You’ve probably heard that there’s talk of replacing Metro’s trolley fleet with diesel-electric hybrids. If you have an opinion about this issue (I do!*), take SDOT’s survey.
For background, check out this trolley fact sheet.
*While I’m not a fan of all trolley routes, I definitely appreciate the quiet, exhaust-free vehicles. I say, keep the trolleys!
My favorite holiday is coming up on Monday, and there are going to be lots of events going on around town. (Assuming I’m not in–or recovering from–labor, I’ll be at the march and then the CD Forum event at the Seattle Center.) If you’re planning to attend any of the festivities (or, if you have to work on the 18th), you’ll probably want to check out Metro’s King Holiday schedule.
Starting on February 6th, you’ll be able to load your bike in the Ride-Free Zone at any time of day. I’m not much of a ‘bike+bus’er, but I did learn about the “no loading downtown during rush hour” rule the hard way several years back. The second time I ever tried to put my bike on a bus, I tried it at 7 AM at the stop in front of Benaroya Hall and, to my dismay, got publicly corrected by the driver. (Of course, I learned later that it could have been much worse.)
My multi-modal days are over for the foreseeable future, (not that they’d ever really begun) but, to all my bike-nerd friends who will benefit from this change: Happy (downtown) riding!
The highlights:
• Another fare increase: Starting January 1st, a one-zone peak-hour trip will cost $2.25. (Note: Youth fares will not change.)
• No more Puget Passes: Need a bus pass? Get an Orca card. They’re free until January 31st, and then they’ll cost $5. (Note: All passes purchased in 2009–before the December 15th deadline–will be valid until they expire, and all employer-provided passes will be accepted until the employer makes the transition.)
• No more paper transfers between systems: You’ll still be able to use paper transfers within Metro’s system, but only Orca-based electronic transfers will be valid on Link and buses operated by other transit agencies.
You can find all the details in this Metro press release.
Also note: Contrary to the Council’s somewhat misleading press release, February shakeup will include some service loss. Though (thanks to added service in certain corridors) there will be no net loss of service hours, some trips (certainly far, far fewer than we feared) will be eliminated. As far as I know, there’s no way to find out which trips will be cut until the new schedules are published. I’ll post more useful information as soon as I have it.
Update, 1/2: STB posted a good summary earlier in the month.
In case anyone else is confused about why we’re seeing wrapped buses again–despite the fact that the Council banned them three years ago and did not authorize partial wraps until a few weeks ago–I think I finally understand well enough to explain:
Starting in 2007, Metro was prohibited from selling bus ads that covered any part of the vehicle’s windows–not, specifically, bus wraps. At that point, Metro’s ad vendor, Titan, started trying to find advertisers who were willing to create wraps that did not cover bus windows. (This was not easy, since most ad templates do cover windows, and it’s expensive to create a custom template for one market–especially one with other transit agencies, like Sound Transit, with no such constraints.) At first, the only ad sold was to the zoo.
In the meantime (way back in July of 2007), Metro presented the Council with a “partial wrap” proposal, which allowed wraps as long as they left a 15″ portion of each window uncovered. This proposal was endorsed by both the KC Transit Advisory Committee and the Accessible Services Committee, but, thanks to some frustrating drama and politics, the Council didn’t get around to voting on it until last month. (Guess a zillion-dollar budget gap can be a powerful motivator.) During the long wait, Titan was apparently able to sell a few “clear-window” wraps, and those are the wraps we’re seeing now.
I assume we’ll start seeing the recently approved partial wraps sometime in the next several months.
Whew! I think I got that right. Metro folks (and all-knowing transit geeks), please chime in with additions or corrections.
MEHVA Santa’s Lights Tour
What: Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association‘s annual, vintage-bus tour of “Seattle’s best holiday lights.”
When: Saturday, December 12th, 7 PM – 10 PM
Where: Buses depart from–and return to–2nd & Main.
How much: $5 (Children under 5 are free.)
First Hill Streetcar Community Open Houses
What: The First Hill Streetcar (which we Puget Sound voters approved as part of ST2) is now scheduled to break ground in 2011. The open houses will present the streetcar’s “alignment options” and provide an opportunity for public feedback.
When/where:
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
6 PM – 8 PM
Seattle Central Community College
101 BroadwayWednesday, December 16, 2009
6 PM – 8 PM
Yesler Community Center
917 E. Yesler WayThursday, December 17, 2009
6 PM — 8 PM
Union Station
401 S. Jackson
How much: Free, of course
Link’s Seatac Station opening
What: Light rail service to the airport begins.
