacoma in the GP lanes on I-5 during the peak morning commute took an average of 33 minutes—5 minutes more than the 28 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit, but 14 minutes below the reliable travel time of 47 minutes. Transit services were suspended for a portion of this time due to COVID-19.
Similarly, making the trip from Tacoma to Olympia on I-5 during the peak evening commute took an average of 42 minutes—14 minutes more than the 28 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit and 22 minutes below the reliable travel time of 64 minutes. Transit services were suspended for a portion of this time due to COVID-19.
In 2019, making the 28-mile trip from Olympia to Tacoma in the GP lanes on I-5 during the peak morning commute took an average of 38 minutes—10 minutes more than the 28 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit, but 17 minutes below the reliable travel time of 55 minutes. Making the same trip by transit took an average of 70 minutes, with a reliable travel time of 96 minutes.
Similarly, making the 28-mile trip from Tacoma to Olympia in the GP lanes on I-5 during the peak evening commute took an average of 46 minutes—18 minutes more than the 28 minutes it would have taken to travel the same route at the posted speed limit, and 18 minutes below the reliable travel time of 64 minutes. Making the same trip by transit took an average of 84 minutes, with a reliable travel time of 101 minutes.