Hello and thanks for checking out Transiterranean, a Tacoma-centric transit newsletter-blog exploring commuting, food, drink, and destinations across the City of Destiny, Puget Sound, and beyond! I’m Michael Grass, a former journalist and communications professional who has lived car-free for about 25 years, including in Washington, D.C., New York City, Seattle, Bellingham, and now Tacoma. 

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A recent Bluesky post from Jarrett Walker, a public transit consultant whose Portland-based firm has assisted numerous agencies across North America and beyond redesign their local transit networks, shared an insightful observation about the importance of a transit agency having an effective system map. Walker was responding to a post about New Jersey Transit’s mind-boggling complex bus route network and the challenges of trying to capture everything in an official system map.

Indeed, we live in an era with easy-to-use digital tools for navigation and real-time bus and train arrival information — something I wrote about in a Washington City Paper cover story 15 years ago — but it’s important to remember that a system map serves as more than a just navigational aid. It’s a tool for making sense of a how a transit network fits together, where it works well, and understanding what its shortcomings are so that they can (hopefully) can be addressed through informed decision-making.

That got me thinking about a related mapping challenge here in Tacoma and Pierce County, where we’re served by Pierce Transit’s local bus routes and Sound Transit’s regional ST Express buses, S Line commuter rail line connecting Pierce County with Seattle, and the T Line light-rail line connecting Tacoma Dome Station with the Hilltop area via Downtown Tacoma.

Although Pierce Transit’s system map shows all its bus routes in one place, Sound Transit’s routes are not shown. (There are some map icons showing the locations of Sound Transit S Line stations — Lakewood, Puyallup, Tacoma Dome, and South Tacoma — but those have limited value.)

Similarly, Sound Transit doesn’t have a system map that shows its Pierce County routes in the context of Pierce Transit’s local bus network and where they connect. (And for good reason: It’d be messy and confusing to use.)

At many Sound Transit stations, including in Tacoma, there are some examples of neighborhood diagrams showing local transit connections and where they go, though they aren’t always accurate — in the example above, Route 1 is shown to turn south at Yakima Avenue when it actually makes that turn south off the map at Tacoma Avenue.

This is a common challenge in cities, counties, and regions served by multiple transit agencies, especially on streets with a high density of transit services, e.g., Third Avenue in Downtown Seattle, or at transit centers, e.g., the Whatcom Transit Authority’s Bellingham Station in Downtown Bellingham.

In Tacoma, there are three areas that are particularly challenging to visually untangle on Pierce Transit’s system map.

Squeezing in Sound Transit’s T Line and ST Express bus routes, some of which run only during peak periods, would add to confusion. Despite the challenges to visually make sense of all the local and regional transit options available in Tacoma all in one place, that doesn’t mean transit decision-makers shouldn’t give it a shot or at least take a step in that direction.

Is there some middle ground where it’d make sense for Pierce Transit and/or Sound Transit to visually acknowledge their respective networks to benefit users who might want to utilize both systems?

That could include adding the T Line, the most frequent transit route in Pierce County, to the Pierce Transit system map and/or expanding the downtown inset map to include the Hilltop District, Stadium District and Dome District, essentially showing the Pierce Transit network in the context of the T Line’s service territory. When the T Line’s Hilltop Extension opened for service in 2023, it added a new frequent north-south transit connection on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in the Hilltop District.

The T Line can be useful for transferring to and from certain Pierce Transit bus routes — Routes 11 and 16 at Stadium District Station, Route 1 at 6th Avenue Station, Route 28 at Hilltop District Station, and Route 2 near St. Joseph Station — but you’d never realize that those connections exist on a Pierce Transit system map and might assume that you need to head all the way downtown to Commerce Street to make a transfer when you could instead switch between a bus or train in the Hilltop area.

Given the limited frequency of most Pierce Transit routes, the frequent service on Sound Transit’s T Line, especially now with the Hilltop Extension, bolsters the utility of our local bus network in Tacoma. But we might not immediately recognize that usefulness exists from the existing system diagrams.

