This will teach me to choose a home based on its proximity to bus stops.*
Dear bus rider: You’re screwed.
I’m more than a little irritated that Metro posted this notice in August and then never even responded to the feedback they requested–mine or anyone else’s.
I get all the stuff about stop consolidation and blah, blah, blah, and I will even admit to being a bit of a NaMBS (as in, “Not at my bus stop!”) about this. But there are legitimate reasons (other than the fact that I really need it) that this stop–and the one across the street from it–shouldn’t be closed.** If Metro doesn’t consider the reasons legitimate, they should explain why.
***
*I should have gone with my instinct and moved near a Link station. Call me crazy, but I wanted to stay in my neighborhood.
**And hey, if they’re looking for stops to close, there are two stops less than a block apart slightly further north.
They closed the 28 stop convenient to my house. A month later it magically reappeared after my blind neighbor complained that he never “saw” the notice and was very inconvenienced.
This is another category of public transportation unreliability. We’re familiar with the unreliable schedule and unreliable connections for a variety of reasons (bus breakdown, traffic, etc). But there is also the unexpected loss of service, whether by schedule change, route change, route elimination/consolidation, or – in your case – elimination of stops. And depending on where one lives, unavailability of service (which I’ve just begun experiencing in my home town this week with a new job location) is yet another example of the unreliability of public transportation.
I believe these are mostly reflections of a community’s priorities and economic condition. Priorities would be an essay all by itself.
Blame your beloved King County council, not Metro Transit. As the council (which would have you believe that overpaid bus drivers’ wages account for the bulk of the county’s deficit) continues to tighten schedules, it becomes impossible to keep up. Stops have been closed to give us drivers a fighting chance at getting you where you have to be, and maybe even a little closer to “on time”.
Hi Dick,
My “beloved” council?
First, I’ve never been under the impression that driver wages are causing Metro’s budget problems.
Second, I’m not blaming Metro for closing the stop; I’m disappointed in the way the closure was handled. Sure, I’d like my stop to stay around, and I think there are some compelling reasons that it should. But, I get that the agency has information that I don’t. What I expected was a response to the feedback I took the time to write–and a reasonable explanation as to why that stop was chosen over others that seem more likely candidates for closure.
Hi Carla,
I’ve never considered for a moment that you would attribute the county’s deficit to driver wages. But the council does and, for that reason, it took scheduling away from Metro and hired an outsider to remove as much (overpaid!) recovery time as possible from the schedules county-wide.
I use the adjective “beloved” to modify all political entities. It just fits better, particularly in mixed company.
As the sign in your photo says, the goal is schedule reliability. The cable company promises to come by between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. and can be relied on keep that promise, even though it’s a useless and insulting promise. I see that as being just about what the “beloved” wants you to accept.
You should phone The Honorable Dow and ask him where your bus stop went. Starting at the top does work sometimes.
Dick
Sorry if I sounded cranky–or if I missed the intention of your message. I probably should not respond to blog comments at 11:13 PM after a long day. :)
I’m going to keep asking any and every one (maybe even including Exec Constantine) about my bus stop–until someone explains why it was closed.
Hey Carla,
Lucky you…you only got one bus stop closed. I live on the eastside and got routes I use discontinued, rerouted, shortened, renumbered and made virtually impossible to travel without using a ST bus (and its higher fare) to get to the transit center to find a local MT route.
Being more physically challenged as I age and have more severe medical conditions as time passes, I’ve found it increasingly unappealing to leave my apartment to take a bus anywhere. My transportation freedom has been severely curtailed. :(
I am really sorry to hear that! When did these cuts start happening? Are they related to Rapid Ride? I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that major cuts and service changes hadn’t started happening yet–and that the CRC would stave them off for another two years.
HEY, that’s not cool!
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