Now THIS is how bus transit should be done!

Posted on by Brian Bundridge

This look at Boulder’s Bus system is pretty interesting:

Boulder boasts seven high-frequency bus lines with catchy, character-verb names like: STAMPEDE, DASH, BOUND, and BOLT, with all of the buses having their own color scheme and identity. It all started back in 1989 when Boulder endeavored to provide a real alternative to the car for its downtown commuters and as a result gave residents direct input into the process. In addition to creating comfy, frequent, pleasant buses, the city also instituted the Eco Pass, a transit card that allows residents to ride buses system-wide for free – more than doubling transit use between 1995 and 2005, from 15% to 34%.

BAT Lanes on 45th St

Posted on by Martin H. Duke

The City of Seattle’s gradual introduction of “Business Access and Transit” (BAT) lanes throughout the city is one of the more under-reported and commendable trends.  The North Seattle Herald reports that NE 45th St is now up for consideration using Bridging the Gap funds, on the Westbound side between 7th Ave and University Way.

There are a ton of buses (including many from Community Transit) that use this stretch, so this kind of investment could have a very big impact on the overall performance of the system.  If Proposition 1 passes and these lanes are ultimately approved, it’ll serve as the backbone of a feeder system into the Brooklyn light rail station.

I haven’t found an obvious outlet for citizen comments on this, but the BTG Citizen Oversight Committee might be a good place to start.

Shock: Bellevue Downtown Association endorses Prop 1!

Posted on by Ben Schiendelman

This is hilarious, as one of the largest property owners (maybe the largest property owner) in downtown Bellevue is Kemper Freeman Junior – who’s responsible for 2/3 of the money in the opposition campaign.

He’s the odd one out – maybe they didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to call transit users communists and make thinly veiled racist comments about transit and poverty? Or maybe he’s the only one who’s insane.

I don’t think the Mass Transit Now campaign put this up on the web, so I’ll just copy their press release here:

Seattle—The Bellevue Downtown Association endorsed Proposition 1, becoming the latest in a long line of Eastside civic, political and community groups that support the mass transit expansion plan.

Later today, Mayor Greg Nickels, chair of Sound Transit, will debate transit-opponent Kemper Freeman, a Bellevue developer who has put $100,000 of his own money into the No On Prop 1 campaign.  The support of Proposition 1 on the Eastside highlights the growing gap between Freeman and the business leaders, neighbors and representatives who recognize the immediate need for transit solutions.

The BDA said Proposition 1 was a necessary step in providing near and long-term transit solutions for the fast-growing number of downtown Bellevue workers, residents, and visitors.

“Our ability to grow and thrive as an urban center is linked to accessibility,” said BDA Board Chair Jill Ostrem. “We approached this decision asking, ‘What’s best for Downtown Bellevue?’  Connecting downtown with the region through safe and reliable mass transit is essential to our community’s future success.”

The measure will expand regional express bus service on I-405 next year and deliver light rail transit to Downtown Bellevue and Overlake Transit Center.

Ostrem said: “With this endorsement, the BDA pledges to work with Sound Transit, the City of Bellevue and the downtown community to ensure effective and efficient implementation of these investments.  In addition, we will continue to engage at the local and regional level on high priority congestion relief projects and transit solutions.”

Wow, guys. The BDA seems to have their heads on straight. I even think Junior’s a member. Maybe their sanity will rub off on him? Nahhh…

Westneat: Foot Ferries “ridiculous”

Posted on by Andrew Smith

Foot Ferry
Danny Westneat asks King County whether they should spend the taxes raised last year for foot ferries to shore up the budget gap the County has right now. I asked same question of Ron Sims last time he was on KUOW’s Weekday (at the end of the hour), and Sims’ answer was that under the state constitution, the County government can repurpose the money. Westneat makes a good point about the ferry services being a special project – though I wouldn’t call them ridiculous necessarily – and another point that some of what will have to be cut are pretty dramatic:

Sheriff Sue Rahr was the one who made them wax apocalyptic. To cut $9 million, she said she’ll have to ax 29 detectives, 24 deputies, four sergeants and two marshals.

Which means cops will no longer investigate any property crime in unincorporated King County in which less than $10,000 was stolen. The domestic-violence unit will be down to three people. No more policing of drug trafficking, period. And if you call a precinct, you’ll only get voice mail because they’re cutting the people who answer the phones.

But I think Westneat’s solution is a little misguided, here’s what he wants to do:

It came to me when I realized last year’s tax increases by coincidence almost equal this year’s draconian cuts.

Why not use that money to solve this “crisis?” Why not, at the least, cancel those ridiculous foot ferries?

They are the old Mosquito Fleet walk-on ferries, between Kirkland, Renton and Seattle on Lake Washington. And Shilshole to downtown Seattle on the Sound. The council raised property taxes to reincarnate them last November.

None of these cities are on islands — a large part of why the last such ferry petered out in 1939. Each run today will carry maybe 300 riders. Yet we’re steaming ahead with it. Even as we cut 59 cops. And call it all “a recipe for disaster.”

In my mind, if we’re going to spend the foot ferry tax on something else, let’s spend it on Metro buses, since at least both are transit. Metro is dealing with it’s own budget shortfalls and at least keeping the money on transportation wouldn’t be as significant a re-purpose. In addition, those county service cuts will mostly effect unincorporated King County, while the foot ferry taxes are imposed over the whole county. I don’t like the way the taxes were imposed, in a semi-secret council vote immediately after an election, but that doesn’t mean the money should just be spent on any thing else that seems pressing today.

Ultimately, I believe Sims is trying to push these unincorporated areas that rely on the County to provide municipal services – that is, those services provide by city governments in incorporated areas – to either allow themselves to be annexed or incorporate themselves. I don’t mean that Sims is playing politics with the terrible economy, the county doesn’t have the power to move the funds from ferries to police (or to buses) because the state constitution bars them from doing so. But let me ask this question another way: why should taxpayers in the rest of the county pay for police in unincorporated areas?

Those in cities already pay for their own police forces, and subsidize the police in unincorporated King County by paying for the majority of sheriff services. We pay city taxes to get city services, and we pay county taxes to get county services. If unincorporated King County wants city-level services, they should become a city either thorugh incorporation or get annexation.