Hopefully there’s a way Pierce Transit and Sound Transit can work together to craft a useful and unified map to show how their respective systems complement one another in Tacoma and how riders can use both systems to get where they need to go.

In a recent Transiterranean newsletter edition, I noted that the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, an important pedestrian connection linking Downtown Tacoma with the Museum of Glass on the Thea Foss Waterway, was closed off due to a damaged overhead art display panel.

Good news: The bridge, which features numerous examples of glass art in display cases, reopened and you can freely and safely cross Interstate 705 and the BNSF railroad tracks between the T Line’s Union Station stop and the waterfront.

That’s good news for the Museum of Glass and its upcoming Goblet Fest, January 14–18, which will feature four visiting artists: Paul Cunningham, Kit Paulson, Chris Schuelke, and Ryan Thompson.

A heads up for T Line riders in Tacoma later this month: Starting on Tuesday, January 20 at 6:30 p.m., Sound Transit will replace T Line trains with shuttle buses as the agency starts rail repairs along the light-rail route between Tacoma Dome Station and St. Joseph Station. The repairs are slated to wrap up on Friday, January 23.

Look for shuttle bus stops adjacent to T Line stations.

If you’ve passed by the former It’s Greek to Me restaurant space on Tacoma’s 6th Avenue in the past year, you’ve seen the building transform into a new bakery and cafe space for Balloon Roof Baking Co. If you don’t frequent local farmers markets where Balloon Roof is a vendor, you may not be familiar with this Fife bakery. But at the Proctor Farmers Market, they’re hard to miss given the long queue for their bread and baked goods.

As Kristine Sherred wrote in The News Tribune in November 2024, when Balloon Roof’s plans for a brick-and-mortar outpost on 6th Avenue first surfaced:

So, when are they opening the new space?

“Some time around the new year maybe,” Balloon Roof’s team wrote in an Instagram post in October. “It will be the softest of soft launches.”

Walking by in recent days, Balloon Roof isn’t open yet, but it looks like they’re getting close! There’s also a recently poured ADA ramp to a back entrance off S. Grant Avenue.

Although many Balloon Roof bread fans will assuredly drive to the new location, especially with a drive-up window, the brick-and-mortar bakery and cafe should hopefully create a new destination along a relatively quiet stretch of 6th Avenue for those walking, bicycling, or using transit. Pierce Transit’s highest-ridership bus route, Route 1, conveniently runs right out front.

Walking conditions near Balloon Roof should also be improving in the coming months with the City of Tacoma’s ongoing 6th Avenue Pedestrian Crossing Safety Improvements, which includes much-needed upgrades at the pedestrian-hostile five-way intersection where 6th, Division, and Sprague avenues meet.

While this intersection won’t be transforming into a pedestrian-friendly paradise given the dominance of auto-oriented commercial businesses — including a Starbucks, KFC, Memo’s Mexican Restaurant, and a vacant Walgreens pharmacy — the improved pedestrian crossing of S. Sprague Avenue and rebuilt sidewalks along 6th Avenue, should create stronger, walkable connections between the heart of the 6th Avenue Business District west of the intersection and the Hilltop and Wedge districts east of it.

Around the corner and down the block from the T Line’s Old City Hall Station in Tacoma, Odd Otter Brewing Co. is tucked into a row of historic commercial buildings along Pacific Avenue, near West 122 and Wooden City Tacoma.

After Odd Otter’s temporary closure and resurrection a year ago by father-and-son Gary and Nathan Wescott, the new Odd Otter team introduced a permanently parked food truck operating next door offering an array of brats, hot dogs, sandwiches, and other snacks.

I’ve tried a few things across the menu in recent weeks and my favorite has been the Brat Mi, a Southeast Asian-inspired brat with cilantro aioli, sriracha, and cabbage slaw. It’s a fresh, herby, and slightly spicy take on a brat.

If that’s not necessarily your jam, you should find something you like from the list of thoughtful, creative, and tasty list of brats that the Odd Otter food truck crew has crafted, including their take on a Seattle dog with cream cheese, grilled onions, mustard and jalapeños.

