Orphan Road - bus - Comments

So that explains the "No

Oran — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:28:11 -0700

So that explains the "No Bicycles on Escalator" signs appearing in the stations recently.

I think I remember hearing

bgtothen — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:57:16 -0700

I think I remember hearing from a metro employee that they are working on a new site. The current one is extremely hard to navigate (especially compared to WSDOT, which in my opinion has one of the best website of any public agency in washington or nationwide) and they know it.

Josh there is a link to a

Oran — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:41:51 -0700

Josh there is a link to a notice on the front page explaining this.

From the looks of it, they're trying to integrate Metro Online with the look and feel of the entire King County website and move the site over to kingcounty.gov/metro (right now it's a redirect to transit.metrokc.gov).

So far it's still a work in progress. It's really hard to navigate the subsections. The menu bar on the side usually lists the items under a section as if they were a main section like in the photo above. Adopt a Stop should be nested under Archives, with a small indentation. While on some pages, like the Service Change under Updates, there is a distinction between top level sections and subsections.

545 gets reasonably close,

Mark — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:28:31 -0700

545 gets reasonably close, although it stops running at 10 PM on weekends. It's about a 15-20 minute walk from the bus stop to the center of the park.

Thanks Alex! I'm not quite

Matt the Engineer — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:55:11 -0700

Thanks Alex! I'm not quite sure how I could have found that out on my own - King county Metro's tool tells me I'm out of luck, they don't mention it on the county's web site, and it's not obvious from any map I've seen.

Of course the 233 doesn't run on sundays, but it will get me to the concert.

take the 550 or the 271 to

alexjonlin — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:30:38 -0700

take the 550 or the 271 to downtown bellevue, then the 233 to marymoor.

It is too bad, especially

Frank — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:51:05 -0700

It is too bad, especially because the infrastructure there at the end of 520 isn't equipped to handle that crush of cars. Mix it in with the usual rush hour (weeknight concerts start at 7, so you have to drive out there right during the evening rush), and it's gridlock.

Not quite as bad as trying to get to White River Ampitheater, but pretty bad!

I had the same issue with

phantommw — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:55:39 -0700

I had the same issue with the King County Fair at the Fairgrounds in Enumclaw. I wanted to take the bus last summer - but there was no bus that ran to the fairgrounds.

I don't think this is as

pitchblende — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:24:33 -0700

I don't think this is as great of a problem for rail except maybe trolleys. Rail doesn't need to leapfrog because it won't experience traffic delays like a normal bus would. Trolleys may experience the delays but since most have a right of way and there should be traffic laws where trolleys always should have priority to street traffic it shouldn't be a problem. If it becomes a problem than where ever that trolley is operating would be a perfect candidate for a heavy service (light or heavy rail).

Well, briefly, there are

serial catowner — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:04:01 -0700

Well, briefly, there are several ways rail handles high usage.

The most effective is all-door boarding at platforms where only paid ticket holders are allowed. Combined with larger trains, higher speeds, and shorter headways, this can carry incredibly heavy traffic.

For street running, where speeds, incidentally, are always limited by the public nature of the street (just as we have speed limits for cars), longer and more frequent trains are used. You can still use all-door boarding if you use an 'honor system' or do away with the fare altogether.

It's important to remember that leap-frogging buses are not a triumph of transit to be aimed for, but are an attempt to deal with an underfunded and somewhat obsolete reality. There is always a virtue to regularity and especially so when a large system moves large things like buses over large distances carrying large numbers of people. The buses need to be re-fueled, the drivers need meals and breaks (as do the dispatchers), the vehicles need to be parked in a way that ensures they can be found the next day, and the institutions and people that interface with the buses also need regularity. IOW, it's a good thing when you always see the same driver when you always get on at the same time.

Or, you could do the short form- Curitabo, having been lauded around the world for their bus rapid transit, is now building a rail system. It's where you come when you're through playing games.

Here's a start. "Use front

JoshMahar — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:43:29 -0700

Here's a start.

"Use front doors only after 7PM" Is that for real? Has anyone ever ridden on a full bus, if you could only use the front door, one stop alone can set you back about 5 min. Its ridiculous. Luckily no drivers I've ever ridden with actually use that rule.

But what this really points toward is that a two door, skinny bus, simply doesn't allow people to get on and off. The truth is, our metro buses are designed for long rides with few people. And for this they are great, but we are going to have to reconsider this in the future.

As far as being nervous about no leapfrogging on rail, I think using the no passenger rule could work pretty well.

Of course, a full subway system would also work wonders...sigh...

This is where trollies and

nickb — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:15:50 -0700

This is where trollies and rail become a problem, they can't leapfrog. (Okay well trollies could, but it would take too much damn effort.)

That being said the 36 could really use a dispatcher on it. That also being said I've heard rumors that the 36 is going to go all trolly. Which worries me somewhat because you can't leapfrog. (It happens right now folks, there just isn't any planning to it.)

Something that needs to be addressed is people's habits. I think one of the problem with heavier loaded routes with local service is it takes too long to get everyone on and off. We need to get rid of some stops and force people to walk some more.. Honolulu's transit system did it, so should we.

Thanks for posting the link.

serial catowner — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:45:39 -0700

Thanks for posting the link. I just kind of wilted at the thought of searching all the websites I'd seen that day.

I talked about it in my post

bgtothen — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:17:43 -0700

I talked about it in my post from earlier this week. Here is the link. Scroll all the way down for a PDF and news clip. Although he manually managed it this type of system is perfect for automation which he mentioned. From my understanding metro will adopt this system to some extent with rapidride.

http://www.orphanroad.com/blog/2008/05/new-service-allocation-if-i-had-m...

Say, did Congress approve

EvergreenRailfan — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:47:56 -0700

Say, did Congress approve this rule, if so, I wonder if Local 587 was going to endorse Reichert?

Now maybe there is one good thing. What are the procedures Metro does when a bus comes back into the base at night? How long does it take to prepare them for the next service day? On Mariner Game night how many hours do they have to get these buses ready for a peak service in the morning. Metro usually starts dispatching around 3:45AM-4AM.(I overheard a driver on the 7-OWL once telling a passenger he was talking to that the 7 heading for Ranier Beach starting the day, left the garage at just before 4AM). Of course on Weekdays, the 7 has an advantage over some of the suburban routes, don't need diesel, except for the 7X, and the 7-OWL).

Starline said it will be a plus for Metro, saving wear and tear on the buses. I wonder if that spokesperson knows that the FTA basicallly gets to threaten Metro, saying that their will be no bus replacement money coming. To that, I say thanks a lot, Metro usually gets 15 years, or more out of their buses. THe FTA minimum is 12, 25 for an LRV. I have one more question on that front, but I am not going to ask it, as I do not want to give the FTA any bright ideas!