Visiting Seattle with a Wheelchair: Can You Use King County Access?

The hotel is booked and a family dinner is on the calendar. Before you add transportation to the finished list, check whether the service you use at home needs a visitor arrangement in Seattle.

King County Metro Access can be an option for qualifying visitors, including people traveling with wheelchairs. Establish your visitor status before relying on it, check the addresses and times you need, and make the actual reservations. Carrying a paratransit card from home is useful documentation, but it is not a booking for the ride from your hotel.

Arrange visitor status before leaving home

Metro's visitor guidance covers domestic and international visitors from outside the Puget Sound region whose disabilities prevent them from using regular bus service. It directs travelers to the Transportation Certification Office at 206-263-3113 before arrival.

The Federal Transit Administration explains that agencies must recognize qualifying visitors who provide documentation of ADA paratransit eligibility from home. Without that documentation, the receiving agency may request proof of residence and, when the disability is not apparent, documentation of the disability.

Tell Access whether you already use paratransit elsewhere, where you live, and when you plan to visit. Ask which documents or certification it needs and how to send them. If you do not have a home-agency approval letter, ask about the visitor process instead of assuming you cannot qualify.

Residents of nearby Puget Sound communities should ask about Metro's regional eligibility agreements. That is a different starting point from an out-of-region visitor request. Our cross-county transportation guide explains how to investigate connecting services.

Count service days across your visits

The federal visitor rule provides for any combination of 21 days of service during a 365-day period beginning with the first use. The days need not be consecutive. It also says the agency cannot require its own regular eligibility certification before providing that visitor service.

Think in days used, not rides taken or the number of hotel nights. For example, four days using the service on one visit and three on a later visit within the same period total seven service days. Ask Access to confirm its record if you have visited before.

If you expect to need service beyond that allowance, contact Access early about regular eligibility. FTA guidance explains that an agency may require the regular process for longer use. Do not assume each new hotel stay restarts the visitor allowance.

Check the hotel and every destination

Metro's October 2026 blog post about its interactive service map explains how an address search helps riders understand coverage. Use the Access Service Map for your lodging and planned destinations, then confirm the proposed itinerary with Access.

Service coverage follows regular transit operating times. Check the evening journey back as carefully as the outbound trip, especially if dinner or a performance ends late. Save the exact property address rather than relying on a neighborhood name or a hotel's description of its location.

At the hotel, identify the entrance and waiting location you will use. If you move properties during the visit, update future reservations. Our hotel pickup guide covers coordinating the lobby, luggage, and boarding point.

Reserve the rides after eligibility is confirmed

Metro's current online booking instructions allow reservations one to seven days ahead, with a 5 p.m. deadline the day before travel. Confirm the method and deadline for your trip with Access, including any regional connection. Registration for visitor service does not create those reservations.

Prepare a short trip list before booking:

• Each direction: pickup address, destination, travel date, and required arrival time.
• Who is traveling: wheelchair or other mobility device, companion or attendant, and relevant assistance needs.
• What is coming: luggage or other items to discuss with the operator.
• How to reach you: a contact method that will work while you are in Seattle.

Read back the pickup window, return arrangement, fare, and accepted payment method. If using a phone from another country, check whether you can receive local calls or messages and agree on a workable alternative if needed.

For any trip you choose to book privately, get a separate confirmation of availability, vehicle fit, assistance, and price. Our Access and private transportation comparison helps organize that decision. A Stellar Mobility request is for private-pay transportation and does not establish Metro visitor eligibility.