If you read my award-winning blog post Walking into 2026, one of my walking challenges for this year was to walk the entirety of the TTC’s Line 6 Finch West. Back in 2023, I walked the entirety of the TTC Subway System (excluding Line 3 Scarborough, which had already closed by the time I got to it). Unfortunately for me, I didn’t put any of it online, which in 2025 got a bunch of college students famous on social media. If you have any tips on what would get me internet famous for a day, do let me know.
Back to the main point – this note will be very short and sweet. This is because there really wasn’t anything of interest along the entire route, unless you’re really into strip malls and suburban housing. I will say that it’s crazy that the bike lanes aren’t open yet. The line opened half a year ago! The bike lanes should be open and useable now.
All of the stations are also exactly the same design and layout, which is absolutely great from an accessibility perspective. The experience for someone boarding the train is relatively similar wherever you board, which makes it easy for people to learn how to navigate the train. However, I will repeat for the hundredth time that they should be making the visual design of these stations more unique to reflect the actual communities it passes through!
At the end of the day… would I recommend this walk to anyone else? No. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!
This is Post 1 of my Seattle Transit Series: Sound Move.
Sound Move is produced in collaboration with CreativeSystems of America. Providing voices to American communities and peoples.
On March 28th, 2026, Seattle welcomed a long-awaited and overdue rail connection – the Crosslake Connection. The 7 mile, 2 station extension connects a fragmented Link Light Rail system – giving Redmond and Bellevue a one-seat ride into Downtown Seattle, and onto Lynnwood, SeaTac / Airport, and Federal Way.
Coincidentally (and not planned at all!), I was also in Seattle on March 28th, 2026! Waking up at 6am, I decided to show up for the opening events to celebrate such a monstrous development in the Puget Sound.
Opening Events
The opening events were held across from the new Judkins Park station at Sam Smith Park. Living in Toronto, I’ve never really experienced a transit opening, but Seattle really did it up! The whole park was set up with community tents, vendors, and even transit advocate groups! The Cascade Cycling Club even set up a bike valet.
Thankfully, Seattle not only wants to throw a party, but people will show up in droves for it. It was already packed at 8 AM which is when the actual event starts. What did I expect in a city where the main activity is hiking and running?
POV: You’re going to a transit event so everyone is tracking the bus on Transit App
Alas, there was no running or hiking this day, unless you wanted to trample a bunch of people. The main event was a bunch of speeches from important people. I can now tell people I saw the Governor of Washington, the Mayors of Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Mercer Island, and a United States Senator talk less than 50 feet away from me.
The other events included a stamp competition – get a commemorative stamp at four stations (Chinatown–International District, Judkins Park, Mercer Island, South Bellevue) and get a bucket hat. Fortunately (or unfortunately), there were literal quarter-mile lines to get on the train, so it was not possible for me.
Fortunately for me, this event was SWAG central. I love free swag, even though it’s actually so useless. I mainly got a bunch of stickers, but also the limited edition, corporate sponsored (thanks Microsoft!) Orca Card. Transit Cards are great souvenirs to collect because they’re 1. Useful and 2. A very small souvenir from the city. I will cherish this card forever.
Mayor of Seattle Katie Wilson
After the speeches and the community tents (where I talked to so many great people), I headed over to Exit A of the station where the ribbon cutting would occur. After a mile-long parade of delegates, the line was finally open!
The Ride
For me, my ride started at Bellevue Downtown station. After the opening events, I had other plans in the ID to attend to, so after lunch I boarded a bus (King County Metro 271) to ride the actual train. I took a detour to Downtown Redmond (new mileage I haven’t riden yet), and headed back down to South Bellevue to ride the new segment.
Honestly, there was very little to say about the actual ride. It went as smooth as you’d hope. The train got up to max speed (55mph) as it crossed over I-5 and onto a viaduct to Mercer Island. The train then crossed the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge at 55 mph, making it the first permanent light rail line on a floating bridge. It was actually pretty cool engineering too. The views were sick but honestly exactly the same as the views I got walking across the bridge.
The best part however, is the fact that it takes 10 minutes from South Bellevue to C-ID. It’s a life changer getting between the Eastside and Seattle. The bus I took to Bellevue took me around 40 minutes. I cannot say enough words how great this line will be for Seattleites.
Overall Thoughts
With the Crosslake Connection finally open, and high-quality rapid transit finally spanning the Puget Sound, the Crosslake Connection is the root turning Seattle into a true, transit-friendly city.
I’m not here to talk about Sound Transit 3 and why it’s become a fiscal disaster, but I can already see how people are taking this new line and turning their attention towards building more high-quality transit in the Puget Sound. While I was there, I was invited to many open consultations and events to save light rail in West Seattle, Ballard, and even Issaquah of all places. I’ve never seen a city change so quickly and embrace transit. Build it and they will come!
Hi all, I wanted to give my thoughts on the Chobani Flip Cinnamon French Toast flavor. I picked this up at my local Wegmans in Williamsville, New York a month ago.
My Statement on the Wegmans Facial Recognition COntroversy
I do not support Wegmans’ use of facial recognition in their stores and on their app, Wegmans (available on the Apple App Store or Google Play). I do not support targeted pricing efforts through the use of invasive biometric technologies. In the past, I have downloaded the Wegmans app. However, I no longer have any version of the Wegmans app installed onto my phone. I am a Wegmans Shoppers Club Member and have agreed to their terms and conditions, including the collection of my name, phone number, and shopping history associated with this number.
