Category Archives: seattle stuff

Retroactive fare increases: not OK

From Charlie in Ravenna:

I am a regular rider, and don’t have many complaints (everyone has some, right) but the fare increase really surprised me. I understand the need for an increase (like you, I disagree with the way that transit is funded, but a fare increase is better than decreased service), but I had no idea that they would apply the fare retroactively.

I purchased a twelve month pass in November 2007, so it expires in October 2008. This was before the fare increase was announced. Today, I received a letter saying that I need to pay to upgrade my pass for the remaining months on the term of the pass. So I have to pay $63 for my pass to work for $1.75 fares (the new rush hour fare). And, I can only do this at two locations downtown, during weekday work hours.

I feel pretty used here. The annual pass requires a huge upfront cash payment. Shouldn’t they be rewarding us for making a big investment in public transit, rather than giving us a major headache by making us take off work and go downtown to pay above the funds we budgeted for when we bought the pass?

Has anyone else found this to be unreasonable?

I didn’t know about this insanity until Charlie contacted me (I receive a free Flexpass through work), but I definitely find it to be unreasonable. Frankly, I’m wondering how it’s even legal. Let’s assume that Charlie purchased the pass only because it was within his budget back in November, and let’s assume that he can’t afford to upgrade or pay an extra 25 cents every time he rides. Can he get a refund? And isn’t protection against changes in price one of the advantages of paying in advance? From what I understand, my employer doesn’t have to pay to upgrade my pass and won’t see any change in costs until Flexpasses are renewed in July.

Perhaps Seattle does need a bus riders’ union…

More service!

Metro announced more Transit Now-funded service expansion yesterday, including new routes through service partnerships and more frequent service (hallelujah!) on many existing routes. I missed the press conference, but Larry Lange was on the case.

From yesterday’s PI:

Metro said Wednesday it will seek improvements to expand service on 25 King County bus routes and create four more in a cost-sharing arrangement promised in a 2006 expansion measure.

The agency will present the changes Thursday to the King County Council for approval. If passed, the changes would go into effect in September and would cost about $14.5 million, with Metro paying about two-thirds of it.

[…]

As part of the proposal, Seattle would receive more-frequent trips on Routes 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14-S, 26, 28 and 44 in 2008.

Service frequency also would increase in 2009 on routes 2, 13 and 48 and in 2010 on city routes 5, 7, 8, 70, 74 and 75, with costs to be shared by Metro, the city and the South Lake Union Mobility Partnership for Routes 8 and 70. Some trips on Route 60 would be extended in 2010.

Still no love for the 27 (which planner types insist has low ridership–not in my experience) or the south end of the 8. But I ain’t complainin’…

Speaking of busing while intoxicated…

Justin from West Seattle wrote me recently about Metro’s night owl service:

Last night I discovered a route that goes past my building that I didn’t even know about, despite having been a bus commuter for a long time (Metro 54 and ST 545). …Metro provides what they call “night owl” service, and it saved me a cab right from the bar last night. I’m mailing this to you hoping that you might want to mention this service on your blog, as I bet there a thousands of bus commuters who don’t know of it.

I know about night owl service, but I’ve never used it (just call me Buschickrella), and until I checked with the folks at Metro, I didn’t know much about it. Here’s what I was able to find out:

There are 10 routes that provide service between 2 AM and 5 AM:

7: Rainier Beach
81: Ballard/Loyal Heights
82: Queen Anne/Greenlake/Greenwood
83: University/Maple Leaf/Ravenna
84: Madison Park/Madrona
85: West Seattle/Admiral District/White Center
120: Burien
174: Seatac/Federal Way
180: Kent/SE Auburn
280: Somewhere on the Eastside (The schedule doesn’t list a destination for this route. Seriously.)

Some of these (7, 174 [aka Ugly Steproute], and 120, for example) are regular routes that happen to run exceptionally late. Others (the 80s) are special, night-only routes. (Sometime soon I’ll devote a post to the logic–or lack thereof–of the route-numbering system.) As far as I can tell, none of these routes run near my house, so (unless the party’s good enough to justify a cab ride) I’ll continue to hightail it out the door before the last regular bus leaves.

Now where did I put those glass slippers?

Service changes start tomorrow

New schedules are available online and on buses.

A couple of changes of note:

• Expanded service on routes 8 and 70
• Two new Eastside routes–221 and 248–made possible by at least one dirty political deal

Heads up: The fare increase will take effect in March.

