Comments on: Route 16 Stop Consolidation

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:01:06 +0000

I don’t understand your complaint. I don’t see where any of the stops removed on the 16 are going to force anyone to walk an extra 10 blocks. As for making someone walk an extra 3 blocks, what is the big deal if you are able bodied? Sure I have a bus stop only 1 block from my house, but the route runs infrequently and doesn’t provide convenient transfers to most places I need to go. Therefore I usually choose to walk 4 blocks to where I can catch a more direct route with frequent service. In the morning I walk 7 or 15 blocks to the nearest express route to downtown. Even factoring in the extra walk times I typically save a lot of time over trying to walk as little as possible.

By: WallingfordEnthusiast

WallingfordEnthusiast — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:22:52 +0000

I suspect that Metro will find that their hoped-for $50,000/yr
cost savings will be whittled down significantly by loss of
ridership; I can imagine that those whose stops have been removed
will opt again to routinely use their cars instead of hiking
3 – 10 city blocks to a viable busstop. Thanks, Metro, for
taking us two steps back. I also wonder whether buses will stop
at those stops which remain in the case of inclement weather; i.e.,
will someone whose stop has been eliminated have to walk 20 blocks
instead of 10 if it snows? Right. Well done.

By: Route 16 Update - Seattle Transit Blog

Route 16 Update - Seattle Transit Blog — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:35:53 +0000

[...] public comments on Route 16 stop consolidation are in, and they’ve saved a few bus stops that were previously slated for elimination, [...]

By: dreya

dreya — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:45:46 +0000

Stop consolidation is a huge deal for the elderly and disabled populations. The newly refigured SE Seattle routes (and Link stations too, come to think of it) have faced much disdain from our most vulnerable and least mobile populations. ACCESS is extensive, but at 30 bucks per ride (with farebox recovery of 1 dollar per ride) Metro is not trying to boost ridership there right now– quite the opposite.

Its easy for us able bodied folks to complain and lament at the stops at every block in Fremont (which is what I always do when I can’t catch the 5x! lol) but its also really important to allow mobility to those most vulnerable to hills, “historic” sidewalks, and our prolific adverse weather.

I am not saying it shouldn’t be done, but I am saying we do need to consider people who are not like ourselves.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:06:29 +0000

Nope. Only the #2 travels on 34th. It’s a single-family housing area. Just two stops on one block, with Metro unable to explain why.

By: VeloBusDriver

VeloBusDriver — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:06:38 +0000

Of course, even if you are in the middle of two stops, you’re only an 1/8th of a mile from a stop – assuming sidewalks exist in both directions.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:40:52 +0000

This is long overdue. One example: at North Seattle Community College, where the 2 stops in front of the college are within shouting distance of each other, then there’s another one over the rise. The first stop is essentially used to drop people off, then the bus lumbers forward to the second one to drop a handful off, but pick up a bunch. The stop over the rise rarely has anybody get on there, so why have it? After Metro consolidated the stops in the U District for the #43 and #44, it was a noticeable improvement.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:28:51 +0000

Like pretty much everyone else here, I am way in favor of stop consolidation – it’s about time! I suggest everyone on the blog send a quick email to your county council member and Metro and express your support.

By: Kevin in Wallingford

Kevin in Wallingford — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:39:05 +0000

I agree with M. The loop is weird but it does save time.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:14:01 +0000

I ride the 3/4 mostly, but eliminating the northbound stop (shared by the 3/4/16) between John St and Broad St on 5th Ave N is beyond overdue!

The previous stop is ~600ft (per Google) south of the stop to be eliminated. You can’t legally cross the east side of the 5th & Denny intersection, though, so it is more like ~750ft when you factor in street crossings. The next stop, just beyond Broad St, is only ~450 feet to the north. Nothing there (unless you could McDonald’s) to attract ridership.

By: M

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:48:33 +0000

That caused too many delays. Trying to turn left off of Mercer during rush hour (which on that street seems to last 20 hours) and then making that stop on Dexter where the 26/28 stop and then getting back across to make a left at the next street. It’s a little easier to hang a right, even though you can’t make the right on red, and then have a free and clear path back up and around.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:45:59 +0000

The 16 is much faster between Green Lake and Downtown than the 26 (and would be even faster if it didn’t sidestep through LQA).

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:45:39 +0000

The 16 is much faster between Green Lake and Downtown than the 26 (and would be even faster if it didn’t sidestep through LQA.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:42:06 +0000

In the 16 revamp I hope they eliminate the Dexter/Aurora loop in the northbound direction. The current northbound routing travels between John St. and Mercer St. three times! There is no justification for this.

After going through the Mercer St. underpass under Aurora, the 16 should turn left on Dexter, and take the next left to get onto northbound Aurora (like it used to).

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:21:32 +0000

I think Metro’s also consolidating stops on 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle. I support this. We know that people still ride the bus even when it makes only five stops downtown (in the tunnel). The stop in front of my building (Seattle Municipal Tower) is slated for closure. There’s another bus stop just a block north of there. There’s also a stop on 5th & Pine next to Westlake, followed by a stop on the next block at 5th & Pike.

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:17:24 +0000

And that’s after they consolidated stops in 2002 to improve speed and reliability.

See: http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/sc/plans/2002/rt48-improvements.html

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:47:44 +0000

Maybe they can make it express if the students on board might be late… and the ones waiting at the stops in between are already gonna be late, so they might as well wait for another!

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:22:46 +0000

It continually amazes me how short the distance is between Metro stops on almost ALL routes. I know they do that to boost ridership and farebox recovery…but the “one stop per block” model is ridiculous.

One could make the argument that the disabled and elderly are negatively affected by stop consolidation…that is, if we didn’t have such extensive paratransit coverage.

The #1 impediment to making bus routes more productive and efficient: a directly elected county council, which will literally prioritize the interests of a handful of loud change-haters over the interests of the other hundreds / thousands of riders negatively impacted by slow, unreliable bus service.

The #2 impediment: generations of seemingly lazy Seattleites who will literally fight for parking spaces next the Costco entrance so they don’t have to walk 30 seconds from the middle of the parking lot. We are way to comfortable and lazy here. And I am not exluding myself from that criticism.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:03:28 +0000

Well then you would change the schedule.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:02:22 +0000

48 between Republican and Cherry on 23rd has a stop almost every single block… which sucks when you’re late to school.