Comments on: 36 Days: 194 Love

By: 194 « It brings a lark to your hand

194 « It brings a lark to your hand — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:13:55 +0000

[...] more erudite discussion here . Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Layover: Chicago O’HareItineraries: Trains [...]

By: Mathewe"RennDawg"Renner

Mathewe"RennDawg"Renner — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:59:27 +0000

Let’s tell the truth. The reason the 194 is going away is so Sound Transit can inflate the numbers on Link Light Rail. I keep getting told that there will be other bus routes that will run pretty much the same as the 194 until they(the members of the King County Council and the State Legeslative) hear I work nights. Then they avoid me.

By: Oran

Oran — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 02:53:05 +0000

Don’t you DARE mess with Link!

By: Elbar

Elbar — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:38:02 +0000

You’ve got more than 36 days to love the 194– from what I hear it will be around until at least February 2010 shakeup, a couple of months after the Link Tukwila-SeaTac portion has been completed.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:09:20 +0000

The more complaints I hear about Link, (the route, station design, whatever), the more I think Seattle residents just haven’t traveled

No doubt. Take the tube out to Heathrow, then come back and tell me how bad the Link station and SeaTac are. I guess there’s plans to bring the train all the way into the airport; but then you’re at Heathrow. Horizon could run commuter flights to get people around that damn place! Just hope you don’t end up with a long layover in the (non airconditioned) hamster tube :-(

By: Bernie

Bernie — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:01:43 +0000

The Woodinville Cafe next door to the Park & Ride. Great food, easy on the wallet. And, they have a whole collection of train memorabilia!!!

By: Mad Park

Mad Park — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:48:25 +0000

Condescending perhaps (mea culpa), but 1) the airlines are far more condescending to their “customers” in the air than ST and the Port will ever be on the ground, and 2) I know of nobody who is forced to fly except perhaps on a medevac flight.

By: Erik

Erik — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:59:05 +0000

Those of you who are afraid of any LOOOTERs you might meet aboard Link are welcome to support this private enterprise:

http://www.graylineseattle.com/airportexpress1.cfm

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:24:03 +0000

That said it would be nice if the port put in some sort of moving sidewalk or skybridge to the Link Station.

Supposedly they plan on doing this when they expand the terminal, but I wonder the likelihood of that happening. Fuel prices most likely are going to continue to go up which will force higher ticket prices and less air travel thus less need for airport expansion.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:09:10 +0000

There are still some diners around with good honest comfort food at a reasonable price. The two best examples I can think of are the 5-Point and Mecca cafes (both owned by the same people). Same thing with pubs, many still have decent food without going the “gastropub” route.

By: Mike Orr

Mike Orr — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:09:10 +0000

@JoshMahar: ‘Seriously, this whole Rainer Valley “problem” is ridiculous.’

Yes. South Seattle had a lot of Boeing people until the white flight in the 60s. But some of the old families still live there, and they’ll tell you it was never as bad as people imagine, and in any case it has become much safer since the early 90s. But people who have been there only a few times if ever perpetuate this idea that you’ll get shot if you go down there. Shootings happen a few times a year as in the U-district, but 99% of residents are not affected.

It reminds me of a story a salesman friend told me. This was in the 80s but it’s still more or less accurate. He was an appliance salesman at the Bellevue K-Mart and somebody came in asking for something that wasn’t in stock. He called the Renton store but they were out. He offered to call the North Seattle and West Seattle stores but the customer didn’t want to go to Seattle (because, you know, those people live there), so he ended up calling the Lynnwood store, 15 miles away.

Of course, there’s an opposite bias by people who can’t stand to be in automobile-oriented neighborhoods, and don’t really trust the New Urbanism in downtown Bellevue or Burien yet.

By: Mike Orr

Mike Orr — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:43:59 +0000

Yes, but they’re still using slightly unusual ingredients to justify jacking up the price 2 or 3 dollars. Not to pick on CCAH; many pubs do the same. There’s a gap between greasy spoons that fry everything in trans fat, and pseudo-chef places that use fancy-sounding ingredients in order to maintain a high price. I don’t want the extras but I don’t want unhealthful food either, yet plain old honest comfort food has almost disappeared. (Of course, Seattle is lucky to have so many pho restaurants that somewhat fill the gap.)

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:17:46 +0000

Great replies from everyone.

As a person going international terminals frequently, I completely forgot that transportation is designed for all. I am sure that Port of Seattle will find a way to help people moving between terminal and SeaTac/Airport Station easily if there is a demand.

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:49:58 +0000

I assume that if the crime moves onto LINK, that ST will just hire some off duty cops to keep things in order. They have too much money into it to let a few punks ruin their reputation and kill any further local voter funding.

By: geekgirl

geekgirl — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:51:21 +0000

Awesome suggestions everyone! I can’t wait!

By: Jeffrey CapHill

Jeffrey CapHill — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:44:23 +0000

That’s a tad condescending. There are folks of all ages with mobility issues that would be well-served with a moving walkway.

By: lazarus

lazarus — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:56:23 +0000

I concur with your comments about Seattle residents not having traveled, although I sometimes wonder if it’s more that they do travel but travel in a way that prevents them from really experiencing the world they are traveling through.

Specifically in regards to transportation, there are a lot of good transportation systems world-wide, but Seattleites just don’t seem to know much about them. Is this because they don’t travel? Or is it because that when they do travel they simply don’t attempt to use these transportation systems? You know, since they come from a city like Seattle that has a lousy public transportation system, then maybe they just assume that “all” public transportation is lousy so they just never give it a try. It is possible to travel in a bubble of misconceptions after all.

But I do agree with your last comment. When Link is up and operating a lot of the complainers will be silenced. I have no doubt that the system will be a success, and that the public reaction will be “more”, or more likely still, “more now!”

By: lazarus

lazarus — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:42:36 +0000

Grab a cart, or suck it up and get a little exercise. The location is not bad at all, and I’d bet most travelers at Seatac aren’t International traverlers at all, so why design the station around the minority?

There are many very good reasons for the station to be located where it is — read some of the previous posts on the subject to understand why.

By: Barman

Barman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:10:14 +0000

Like Martin’s post said, just about every airport I’ve visited with rail connections requires a long walk between the station and the terminal. Paris CDG is probably a good 8 – 10 mins between exiting the RER B and getting to the first terminal, let alone the ones further down the line. And that’s on a good day with few people and if like me, you know exactly where you’re going. Luckily the majority of the walk is aided with people moving platforms.

All Link would need is a simple skybridge to the NE terminal and it would be one of the simplest rail-to-airport connections I’ve seen. I’m confident that will happen in the future.

The more complaints I hear about Link, (the route, station design, whatever), the more I think Seattle residents just haven’t traveled and seen how it’s actually done in the rest of the world. I hope Link turns out to be a big slap in the face to people in this region.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:02:35 +0000

The bus stop location isn’t so great if you are flying Alaska or Horizon which by far have the most passengers at Seatac. So wherever the station was it would be a compromise.

If you are doing a rental car return you can end up pretty far from your gate and check in counter as well.

People with a lot of heavy luggage quite likely will not be taking public transit to the airport anyway.

While all international arrivals are in the South Satellite not all international departures are. For example Alaska and Horizon flights to Canada and Mexico depart from the normal Alaska and Horizon gates.

Besides, lets keep this in perspective, for an airport with as much traffic as it had Seatac is remarkably compact.