Speaking of Transit Now…

Public feedback about the West Seattle and Bellevue RapidRide plans is due today. If you ride the bus in either of these areas and want to influence the BRT routes, fill out the appropriate questionnaire:

West Seattle (Will replace route 54)

Bellevue (Will replace routes 230 and 253)

Unfortunately, getting these routes up and running is going to be less than rapid (what with all the pesky signal and street improvements required to make this work). They’re expected to begin service in the fall of 2011.

January Golden Transfer

This month’s Golden Transfer goes to the citizens of King County, who stepped up in 2007 and got their behinds on the bus:

King County Metro Transit bus ridership increased a record-setting 7 percent last year with an estimated 110 million passenger boardings in 2007.…

These preliminary estimates will be finalized in March, but it is believed to be the largest annual ridership increase for Metro in the past 10 years.

(And I thought 2006 was a good year.)

Busy Bellevue Transit Center (Photo courtesty of King County)

It’s good to see individuals making changes (taking advantage of new Transit Now service, perhaps?), despite the fact that our region has been (and is being) more than a little slow to move beyond the car.

County Kingpin, on the increase:

This shift in driving habits not only helps in the fight to reduce global warming, it increases the capacity of our roads and highways during the high-demand commute times,” Sims said. “With more buses and improved service coming on-line from our voter-approved Transit Now initiative, it will be easier every year for even more people to include the bus as their travel choice.

To all the new riders: thanks, and happy busing. I guess everybody really is doing it.

New rider, new driver

Yesterday, I rode the 48 with a young woman who was very new to Seattle. When she boarded the bus, she first asked the driver if we were traveling south (having been told by the northbound driver that she was headed the wrong direction) and then asked if and at what time we would get to 24th Avenue South. Oddly, the driver of our bus didn’t know if he passed 24th Avenue South, despite the fact that it’s one block east of 23rd Avenue South, a street the 48 travels on for some distance. When he suggested she get off and retry the northbound 48, I decided to intervene. I told her that the bus we were on would get her where she was going.

“Can you call the people you’re supposed to meet and find out the cross street, so you’ll know where to get off?” I asked.

“I could if this bus had a pay phone.”

Perhaps trying to make up for his lack of route knowledge, the driver handed the woman his cell phone. “You have to dial the area code first.”

She looked at him blankly. “What’s the area code here?”

(Did I mention she was new to Seattle?)

She eventually completed the call and found out the cross street, which the driver knew. He told her she’d make it there before 6:30 PM, her scheduled meeting time. She thanked us both for our help and, after a pause, asked the driver one final question:

“Hey–how come some buses are pay as you leave and some are pay as you enter?”

“Oh,” he said, “we just do that to confuse people.”

And while you’re providing feedback…

The King County Transit Advisory Committee, of which I am a member, has started working with Metro’s IT staff to find ways to improve the agency’s Web site. In addition to providing our own suggestions for improvements, we’re collecting additional suggestions from the folks we know. So…

Got ideas about how to make Metro’s Web presence more useful to customers? Post them here.

To start the process, the TAC will receive a presentation from a Metro staff member to learn more about how the IT group at Metro works. TAC meetings are open to the public, so if you’re interested attending (note that you won’t be able to provide suggestions for specific improvements during the meeting), here’s the info:

Tuesday, December 11th, 6pm
King Street Center, 8th Floor Conference Center, 201 S Jackson Street

UPDATE: The presentation about the Web site is scheduled to start at 7:20 PM.

About that fare increase…

As many of you know by now, there is likely to be a bus fare increase this spring. Given the price of fuel and transit funding constraints, I don’t think Metro really had a choice, so I grudgingly support the increase.

On the other hand, I think it’s time for the state and the county to rethink the way transit is paid for. Currently, Metro’s has two major sources of funding: sales taxes and fares. I’d like to see us explore other options (congestion pricing, tolling, gas taxes, etc.) and explore the possibility of making transit free. My hope is that doing this would have two benefits: reducing fare disputes, thereby making buses faster and safer, and encouraging more people to ride. I talked about this a bit (a very little bit) on KUOW’s Weekday a couple of weeks ago.

Your turn. Should Metro increase fares? If so, is 25 cents enough? If not, how do you think the agency should address the funding shortfall? (One idea, of course, is more bus wraps. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)