Recent transit news of note

In Seattle:

• 2006 was a year of record ridership for Metro. The current estimate: 103.2 million passenger boardings. I’m guessing Bus Nerd and I account for about 10% of those. Kidding! (sort of)

The article also explains how Metro counts riders:

The most precise method of counting ridership involves the use of Automated Passenger Counters (APC) that are on about 15 percent of Metro buses at any given time. Most of these are floor mats that rest on the steps inside each door of the bus, and count the number of times people board and deboard. The APC-equipped coaches are rotated throughout Metro’s system, so that each route and each individual trip on that route is counted several times a year.

I always thought it was that beep you hear when you pay. (The bus driver presses a some kind of button that makes the same beep when folks show a pass.)

• Sound Transit’s board has released initial recommendations for the East Link route. They’ve identified several possible alternatives for stations and maintenance facilities, which will be included in the “conceptual engineering” phase of planning. Look for a draft environmental impact statement sometime in 2008.

• Flexcar has a new pricing model. One of the coolest changes: Every vehicle will now have a “day rate,” a flat rental fee for any 24-hour period (midnight to midnight). I don’t think the details are on the website yet, but the changes (which, they’re calling Flexcar 2.0) take effect on February 1st.

Elsewhere:

• The Allegheny County Port Authority announced drastic cuts to transit service in the Pittsburgh metro area:

Authority staff has recommended eliminating 124 of 213 weekday bus routes starting June 24, thereby reducing the daily hours of service by 25 percent, to address an estimated $75 million to $80 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Similar cuts are in store for weekends and holidays, although no service changes are planned for the authority’s nationally recognized ACCESS paratransit system serving people with special needs.
Did I mention they’re also increasing fares?

Riders in Pittsburgh are understandably dismayed.

• Richard Bernstein, a Detroit lawyer who sued the city over inoperable wheelchair lifts, was recently featured on CNN. Viewers of Anderson Cooper’s “Keeping Them Honest” segment selected him as a top watchdog. Said Bernstein, “”It’s something I will never forget. I guess the voters realized that public transportation is vital for people’s lives and independence.”

Amen.

Eastbound 14, 9 PM (or, second time’s the charm)

My brothers and I are returning from a cathartic evening of bonding at the Seahawks/Cowboys game. (Jeremy, ever in the mix, happens to know a Seagal. He also knew half the people sitting next to us in the crowd. But I digress.) The 14 is standing-room only–packed with Seahawk fans and regular riders–but oddly morose, given the outcome of the game.

Jeremy, to everyone else on the bus: “What about them Seeeeeeeeahawks?!”
At least half of the other riders: “Hawks, baby! Sea-HAWKS!”
A lone voice in the crowd: “Better not be no Cowboys on this bus.”

Sweet Caroline

Mom
Caroline (aka Mom): August 27, 1945-January 3, 2007

Some past entries in honor of the most charismatic and beautiful woman I have ever known:

Still more on mommies

True beauty

Caroline, unplugged

A taxident

For better or worse, cont’d

Sanctimonious? Maybe. Suffocated? Definitely.

I rode the 4 to see her for the last time.

It’s strangely comforting to know that, when your world is ending, you can count on the loud beep of the lift, and some guy getting on in front of you who’s “out of change.”

Posts will be spotty in the coming days.

Speaking of helpful tools for bus riders…

I’m really diggin’ Spotbus, a cool website that’s built on top of Metro’s Trip Planner. Because the site uses Trip Planner as its back end, the data is accurate, but its interface is much friendlier, and there are some cool enhancements, such as:

• You can plan a trip by location instead of by address. (I tried planning one from Douglass-Truth Library to Seattle Center and one from Benaroya Hall to Leschi Park. Both worked perfectly.) The database of locations is pretty comprehensive and includes most parks, libraries, community centers, theaters, etc.
• The interface “remembers” locations you have entered before. The “from” field always contains the last location or address you entered.

Some features I’d like to see:

• The ability for users to add their own locations to the site (for example, home, work, etc.).
• Information about businesses as well as public places. (I hear this is in the works.)
• A mapping feature. Maybe, after Google Transit starts to actually work, Spotbus could integrate with it, too.

The goal of Spotbus is to enable “spontaneous” bus travel, and it does a pretty good job. Unfortunately, unless Seattle gets ubiquitous wireless access (very likely) and universal portable device ownership (not very likely) bus riders can be only so spontaneous.

I’d love to explore ways to get trip planning kiosks placed strategically throughout the city: the airport, shopping malls, libraries, major bus stops/intersections, etc. Everett’s train station has one that is funded by paid Internet usage. Has anyone seen one in Seattle?

