With its lakeside setting, Husky Stadium is one of the premier college football arenas in the nation. While arriving by boat may not be practical for every fan, arriving by Metro bus can be.

Starting this Saturday, with the home opener against San Jose State, Metro will once again provide special shuttles to the Husky home games from eight area Park and Ride lots, including: Kenmore, Shoreline, Northgate Transit Center, Houghton, South Kirkland, Eastgate, Federal Way and South Renton.

Buses begin boarding two hours prior to kickoff, and leave every 20 minutes or when they are full. In most cases the last bus leaves the park and ride lot 45 minutes before kickoff and arrives at Husky Stadium about five minutes before the game. After the game, look for color-coded boarding areas for your ride back to the park and ride.

For details, see the Husky Transportation Guide on Metro Online.

There is also plenty of regularly scheduled transit service traveling to or near Husky Stadium. Use Metro's Online Trip Planner and enter Husky Stadium as the destination for tips on the most convenient route.

Traveling to or from Husky games, your ride on any Metro bus and on Sound Transit Route 550 is FREE when you show your game ticket or ticket stub to the bus driver. If you do not have a game ticket or stub, please pay an appropriate regular fare on regularly scheduled service with exact change, a valid pass, transfer, or Metro's Visitors Pass. On all Sound Transit Express bus service (except Route 550), please pay the appropriate ST fare at all times. Metro's Visitors Pass is not accepted on any Sound Transit Regional Express bus.

Last year, more than 187,000 trips were made to University of Washington football games on Metro. This type of special service is popular with other sports fans who travel to Seahawks games, hydro heats and horse races. Metro special service is also the way to go for people attending cultural events such as Bumbershoot and the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Overall, more than 847,000 trips were taken on special service buses in 2001.