When: Saturday, December 19th, 10 AM
Where: Seatac Airport, my holiday-traveling friends
How much: Train fare
When are we supposed to start getting them? Given all the drama on Yesler last night, I’m assuming that the 27 was affected, yet I didn’t receive a peep out of Metro about a reroute or delayed service.
What gives? Perhaps the route-specific alerts aren’t live yet? Or perhaps I should adjust my expectations?
Assuming its final budget passes next week, the King County Council will not–I repeat not–cut bus service in 2010. From yesterday’s PI:
The council’s soon-to-be-released budget plan will not cut Metro Transit bus service next year as first proposed to fill a projected $213 million revenue shortfall over the next two years, councilmembers announced.
Instead, the council says its final 2010 budget plan will sufficiently plug the gap by diverting money from the King County Ferry District and by adopting recommendations from an audit that found $44 million in potential savings through running more efficient bus routes and other changes. In addition, Metro will eliminate 43 staff positions unrelated to bus service and start selling full bus-wrap advertising.
This is goodness–well, maybe not goodness, but not nine percent across-the-board cuts, either.
Though I happen to love the Water Taxi, I’m all for putting the Ferry District expansion on hold while we figure out how to keep existing transit service afloat. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.) I have a feeling that the audit “efficiencies” they’re proposing to implement will actually negatively affect on-time performance, but that’s just a hunch, and regardless, I’ll take ’em.*
I am very (very!) glad to see that bus wraps are back in the mix. When the Council banned them in 2006, Metro lost three quarters of a million dollars in painless** annual revenue. At roughly $100 bucks per service hour, that’s a lot of service to give up over a handful of complaints.*** And since the program capped the number of wrapped coaches at 25, it affected a very small percentage of riders on a given day.
Me? I’d ride a wrapped bus every day (shoot, for every ride) before I’d give up service. But I digress.
The no-service-cuts budget also includes a 50-cent fare increase over the next two years: the 25-cent increase planned for January and another in 2011. Eh–so it goes. Ideal transit scenarios aside, I guess we all have to be willing to pay our fair share.
Update, 11/23: Looks like the budget was unanimously approved today.
*That is, assuming they don’t involve adopting the proposal to replace trolleys with diesel/electric hybrids.
**A vendor managed the selling and installation for a cut of the profits.
***Less than one percent of all of KC Metro’s complaints that year
Link’s Airport Station will open on December 19th.
Passenger service at Sea Tac / Airport Station begins at 10 a.m. on Dec. 19th. Normal Link operating hours are from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 6 a.m. to midnight on Sundays. Sea Tac / Airport Station connects to the airport garage via a pedestrian walkway. Airport passengers will follow a separated guideway through the garage to the main terminal. Luggage carts will be available at the station.
See you on the train!
As much as we all enjoyed guessing which routes were running (and where) during last year’s big snowstorm(s)…
Metro’s developed a new plan to improve predictability and communication during severe winter weather. From a KC Metro press release:
This season, customers will be able use the Internet to quickly see which buses in the Metro system are on snow route based on “geographic area.” Just as congestion is measured by color on congestion flow maps, the use of green, yellow or red on Metro’s new online snow map will give riders a snapshot of bus operations in each of seven geographic areas of the county. Green will indicate buses are operating on normal routes, yellow will signify minor reroutes (primarily in higher elevation areas), and red will alert customers that buses in the entire geographic area are on snow route or are being significantly impacted by snow.
If a major snowstorm spanning several days strikes, Metro will activate a newly designed Emergency Service Network for its fleet. When the network is activated, Metro’s regular routes will be replaced with 70 pre-identified “priority” snow routes across the county designed to be reliable in severe weather conditions. Metro will make every attempt to keep service operating on these routes as long as transportation service providers are able to keep roads passable.
…Customers are also being encouraged to sign up online for enhanced Metro Transit Alerts being launched today that will deliver email or text messages about widespread service disruptions or weather events impacting their individual bus route.
Hallelujah. (I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting for targeted alerts.) And about those impassable roads…
Based on lessons learned last winter, Metro has revised and simplified snow routes and has closely coordinated with other public works and transportation agencies to make sure bus routes are identified as priorities for plowing and sanding. Agency leaders also negotiated a separate agreement with the city of Seattle to exchange staff during weather emergencies for improved coordination and to help the city plow streets, if necessary, in an effort to keep buses moving.
I can’t say I’m eager to test the new system this winter, but–should the unthinkable happen (again)–here’s hoping for clear sidewalks, so folks can actually make it to the routes that are running.