December Golden Transfer

Golden Transfer This month’s Golden Transfer goes to Evan Siroky, a recent UW graduate and self-described “transit freak.” Evan is car-free by choice, and though only a few months into his first professional job, he’s already in a far better financial position than most of his peers. In addition to saving lots of money by not owning a car, he’s also earning lots of money by working a second job, as (it doesn’t get better than this, folks) a rider information specialist for Metro. Says Evan,

Almost every weekend I religiously go to King Street Center to tell people how to get from one place to another using public transportation. I, too, am carless and enjoy this lifestyle. Not owning a car saves me money, it is safer, and it is always a fun way to start a conversation. I now know almost every bus route in King, Pierce, and Snohomish County. People at my frat even started calling me Mapquest!

Evan S

I met Evan a few weeks ago–to talk transit, of course. Would that all rider information specialists were as knowledgeable and passionate about transit as he is! Because he’s car free, the man knows his bus routes, and he actually spends his spare time creating tools that help him do his job better. Some examples:

A map of all of the park & rides in King County
A map of all the transfer centers in King County

He created the maps using Windows Live Local‘s “collection” feature. (I’m using the same tool to create interactive maps of bus routes I like. I’ll post the first one soon.) They do take a bit of time to load, so be patient.

Thanks, Evan, for providing an example of the benefits of a bus-based life, and for doing your part to make it easier for others to ride.

Nights out, bus-chick style

Car free but like to party? Some tips from last week’s Real Change column:

A few weeks ago, you learned how to look fabulous while riding the bus. Now, let’s explore how to take your fabulous self out for the evening.

If you’ve followed the first rule of car-free living — move to a transit-friendly neighborhood, preferably close to downtown — you’ll find plenty of options for eating, drinking, dancing, watching, listening, and meeting a short walk or bus ride from your home. With no car to worry about, you can hop on the bus to Benaroya Hall or Belltown without giving a second thought to parking availability or costs. If you want to have a few drinks while you’re out (remember, I said a few), go ahead. After all, you’re not driving home.

Going out without a car does require some adjustments. Even in the most transit-friendly areas, your travel is limited by bus schedules. (I call this phenomenon the Buschickrella Syndrome.) If the last bus leaves before you are ready to end your night, you can use a few of the thousands of dollars you’ve saved on transportation to take a cab.

Spontaneous trips to inconvenient locations will require planning and will therefore happen far less frequently, but if you are willing to take advantage of the many dining and entertainment opportunities you can reach on the bus or on foot, you will hardly notice this.

Attending private parties without a car can also be a challenge. Unlike a movie or a concert, a party doesn’t have a specified end time. If it’s fun, you’ll probably want to stay until they kick you out of the joint. Unfortunately, unless all your friends have been wise enough to choose transit-friendly neighborhoods, many of the parties you are invited to are likely to be in areas with spotty (or nonexistent) late-night bus service.

You can rent a Flexcar for these occasions, but since Flexcar charges by the hour, and the car will spend most of the evening parked in someone’s driveway, I recommend it only as a last resort. Carpooling is sometimes an option. (Evite has streamlined this process by building a carpooling option into their software.) If you carpool, make sure to offer the driver gas money so the ride is mutually beneficial.

Usually, the best option will be to work with the bus service that’s available. If you opt to ride the bus, make sure you:

• Know how often the route you’re riding runs and when the last one leaves.
• Let the host know in advance that you have to leave at a specific time. A sudden and unexpected departure is often met with protest.
• Plan to leave at least 15 minutes earlier than you think you need to. It’s no fun to rush out the door without a proper goodbye.

Besides, you wouldn’t want the other guests to see you without your glass slippers.

Until there’s a biometric option…

Sound Transit or Metro? Peak or off peak? One zone or two? Pay as you enter or as you leave? If you hate keeping track of this stuff (or carrying extra change in your wallet to supplement your pass), you’ll be happy to know that Metro, Sound Transit, and several other regional transit agencies are in the process of testing that smart-card-based, regional fare system I mentioned back in August. (In fact, I think the test was scheduled to end on 12/22.) Though I don’t regularly ride any of the participating routes, I’ve seen a few of the card readers in the course of my travels. Here’s one:

Orca smart-card reader

Apparently, they keep track of the time (peak or off peak) and location (ride free or fare), and (I assume, since I’ve never ridden with anyone who actually has one) automatically deduct the proper amount from a rider’s “e-purse.” Nice.

Last month, a few of you wrote to say that you planned to participate in this test. How did it go?

Westbound 2, 5 PM

A woman and man, apparently colleagues, are sitting together in the back.

Woman, to the man: “My lab is on the 4th floor, across from the grad students’ office, and the room across from the break room–you know, that room where everyone goes to drink their lattes–that’s my tissue-culture room.”