Bike, bus, light rail in one journey for West Seattle commuter during viaduct closure

SEATTLE -  With the beginning of the Seattle squeeze one woman is drastically changing the way she gets around.

Michelle Banks would normally drive, but with the viaduct closure she is doing everything but driving.

Banks is cautiously optimistic.

“If I can do this, anyone can do this,” Banks said.

Banks is determined not to drive during the three-week viaduct closure. But how do you easily do that when you are trying to get from West Seattle to Magnuson Park?

“By the end of the day today I will get 10 miles in on my bike,” Banks said.

She started her commute Monday morning on a bike, leaving the house at around 8 a.m.

Then she got on the bus, the Rapid Ride C, for the first leg of her journey.

“So far there is not a ton of people on the bus,” Banks said.

She's surprised about the lack of passengers and also a little nostalgic.

“It's a little surreal right now to be thinking about being on my commute and not being on the viaduct,” Banks said.

Without the viaduct she still makes it to downtown Seattle in about 30 minutes.

“Round 2 here we go,” Banks said.

That means the light rail from downtown Seattle to the station at Husky Stadium.

“It looks little crowded we will put the bike by the door,” Banks said.

But once inside even the light rail seemed less crowded than usual.

“Hardly anyone got on at Westlake, so people are either already at work or they are staying home,” Banks said.

Banks works for Cascade Bicycle Club, an organization that says there is no better time than now to use transit.

All in all, it took Banks a little over an hour and half to get to work.

She biked, she bused, she light railed and she biked again.

But can she keep it up for 3 weeks?

“I am going to commit to myself, my colleagues and now to the world for a lot of reasons,” Banks said.

Banks says it’s one less car on the road, it’s better for the environment and her health.