Comments on: Service Changes Start Next Saturday

By: EeePC

EeePC — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:11:02 +0000

I-695 was an Eyman initiative in 2000 that eliminated the car tab tax and just about solely created the transit funding mess we’re in now (and indirectly created a lot of other damage).

By: John

John — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:55:39 +0000

The completely unfunded “streetcar network”? Outside the one ST is paying for, there’s no money to build more streetcar lines, and for the problem he’s trying to solve (bus passengers getting stuck in downtown traffic) a streetcar running without dedicated ROW isn’t going to do any better.

By: Mike Orr

Mike Orr — Sat, 30 May 2009 07:20:35 +0000

“The tunnel was open until 11 p.m. on weeknights, but this was sadly short-lived thanks to I-695.”

I remember the tunnel being open, but what does that have to do with I-605? (Was that the Sammamish freeway proposal or the east Cascades freeway proposal?)

I think Metro closed the tunnel evenings and weekends just so save money, but now that Sound Transit is paying for it they don’t mind having it open again. :)

Having the tunnel open evenings and weekends will make it easier to get around downtown during ballgames when the traffic is worse than rush hour.

By: SR Das

SR Das — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:23:02 +0000

This is not the first time the tunnel has been open late at night. From June 1998 to February 2000, the tunnel was open until 11 p.m. on weeknights, but this was sadly short-lived thanks to I-695. Furthermore, back when the tunnel was open on Saturdays, it was normally open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but on Torchlight Parade night (the last Saturday in July) the tunnel was open until 11:45 p.m. Now the tunnel is being open full time. I did some calculations in the local 71/72/73 (via Fairview and Eastlake) tunnel trips investigation before the new timetables were published. Here are my original calculations on the number of trips and how they compare to the official timetables: Route 71 Weekdays Southbound: Calculated: 10 evening trips, Actual: 10 evening trips Northbound: Calculated: 1 morning trip, 13 evening trips, Actual: 1 morning trip, 13 evening trips Saturday Southbound: Calculated: 8 morning trips, 12 evening trips, Actual: 8 morning trips, 12 evening trips Northbound: Calculated: 5 morning trips, 14 evening trips, Actual: 5 morning trips, 14 evening trips Sunday Southbound: Calculated: 34 trips Actual: 34 trips Northbound: Calculated: 36 trips Actual: 36 trips Route 72 Weekdays Southbound: Calculated: 3 morning trips, 5 evening trips, Actual: 3 morning trips, 5 evening trips Northbound: Calculated: 2 morning trips, 7 evening trips, Actual: 2 morning trips, 7 evening trips Saturday Southbound: Calculated: 7 morning trips, 6 evening trips, Actual: 7 morning trips, 6 evening trips Northbound: Calculated: 5 morning trips, 6 evening trips, Actual: 5 morning trips, 6 evening trips Sunday Southbound: Calculated: 18 trips, Actual: 18 trips Northbound: Calculated: 18 trips, Actual: 18 trips Route 73 Weekdays Southbound: Calculated: 4 morning trips, 5 evening trips, Actual: 4 morning trips, 5 evening trips Northbound: Calculated: 1 morning trip, 7 evening trips Actual: 1 morning trip, 7 evening trips Saturday Southbound: Calculated: 7 morning trips, 6 evening trips, Actual: 7 morning trips, 6 evening trips Northbound: Calculated: 6 morning trips, 7 evening trips, Actual: 6 morning trips, 7 evening trips Sunday Southbound: Calculated: 18 trips, Actual: 18 trips Northbound: Calculated: 18 trips, Actual: 18 trips My guesses were right on the money!

By: Reminder: Metro Schedule Changes Tomorrow - Seattle Transit Blog

Reminder: Metro Schedule Changes Tomorrow - Seattle Transit Blog — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:54:26 +0000

[...] Reminder: Metro Schedule Changes Tomorrow by Andrew Smith Here’s some information from a previous post on the bus schedule changes that start tomorrow. [...]

By: VeloBusDriver

VeloBusDriver — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:53:15 +0000

The shuttle train idea is to remove the congested downtown portion of the routes I listed. All of those routes go over 520 which won’t have light rail service for the foreseeable future so I’m assuming they will still exist, in some form, for a while.