Maple flavored Chobani® Greek Yogurt with cinnamon rice crisps, maple flavored cookies, and fudge bark. Made with only natural ingredients.
Unlike the other new flavor I tried (you can read about Chocolate Haze Craze here), Cinnamon French Toast is surprisingly good! A light mapley yogurt (which they really should just make as a standalone flavor because its SO good) with cinnamony bits is a hoot and a half. If I had one issue with it, it would be that the cinnamon itself is super muted (nonexistent).
Hi all, I wanted to give my thoughts on the Chobani Flip Chocolate Haze Craze flavor. I recently picked this up at my local Wegmans in Williamsville, New York.
Crunchy hazelnuts and milk chocolate chips tumble in chocolate hazelnut Chobani® Greek Yogurt. Crafted for everyone from only natural ingredients.
This is kind of gross. The chocolate hazelnut Greek yogurt continue to disgust me (see Peanut Butter Cup). It’s like a really mildly flavorless paste of sorts, colored brown in a way that really makes you think about the food you put in your body. The hazelnuts were a bit stale and cold, because I put them in the refrigerator.
The most offensive part of the hazelnuts however, was the fact that it was flavorless. Just a moist, crunchy texture in your yogurt. The milk chocolate chips were fine, nothing offensive.
3/10. One point over the Peanut Butter Cup because the yogurt is barely less offensive.
This is Part 2 of series: MBTA, a collection of ideas on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
A “T” logo at Porter Station.
When I visit new cities, I typically make it a point to visit a bunch of different transportation modes. Luckily for me, Boston is home to a plethora of transportation modes – from the famous T, there’s also buses, ferries, and the elusive Commuter Rail.
For most tourists, there’s very little reason to ride Commuter Rail, especially since it’s evidently catered towards commuters, and not tourists. Nonetheless, I had the opportunity to ride Commuter Rail during my trip, as Apple Maps told me it would be slightly faster than taking the Red Line into Boston.
My Experience
Station
Porter Station Commuter Rail Platform.
Porter Station is a busy train hub for Porter Square residents, with local shopping and Lesley University nearby. It’s also home to the longest set of escalators on the T, which takes a solid two minutes to ride up to surface level. Although the Red Line station is grandiose in a brutalist-80’s type of way, the commuter rail station is a sad shack in comparison. Located below Massachusetts Avenue, the platform is your typical American commuter rail station, consisting of a couple of benches and a small shelter on the platform. The accessibility area was located right at the station entrance, which I really did like. There was also a direct connection to the Red Line station, which is great for transfers.
Train Ride
Digital Signage at MBTA Porter Station
I took the Fitchburg Line, train #421 from Porter to North Station (1 stop). Mid-day, the train runs hourly from some Boston suburb to North Station, although I’d have to assume frequencies improve during rush hour. The train is scheduled to take 14 minutes to North Station, which is faster than the 30 minutes it would have taken to take the T.
The fare system in Boston is wack, but in this case, my seven day pass covered the trip. Did you know that you can’t use CharlieCards (the Boston version of OMNY) on commuter rail? Once Charlie (the second-generation system) rolls out this should be possible, but it’s also the year 2025, and you could take regional trains using similar transit cards for the past 30 years now. You can validate your ticket using a CharlieTicket (a paper version of a CharlieCard that somehow has more capabilities despite being disposable) or mTicket.
Inside the train carriage
The train ride was pretty monotonous, but when the train pulled up, only the accessible door at the front opened for passengers? It was kinda strange since the trainset was five coaches long, but not a big deal. The northbound train came five minutes earlier, and all the passengers scattered around the platform had to run to the accessibility coach to get on board. I noticed that the doors were a manual set, very strange in 2025, but not unheard of (see Paris Metro).
I’m not a train foamer, but the coach set used was a super old car, with a 3/2 seating configuration. The third seat looked like it was tacked on. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit strange, but the coach was pretty clean overall, albeit extremely dated. No bugs though, so what can you do. The train took the scheduled amount of time and was pretty monotonous.
North Station
When we got to North Station, we had to wait for the conductor to manually open the doors (still very strange to me). North Station is your standard terminal, with long platforms to the large waiting hall indoors. I like North Station because it’s connected to the Green and Orange lines, as well as TD Garden (I don’t care too much about hockey), but it’s great for concertgoers. The MBTA has also installed fare gates at North Station, which means commuters need to tag off at the gate. I like this a lot, because it increases fare compliance without the need to install gates at all of the stations.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed my time on MBTA Commuter Rail, although the rolling stock is pretty bad. I would say it has really good bones, but I’m concerned if the MBTA could ever transition into a true regional-style rail system like the Paris RER. Commuter Rail ridership had the strongest recovery out of all the MBTA modes, so there’s plenty of potential for Greater Boston to rebuild its historic transit network.
A Charlie reader on a MBTA Green Line train.
It does have one major problem I hate, which is the fare ticketing system. The Commuter Rail does not support CharlieCard, and will also not support the next generation of fare payment, Charlie+. It baffles me that the networks are not integrated – seems like such a large oversight that doesn’t seem to have any particular reasoning. I understand it was originally supposed to support Charlie+, so I’m hoping that later rollouts will support Charlie+.
Please watch out for Part 3 of series: MBTA, a collection of ideas on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
