Race Across
Seattle

You are at Northgate Station to eat some yummy Chinese food. You soon realize you are actually yearning for the delicious food of Seattle’s historical Chinatown. You’re out of money, but by completing tasks, you can earn passes to take segments of public transit to make it all the way there by dinnertime.

Requirements

• ORCA card with either a pass or at least $10 loaded on it
  Microsoft- and Amazon-issued ORCA cards suffice for this requirement
• A smartphone
  One team member must have an iPhone with Find My Friends enabled
• Joined the Signal group
• Either:
  • A bandana from Seattle Transit Trek #2 and a $2 participation fee, or
  • A $2.50 participation fee. In return, you will be given a bandana to be used throughout the game (and to keep as a souvenir!)

Optional but recommended:

• Sunscreen
• Water
• Battery pack (for your phone)
• Snacks, if you might get hungry during the event

Basics

• To take public transit, you have to complete certain tasks of varying difficulty
• Most tasks are relatively close to public transit stations
• 3 to 4 people per team
• 4 hours long competition period

Rules

Basic Gameplay Logistics

• The objective of the game is to get from the starting point to the pit stop via public transit as quickly as you can.
• In order to take modes of public transit, each team needs to earn passes to take a certain mode of transportation or a certain route.
• Once passes are earned, they are forever valid for unlimited two-way travel between the origin and destination.
• Every player (that’s you!; also known as a Transit Trekker) must have a fully charged mobile phone with Signal installed.
  • Signal will be used to communicate between participants and the organizers.
• At least one Transit Trekker in the team must have an iPhone with Find My Friends.
• Every Transit Trekker must be wearing a bandana provided by the organizers. This way, you can easily be identified as a participant.
• For tracking purposes, one team member needs to share their location with the organizers on Find My Friends.
• Players must travel by foot or public transit where they can use their ORCA card. This includes Link light rail, all public buses, streetcars/trams, and the Seattle Monorail.
  • Absolutely no traveling on cars, motorcycles, trucks, boats, planes, bicycles, scooters, or Segways. Doing so could result in penalties up to/including disqualification.
• There are a few zones where you cannot cross on foot. They are called pedestrian exclusion zones, and will be provided along with the map. You are welcome to walk on the streets listed as part of the pedestrian exclusion zones, but cannot cross them in order to progress further in the game. You can only use public transit to get across those zones.
  • If you go across the pedestrian exclusion zones anyway, you’ll have to go back and resume playing the game from there.
• Running is only allowed to catch public transit (if it’s about to depart) or if you are within sight of the pit stop. Everyone’s bodies are built differently and not all of us have bodies well suited to running long distances. To ensure fairness, please do not run at any other point of the game.
• Team members must stay together (within 10 feet of each other) at all times.
• Transit Trekkers must stay within the bounds of the game.
  • Because it is not fair to exit the bounds of the game, teams will be subject to a time penalty (to be determined by the organizers on a case-by-case basis) for each violation detected.
• You get one 10 minute bio break. If you don’t take it, a 10 minute penalty will be given to you when you arrive at the finish line.
  • For instance, if you take a bio break and you arrive at 5:30pm, your game time counts as 3 hours 30 minutes. However, if you don’t take a bio break and you arrive at 5:30pm, your game time counts as 3 hours 40 minutes.
  • You have to tell us when you are starting and ending the bio break.
• You cannot take a bio break while doing a task and you cannot do any tasks when taking a bio break. You are, however, allowed to strategize during the bio break.
• In case a bio break takes longer than 10 minutes, please inform the organizers so they can keep track of your team’s situation. Health and safety always come first, but it’s important for the organizers to keep track of exceptional circumstances affecting gameplay.

Completing Challenge Tasks

• Tasks earn you passes. Passes allow you to go to a specific place, sometimes with a limitation on where they can be used from.
• To officially complete a task, they must be reported to the organizers via Signal as soon as they are completed (for verification and tabulation purposes).
  • If a task requires you to complete multiple stages/steps, you may report each stage's completion to the organizers separately.
  • If you complete a task in its entirety, you must report it immediately.
  • You won’t receive your pass to move on to the next part until the organizers inform your team you’ve successfully completed the task.
  • If the organizers inform the team that their task was not successfully completed, the organizers will not inform the team of what they did incorrectly, and the team may try to repeat the task at most two more times. After that, they cannot continue attempting to complete the task and must try another task.
• Whenever possible, tasks may be completed simultaneously with other tasks, but team members cannot split up in order to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously. Instead, you can start one task and keep it going while you start on another.
• You may be required to make small purchases under $20 throughout the game to complete certain tasks (ORCA card taps don’t count as purchases). These tasks will be clearly marked with a dollar sign and alternative tasks will be available to allow you to avoid paying. You will not be reimbursed for any monetary costs associated with completing the task.
• If a task requires a certain item, it must be purchased after the game starts. Items you have with you won’t count unless explicitly permitted by the task.
• If a task requires pictures as proof (which almost all of them do), all team members must be in the picture (as a selfie) unless explicitly not required. When in doubt, ask the organizers.
• If a task says you can’t look something up, it means you also can’t ask a non-participating person to look it up for you or tell you the answer.
• If you are not sure about what counts as successfully completing a task, ask the organizers. Failure to ask may result in you not earning the pass if your actions don’t qualify as properly completing the task.
• If a task requires each team member to procure something, then teams which have more members than other teams only need to get the number of items equivalent to the smallest team’s size. For instance, if the smallest team size is 4, then teams of 5 will only need to get 4 items.
• When completing tasks, please do not do anything that might lead to danger. Safety first. If you are concerned that you or other teams completing a task may result in harm, please contact the organizers immediately. They may issue a notice to everyone that a certain task is removed from the game due to safety concerns.
• Be sure, when communicating with organizers, that you tell them what you are sending evidence for.

