Comments on: September Link Ridership Numbers Flat

By: November Link Ridership Down - Seattle Transit Blog

November Link Ridership Down - Seattle Transit Blog — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:35:42 +0000

[...] I’ve said consistently through both ups and downs, monthly ridership numbers suffer from significant sample size issues, seasonal variations, shifts [...]

By: First Swift Ridership Numbers - Seattle Transit Blog

First Swift Ridership Numbers - Seattle Transit Blog — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:18:55 +0000

[...] talking about Link ridership, I’ve said time and time again that monthly ridership totals are basically meaningless. We won’t have meaningful [...]

By: October Link Ridership Up - Seattle Transit Blog

October Link Ridership Up - Seattle Transit Blog — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:23:11 +0000

[...] Friday that October’s weekday ridership was 16,200. That’s quite a bit up from September (14,852) and probably reflects a full month of many bus routes being rerouted to serve Link (as [...]

By: aw

aw — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:16:27 +0000

But with Orca, you can track transfers, station on/offs and other useful performance measures that could be used for service improvement.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:20:05 +0000

Absolutely – but they mean little until we can at least do year over year comparisons. Remember, we are 3 months into the life of a system that you, Alex, will get to enjoy for your entire life. You don’t change much each month of your life, but year to year you do, a lot. Link will too.

By: Thomas Wittmann

Thomas Wittmann — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:54:52 +0000

The old 570 from ID to West Seattle was a political creation heavily promoted by a certain West Seattle politician. It was not based on some huge unmet need.

Metro already served the majority of this market well, so there was little rational for the route. But implemented it was.

Ridership was terrrible. Consequently, it was cut in the first in-depth analysis of how ST routes were performing.

By: Martin H. Duke

Martin H. Duke — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:53:45 +0000

Metro tends not to release raw ridership data. Adam obtained a 2007 report back when he was at Orphan Road, which is what we’ve been using.

By: Zed

Zed — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:32:27 +0000

I’d rather see a station near 133rd in Tukwila with another park and ride instead of the Boeing Access Road station. That way the 150 could terminate at 133rd and they could double the frequency of buses to Southcenter and Kent.

By: Erik G.

Erik G. — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:56:58 +0000

Tim, you must be a youngster.

Someday, we’ll have to tell you about the dark days of the mid-1990′s and Large Donald of Algona.

By: Chad

Chad — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:56:18 +0000

Expect to be disappointed. :( The Port of Seattle has no short-term monetary interest in promoting Light Rail, as an alternative to the current lucrative parking fees and contracts with taxi/rental car companies. “The system” doesn’t want you to know how to get to downtown for only $2.50. Note how the escalators and atrium at the south end of the terminal lead towards the cruise ship/charter bus area, and away from “public transportation.”

It will be up to Sound Transit, transit fans, and “the media” to inform people about the link. And it will take very strong political pressure for Sound Transit and the Port to invest in improvements to make the air/rail connection actually convenient – i.e. climate controlled walkway with moving walkways (instead of it beeling only a secret for those wanting to save $22.50 on a cab).

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:43:25 +0000

I like seeing the numbers though.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:38:45 +0000

I honestly can’t think of why anyone would use Boeing Access Road Station… Even if there is a transfer to Sounder, who lives in Kent or Tukwila and works in the Rainier Valley? Even if it does get some people, it certainly wouldn’t justify the couple hundred million dollar expense.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:34:54 +0000

It takes just a tiny bit longer than U-Link to get from Westlake to the U District, but then it winds through the U District for a while so that if you’re going from Westlake to 45th & the Ave it ends up taking 15-20 minutes, whereas U-Link will take 8 for that same trip. I can’t wait!

By: Zed

Zed — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:32:20 +0000

I guess it depends on how many people use those stops during off-peak hours. I’ve used the Kent-Des Moines Freeway stop during the afternoon and been the only person there. It’s probably not an inconvenience to a huge number of people to make them take the 574 and transfer at the airport during off-peak hours. People who use those stops during commuting hours can just take the 177 or 179.

By: Casey

Casey — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:34:29 +0000

And while I’m on the point of the Expanded 577/578 service……I agree with the change, BUT…..what about the Star Lake & Kent-Des Moines Frwy Station Commuters. The 194 wastes about 20 min going through the airport, so rather than an hour ride, 577/578 cuts the ride it down to about 30-35 min between Fed Way and Seattle. So I think they should revise routing to serve Kent-Des Moines & Star Lake. It would add mabye 3-4 min running time each trip but still continue to serve the park and rides & connections from local routes on Kent-Des Moines Rd & S 272nd. Otherwise, 577/578 not serving those freeway stops leaves the options to only peak hours routes, and force those people during midday, night, and weekends to catch 574 to the airport, then transfer to Link. So yes, we aren’t leaving those stop high and dry, because 574 picks up the service, but add those two freeway stations to 577/578 seems like the right thing to do. We are trying to keep people off I-5, not take away their off peak direct route to Downtown. But thats just how I feel. Mabye someone here can suggest that to Sound Transit or Metro Routes Planners.

By: Casey

Casey — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:22:39 +0000

Everybody keeps talking about the extra riders from the 194 in Feb, but remember that alot of those riders are Seattle-Federal Way riders, not just airport riders. And keep in mind, those Seattle-Federal Way riders won’t take Link to Rapid Ride either. ST Route 577 will begin two way all day service along with the 578 which will alternate trips to make 30 min service, non stop between Fed Way TC-Downtown. So Link will definatly pick up the airport 194 riders, but not those who use the 194 between Seattle and Federal Way.

By: Tim Whittome

Tim Whittome — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:16:26 +0000

Looters? Am I missing something here?

By: Tim Whittome

Tim Whittome — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:12:13 +0000

Yes agreed! Still given that signage to the airport from surrounding freeways is not good, I don’t hold out the best of hopes but this is way off topic and I hear the same answer all the time, that drivers get confused by too many signs and that it is federal guidelines that we don’t post too many signs – an argument I disagree with as far as airport signage is concerned, but like I said, I digress…

By: Kaleci

Kaleci — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:52:42 +0000

JAT,
Just get on and have your pass ready in case the fare inspectors come on board. The automatic passenger counting system will count you (by a sampling method). When your flexpass is replaced with an ORCA card, then you need to tap on at the yellow card reader when you board and tap off when you alight.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:36:23 +0000

Is that so they can count how many people are still on those trains squirreled away under the seats?