Have business in Seattle and am staying downtown ca. 6th and Union. Have offspring in Bellevue and wonder if I'd be better off paying cab fare instead of renting a car at $17-20/day and paying $24/night to park the car at the hotel. Can anyone give me an estimate of cab fare -- as well as some sense of whether finding a cab to do that would be difficult (in Bellevue as well as downtown)?

Why not call a cab company in Seattle and give them exact addresses and ask for an estimated fare. You could even run the addresses through mapquest.com and get an exact mileage. It's not hard to order a cab to come to the door in Bellevue, and I can't imagine it would be in Seattle, either, but you can ask the companies. Just pulling from the Yellow Pages, Yellow cab 206-622-6500 ("Seattle's Largest Fleet of Taxi Cabs"). Orange Taxi 206-522-8800. Broadway Cabs 206-622-4800

It really depends on time of day and where you're going. Bellevue is a pretty spread out city and traffic here is horrendous a lot of the time. In good traffic, I'd say that taxi fare would be between $25-40 one way, depending on where in Bellevue you'll be going.

Getting a cab is easy, it's the cost that's the variable. I'd rent the car.

Downtown Seattle to Downtown Bellevue should be about $20, $40 seems too high. The bus service is very good, downtown Seattle Bus tunnel to Downtown Bellevue transit center less than 30 minutes and about $2.00 depending upon time of day. Buses are decent commuter buses. The buses travel in high occupancy vehicle lanes so you have some protection from the peak period bridge nightmare. Cab could use them too. But a rental car on your own would be relegated to the crowded lanes. Sheraton at 6th & Union to the bus tunnel is 3-4 blocks at 3rd & University. You could try it and if you don't like it take a cab. We don't really flag cabs in Seattle like they do in other major cities. They will always be available at the hotel, but you would probably have to call for one in Bellevue.

I was giving a very rough estimate because she didn't specify where she's going in Bellevue. I live in Redmond and it costs $20 to get from downtown Bellevue to my place(about 6 miles). If she's going near downtown from DT Seattle, it would probably be close to $25, but if she's going to Crossroads, or Overlake or, something, it will definitely be over $30. Bellevue isn't a tiny place and once one gets off the freeway and has to deal with surface streets and the slow traffic lights, it can run the meter up.

The bus is a good idea, but she'd have to get from the BTC to wherever she's going and without knowing where that is, I don't know if that's feasible for her or not. Not every neighborhood this side has bus service. If someone is willing to pick her up, then the bus would be perfect.

Help us out here, Cassandra. Do you know the name of the neighborhood that your family lives in?