Interacting with Other Teams

• Teams may not have any intentional contact with each other during the game, unless they see each other in person, or as otherwise specified in the rules.

Concluding the Game

• Teams should aim to arrive at the pit stop as quickly as possible (of course, as this is a race!), but they need to make sure they are there by the end of the game, or they might not be eligible to be ranked.
• If teams have not reached Pioneer Square or the International District by 5:45pm, they will be required to take the fastest public transit from wherever they are to Chinatown/International District and go to Hing Hay Park.
• At the end of the game, teams will be ranked by how quickly they arrived.
• All times are reported in U.S. Pacific Daylight Time.
• Clarifications are issued by the organizers and are final. When appropriate, the clarifications will be announced to all teams, not just yours.
• Tiebreaking rules
  • The number of rules broken will be the first to break ties, with fewer rule violations giving higher priority. This excludes rules that give an explicit time penalty.
  • Second, the time penalties are factored in. This may include a failure to take a bio break or crossing the pedestrian exclusion zones.
  • Third, a team who successfully completed more challenges and earned more passes through the course of the game will be given higher priority.
  • All else failing, then it’s a fight to the death with rock paper scissors, best out of 3.

Miscellaneous

• You must obey all applicable laws, regulations, and rules during the game. (To be fair, it's probably also smart to obey laws outside the game.)
• You must correctly pay the fare when taking transit. This includes both tapping on but also tapping off the Link.
• You may not obstruct any transit from operating along its normal schedule (by, for example, holding the doors open as they're closing).
• You may be filmed during the game for future promotional purposes unless you explicitly ask us not to film you.
• Rules can be changed by the organizers at any time before, during, and after the competition period. Whatever the organizers say can override any of the written rules. Rule changes will be clearly broadcasted on the Signal group.

Game Zone and Game Boundaries

To be announced at a later time

Starting Point

Show up to Northgate Station by 1:00pm. Parking is available at this park and ride location, though this tends to be a popular park and ride garage, and you'll have to backtrack all the way back here from the ending point, so you may wish to park downtown instead at the Amazon Spheres and take the Link 1 Line over to Northgate Station. The rules will be explained and participants will have the opportunity to ask clarifying questions to the organizers before the game starts. You will also have the chance to meet your team and discuss basic strategy. The game will begin when everyone is present and the organizers announce the start. Take your time or hurry up. The choice is yours; don’t be late!

One member of your team should be designated as the primary representative, who will be responsible for communicating with the organizers.

Ending Point

The ending point will be Hing Hay Park in Chinatown.

Starting Procedures

• Pick a name for your team
• Pick a representative for the team, who will share their location with the organizers
• Get your bandana! (and pay for it if you haven’t already)
  • Does not apply if you are bringing your bandana from the last Transit Trek
• Read the rules and ask questions to the organizers for clarification
• Decide as a team what the strategy is and how to start

Safety Disclaimer

You (a Participant) and your safety are of paramount importance during your participation in the Seattle Transit Trek (the “Game”). You are strongly advised to avoid areas that may present imminent danger to you or your fellow Participants. In case a diversion needs to be made, you should report it to the Organizers and appropriate compensation in terms of points and/or time will be made for you, including but not limited to, bonus points, the waiver of a late return penalty, etc.

You may also not engage in any illegal activity to gain an unfair advantage in the Game. Doing so will result in penalties including/up to disqualification.

By participating in the Game, you agree that you are playing the Game at your own risk. You furthermore agree to hold the Organizers harmless and hold your fellow Participants harmless, even by the negligence of the Organizers or fellow Participants.

IN NO EVENT WILL THE ORGANIZERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS GAME, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS GAME, YOU HEREBY WAIVE, RELEASE, AND DISCHARGE THE ORGANIZERS AND THEIR AGENTS OF ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RELATED TO, ARISING FROM, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH, YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS GAME, INCLUDING THOSE ALLEGEDLY ATTRIBUTED TO THE NEGLIGENT ACTS OR OMISSIONS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED PARTIES.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to all of the people who worked to make the Seattle Transit Trek possible!

• Michael Xing: Game coordinator, author of the Transit Trek web app, Transit Trek 3 editor, Transit Trek co-organizer
• Arjun Pherwani: Doubter of Michael Xing, co-creator of the Transit Trek, team logistics coordinator, Transit Trek co-organizer
• Steven Schulte: Original inspiration for the Transit Trek, world record holder for ‘getting caught the most in a Transit Trek game’
• Jet Lag: The Game: Inspiration for Transit Trek games
• You, the Transit Trekker! Thank you for participating and making this Transit Trek a success.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Wang
Transit Trek 3 author, co-creator of the Transit Trek, Transit Trek co-organizer