That shuttle service transfer point may actually work better somewhere near Husky Stadium. Ideally, that’s where you’d do the transfer so the buses don’t even need to get onto I-5, but there doesn’t appear to be any plans for that at this point.

By: Mr Bradford (Brian)

Mr Bradford (Brian) — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:24:22 +0000

We also have the dubious distinction of being a region that has its local transit services run by a separate (and disparate) agency from the “regional” service.

There are a few additional instances where this is the case, such as the historical Southern California Rapid Transit District (now the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority with a significantly smaller service district), New Jersey Transit (there are a couple of counties that have their own bus service), and some of the far-flung reaches of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.

The closest parallel is the Bay Area Rapid Transit district. BART only runs their trains. All of the transit service that connects is run by other agencies, with MPO oversight (really just a way to distribute federal grant funds). There is one little fact about BART that most people miss. BART was designed to be a commuter rail system in the Northeastern US style from the start.

Metro taking its time to coordinate service is a result of not wanting to inconvenience the transit-dependent. The fact that service wasn’t significantly restructured is proof of that.

There’s also that little ting ting streetcar that Metro is now financially responsible for.

Brian Bradford
Olympia, WA

By: Mr Bradford (Brian)

Mr Bradford (Brian) — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:59:21 +0000

The plan was to use it as consolidated layover space for buses underneath with a large development on top.

I doubt that plan is still in the pipeline.

They could put in a junction where the Link tracks veer off to the side, and rebuild the trackway to CPS, and have the South line run up there. This would be after the North and I-90 lines are opened. The (rumored) operating plan at that point is to have I-90 Link continue as North Link, while South Link trains will turn around downtown.

Realistically though, I would hope they’d decide to run North Link 2x as often, then just have alternating trains between I-90 and South Link

Brian Bradford
Olympia, WA

By: Oran

Oran — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:53:57 +0000

Meaning it’s a dead end in terms of expansion, unless the express lanes are converted to rail.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:18:45 +0000

One of the reasons trains don’t go to CPS now is because of its (relatively) high elevation.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:17:34 +0000

I was just disappointed that the extra 577 trips weren’t added during this shakeup. But with the lack of money, I’m not too surprised.

By: Kaleci

Kaleci — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:01:03 +0000

I think you will see more Metro materials show Link. For instance, when service is changed in September, I think you will see Metro put selected train schedule trips to best make connections with a route that runs every 30-minutes.

As for June, since Link won’t be running until mid-July, it might make sense to show Link in a limited way to judge customer preferences.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:26:25 +0000

Love that MI went underwater! Tee hee.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:24:35 +0000

They (ST and ORCA) are going to have to scurry quickly to correct this. It would be extremely unfortunate if they started off by pissing people off because of this oversight. Can a mess of ORCA readers be installed on the platforms quickly? Please!! Let’s not be stoopid like some other cities we could name, but rather be as smart as we know we are!

By: Kaleci

Kaleci — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:06:12 +0000

A quick check of the Sound Transit website reveals that it is a Sounder complement now (probably as a mitigation to there no longer being a 6:45 train) and that it will be expanded when Route 194 is discontinued. Do you think it makes sense to put in duplicative service?

http://www.soundtransit.org/Documents/pdf/newsroom/SIP/2009SIPSummary.pdf

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:55:13 +0000

There may be parts of Metro and ST that don’t get along but on the whole both agencies are essentially partners. Metro runs Link and a fair chunk of ST Express service under contract. Given the current funding problems I’m sure Metro is only too happy to see service hours in a corridor go over to Sound Transit.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:48:53 +0000

Well you’ll have to walk upstairs to tap in, at least in Westlake.

By: Zed

Zed — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:14:56 +0000

I wonder if they thought of that? I saw the new readers on the Westlake mezzanine and thought it was strange that they weren’t on the platform. I wonder if they’ll eventually just install them on the trains.

By: Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:56:12 +0000

The express lanes exit/entrance there makes it useful for buses going/coming north.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:26:09 +0000

Well you won’t be able to transfer at Westlake without leaving the tunnel once buses can’t go in the tunnel. But the shuttle train idea does seem like it might be too much hassle, I don’t know.