The Seattle Times recently published a travel feature about the various transportation improvements rolling out across the region in 2026, including those aimed at supporting visitors planning to attend FIFA World Cup games in Seattle in June.

According to The Seattle Times:

But with the new trains headed to the Amtrak Cascades corridor, there’s an important caveat The Seattle Times didn’t mention. Although the new Siemens-produced Airo trains are designed to travel up to 125 mph, there’s nowhere along the Amtrak Cascades corridor — most of which is owned by BNSF Railway — where tracks can accommodate those top speeds.

In the Washington State Department of Transportation’s 2024 Amtrak Cascades Preliminary Development Plan, which maps out various options for future service along the intercity corridor connecting Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, and points south, including Tacoma, there’s only one scenario that envisions trains traveling at speeds higher than the current 79 mph limit.

In its report, WSDOT threw some cold water on hopes for higher speed Amtrak Cascades trains:

But the vision for higher-speed trains along the Amtrak Cascades corridor in Washington is still alive. In 2025, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill passed by state legislators that requires WSDOT to identify ways to improve Amtrak Cascades travel times, frequency, and service reliability.

So when the new Airo trains start rolling out along the corridor later this year, remember that although they’ll be brand new, those trains won’t be traveling at higher speeds and certainly nowhere close to 125 mph.

Earlier this week, Seattle-based Uwajimaya Asian Market, with its transit-accessible flagship grocery store across the street from Sound Transit’s International District-Chinatown Station, announced its planned Tacoma homecoming in 2027 after the Japanese grocer, founded in the city in 1928, was forced to close in the 1940s when Japanese residents were sent to World War II incarceration camps.

“Returning to Tacoma almost a century later is both exciting and deeply significant,” Denise Moriguchi, CEO of Uwajimaya and third-generation leader of the company, said in an announcement. “Uwajimaya was founded in Tacoma’s Japantown by my grandparents nearly 100 years ago until they were forced into incarceration camp at Tule Lake during World War II. We will honor their legacy as we re-establish Uwajimaya’s presence in this vibrant community.”

Uwajimaya is planning to rehab a vacant Hobby Lobby location in the Tacoma Central shopping center off S. Union Avenue near State Route 16 for its new Tacoma store. Although the location has relatively easy access to area freeways, the new location won’t be as transit friendly as its Seattle location, which is convenient for Tacoma commuters before hopping on the S Line at King Street Station.

Pierce Transit’s Route 57, which connects the Commerce Street Station in Downtown Tacoma with the Tacoma Mall Transit Center, provides the closest transit connection to the future Uwajimaya location, with stops on S. Union Avenue. But it’s tricky. Although the inbound stop is on the same side of the street as the Tacoma Central shopping center, the outbound bus stop has no immediate safe crossing of busy S. Union Avenue, so you have to backtrack to the Intersection of S. Union Avenue & S. 23rd Street to cross the arterial to avoid playing a risky game of frogger.

Although it’s certainly great that Uwajimaya is returning to its hometown, it’s also a somber moment in Tacoma’s history given how Downtown Tacoma’s vibrant former Japantown, sometimes called Nihonmachi, never recovered following World War II and has mostly disappeared. The core of Japantown’s commercial area, along Broadway between S. 13th Street and S. 17th Street, was razed for surface parking lots, the Hotel Murano, the Greater Tacoma Convention Center, and some especially lackluster architecture (e.g., Sound Credit Union and Commencement Bank). While there’s no shortage of underutilized surface parking in this area, there’s a desperate need for inject some more meaningful commercial vitality and street life in Downtown Tacoma’s empty zone between the Convention Center and the Theater District.

Although Uwajimaya’s Tacoma homecoming doesn’t involve its former Downtown Tacoma home, it’s an opportune moment to think about the emptiness left behind following the regrettable demise of Japantown and the ways Tacoma’s civic leaders could potentially help repair the subsequent damage done to downtown’s urban fabric in the years to come.