linda
I always thought the transfer was good for only one and a half hours but the time on the transfer is set at the start point of the route (so if you’re taking a bus that starts in Burien on its way downtown, you could lose half an hour to 45 minutes on the transfer just due to that start point). Plus, as long as you boarded the bus before your transfer expired, your transfer is good even if it expires before you get to your final destination.
SarahScoot is right, Metro doesn’t care how you use the transfer, they’re probably just glad you paid!
Hijacking the thread breifly here because it came up: Once the Orca card is “officially” in use in January, Metro will be the only agency handing out transfers and the transfer will only be good on Metro buses. The Orca card records when you get on the bus, ferry, etc. and gives you two hours to complete your trip. So if you transfer from Sound Transit train to Metro bus you tap the card again and it registers as a “transfer”. If you don’t use an Orca card, you’ll have to pay each agency if you use more than one agency to get to work–the “incentive” to switch to using this card over paying each time you ride. The Orca card is good on Pierce Transit, Community Transit, Sound Transit, Metro, Washington State Ferries (not sure about Kitsap Transit or the Water Taxi but suspect since Orca was designed as a regional card it applies to these transit services as well).