The news that Amazon has launched a dedicated bus service may not be as exciting as rumors that they are testing drones for same-day delivery, but it’s certainly big news for commuters who work for the enormous company in Seattle.
Recently, Amazon began offering private shuttles to its employees that are scheduled to run six times in the morning and six times in the evening, with a bus arriving to pick up employees about every twenty minutes. The program is called “Amazon Ride,” and it will shuttle up to 26,000 passengers from Redmond, Issaquah and Bellevue to Amazon’s two Seattle locations – the offices at South Lake Union Campus as well as the company headquarters, located in downtown Seattle.
The creation of this shuttle service is perhaps a reaction to the fact that Seattle was named the fourth most congested city in the United States by TomTom Traffic Index. Amazon could also be signaling an attempt to keep up with similar perks offered by major tech companies like Microsoft, which also offers an employee shuttle service.
Amazon released a statement, saying, “Our employees tell us that they love being in the heart of the city. In fact, more than 50% of our employees get to work without a car. We are continually looking for ways to build a more sustainable urban campus and this pilot is another opportunity to do so.”
Riders will have to reserve their spot on the bus ahead of time, though there’s a program for guaranteeing a ride home in the event that you have an emergency or need to work late. Good news for traffic in Seattle, and great news if you’re an Amazon employee—we’re curious to see how this endeavor will factor into the city’s public transportation sector as well.
For more information, or to check out any of the buses on our lot, contact us today at 1-800-231-7099.