If you take the bus to and from Seattle and Pierce County, your commute will change a little, or maybe a lot, this fall.

The agency that manages bus and rail service in the greater Seattle-Tacoma region is adding, replacing and eliminating several express bus routes at the end of this month.

Sound Transit said Thursday that the service adjustments, which it carries out “regularly,” are intended to “improve performance, respond to ridership trends, and make the most of the agency’s resources.”

“This service change, which affects the entire sound transit bus network, is one of the biggest changes in agency history,” Sound Transit spokesperson Henry Bendon told The News Tribune, highlighting the increased connectivity between Lakewood, Tacoma and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. “It’s very exciting,” he said.

Sound Transit has a full list of route changes throughout the region on its site and is planning three virtual information sessions next week to explain the changes.

Below are six route updates that will affect riders in Pierce County beginning August 29 through 31. Lakewood to SeaTac Airport

Route affected: 574

What’s changing: More frequent buses, light rail connection in Federal Way

Route 574 buses will travel all day, every 15 minutes, from Lakewood to the Federal Way Link light rail station. The increase in frequency of the buses, which previously ran every half hour, is a “huge improvement,” Bendon said.

Instead of traveling directly to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport via bus, riders can instead connect to the light rail in Federal Way, Sound Transit says. Also, buses will no longer stop at the Lakewood Transit Center. The route will instead begin at Lakewood Station.

Route 574 riders can park at Lakewood Station or the SR 512 Park & Ride, Sound Transit says, noting that they can take Pierce Transit routes 3 or 4 from the Lakewood Transit Center to the park-and-ride. Night bus between Lakewood and Seattle (via SeaTac Airport)

Routes affected: 570, 597

What’s changing: New overnight service to Lakewood

When the light rail isn’t running in the middle of the night, riders in Pierce County can now take this route to the airport. The new 597 bus will run every half hour between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. between Lakewood Station and Westlake Station in downtown Seattle. The shorter night bus, 570, will be fully replaced by the new route, Bendon said. Tacoma-to- UW commuter bus

Route affected: 586

What’s changing: Route ending

Sound Transit has sent weekday buses between the Tacoma Dome to the University of Washington’s Seattle campus during the morning and evening rush hours. It plans to eliminate the route beginning August 30.

Route 586 riders told The News Tribune earlier this month that they expected the new light rail transfer in Federal Way to make their commute less reliable and more inconvenient. Sound Transit says the new route on buses traveling via the Tacoma Dome, paired with the Link transfer, offers “similar or faster travel times.” Tacoma, Puyallup, DuPont, Lakewood and Gig Harbor buses to and from Seattle

Routes affected: 578, 590, 592, 594, 595

What’s changing: Minor stop and schedule adjustments

Sound Transit is making scheduling adjustments to “improve reliability” on these routes, according to its list of changes. The agency also plans “minor” stop changes on 2nd and 4th Avenues in Seattle. Most of these express buses also stop in Tacoma, providing frequent service between both cities, Bendon noted. South Hill park-and-ride to Puyallup

Route affected: 580

What’s changing: No more blue-and-white buses

A handful of Sound Transit buses have run on Route 580 in the early mornings and evenings between the park-and-ride in South Hill and the Sounder commuter rail station in Puyallup. The regional agency will end this route after August because it duplicates another route run by Pierce Transit, according to Bendon.

“It was no longer necessary,” he said.

Pierce Transit’s buses, which are blue and white but also contain large patches of green, travel on Route 400 every half hour between the South Hill Mall and Tacoma via the park-and-ride and downtown Puyallup, according to the countywide agency’s website.

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