kcmetro
For bikers who also bus . . .
For bikers who also bus . . .
Metro is also launching a demonstration project to ease restrictions in the tunnel on where bikes can be loaded and unloaded from bus bike racks. The change is expected to make it more convenient for people who ride both bikes and buses. Cyclists are urged to take care when moving off the platform to load their bikes on the front of the bus, and are reminded to use the stairs or elevators – not escalators – between street level and the platforms in stations. If the demonstration project proves successful, Metro will consider making the changes permanent.
Joshua Kelley
New Metro Website?
Will Metro be upgrading their website soon? I found a few pages on the site looking like this:
Anyone know anything?
Bus Fares
Catching up on my reading after a long, much needed vacation, and I see we're going to get treated to not one, but two bus fare hikes in the next couple of years.
I sort of wish there was more predictability to these fare increases, so they didn't seem to hit people off guard like this. But I guess you can't plan a budget that way, without knowing what your expenses are going to be.
While bus fares in Seattle are relatively cheap, compared to other cities, I think Metro should try and do something positive with the fare increase to give people the sense that their money is going somewhere besides fuel (which they can't see). Cleaner buses, for example. It doesn't have to be expensive, just something.
I'll have a transit-centric edition of the old "what I did on my Summer vacation" essay coming in the next few days.
"Don't Blow It"
I'm sure KCM and ST thank the Times for this backhanded complement:
Skyrocketing gasoline prices, more transit options and a customer-service sensibility gave King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit a glorious 2007.
So here is a message of support for two agencies starting to click: Don't blow it. Complacency is a killer. Every new rider is a quality-assurance pop quiz. Buses and trains long available are newly appreciated as the cost of commuting soars and transit agencies get smarter about the options they provide.
Sound Transit's light rail plan will likely be up for a re-vote this fall, and the Seattle Times will have a chance to support them with an endorsement.
So here's a message of support for the Times: Don't blow it.
Partnerships
I'm pretty keen on the idea of Metro partnering with companies to improve service and connections. Part of me is is bothered by the fact that private corporations are helping to dictate transit routes (taken to its logical conclusion, its the end of public transit), but the realist in me knows that these companies are smart, and they know that effective public transit is key to having productive employees and a productive city.
Metro Route 17
Larry Lange reports on some proposed changes to Route 17 in Ballard. Some residents are opposed:
They've sent out notices of the meeting, arguing that the change will mean fewer buses on 32nd during the day and evenings, and seeking Metro statistics to justify the proposal. The notices question how making service less usable in their neighborhood is compatible with combating global warming.
They question why Metro is scaling back service on 32nd when voters in 2006 approved a major Metro expansion. Dublin says Ballard is growing, as shown in its burgeoning number of apartments and condominiums, and Metro just reported a record-setting growth in ridership overall.
"To me it is kind of a red flag when you're getting ridership like this, to be cutting back in this neighborhood," he said.
Obviously locals will fight any proposed change, whether it's for increased density or decreased bus service. That's not in and of itself a bad thing, and it's something public servants have to weigh with every decision. This is why we have these public comment periods.
But the group's thinking here is not very logical. With respect to global warming, one has to ask the inverse question: how effective is it to have a bus that gets 3.5mpg rolling up and down 32nd Ave with one or two passengers? I'm definitely in favor of using effects on global warming as a metric for land-use planning, but there has to be some sense to it.
Finally, I'll just add a note to anti-bus people who complain every time they see nearly-empty bus trolling down the street, that this is an example of how difficult it is to reduce service on some of these routes.
The No. 8 Bus
The No. 8 bus, scourge of many, will get more service above and beyond TransitNow, due to a partership with the city and some local businesses:
The Route 8 bus, which runs east and west on Denny Way, between Capitol Hill -- past South Lake Union-- and Queen Anne will come every 15 minutes between 6 and 7:30 p.m., instead of every half-hour.
The city, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Vulcan, Group Health and REI are each giving $21,800 to the expansion over the next two years.
"It's going to help," [Gretchen] DeGroot said as she waited for the No. 8 on First Avenue near Denny Way. It was 6:15 p.m., and the next bus was scheduled to arrive about 6:35 p.m. "The fun thing about the 8 is you never know when it's going to come.
Anecdotally, it seems that reliability, not frequency, is the No. 8's problem, as Ms. DeGroot suggests. And that's not really the Metro's problem, it's the fact that Denny Way is a tough cookie of a street. I give SDOT and Metro props for doing the best with it. The light timings are acually pretty good, and they've all but eliminated the ability to make backup-inducing left-hand turns.
Yet, as Denny Way transforms from parking lots and gas stations to apartments and retail, the traffic is likely to increase. Will the extra No. 8 buses help, or will they just stack up 2 and 3 deep during rush hour? It's getting to the point where it's almost as fast to ride the No. 2 or No. 3 buses from Queen Anne, through downtown, and up Capitol Hill than to take your chances with the No. 8.
Lowering Aurora Avenue and reconnecting the street grid between Queen Anne and South Lake Union will help disperse traffic, but that project is still years off. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how the added bus service helps.
Sims Proposes Ferry Tax, Bus Fare Hike
Part of Ron Sims' proposed King County budget would include a 25-cent hike in bus fares, presumably bringing prices to $1.50 for an off-peak trip and $1.75 at peak times. That seems reasonable to me. Transit fares in many cities are at or above $2, so Metro is still a relative bargain.
His levy on homes to support a passenger ferry service is a bit...odd... and a .1% sales tax increase to fund drug treatment is just wacky. I mean, doesn't anything get paid for out of general operating funds anymore?
In yet more wackiness, Sims argues that his proposals would cost "a lot less" than Proposition 1. Well yeah, but it also does a lot less. MUCH less. Ferries are not interchangeable with light rail. And how exactly does a drug treatment center improve transit?
Free Rides
Larry Lange looks at free bus service in the P-I, and finds it's not all it's cracked up to be:
"A fare-free policy might be appropriate for smaller transit systems in smaller communities, but is ill-advised for larger transit systems in major urban areas," a 2003 University of South Florida study concluded. It said fare-free service increases maintenance and labor costs and in some cases led to criminal activity that "drove away existing riders."
In other words, if you want something to have value, you have to make people pay for it, even if it's just a token amount. it is interesting, though, that Metro estimates that collection costs account for 10% of their budget. Given that the farebox only brings in 15% or so of total revenue, that's nearly a wasy.
