Seattle Transit Blog is proud to support a debate on transportation and energy policy.
Transportation, Energy, and Climate
Voter Education and 46th District Legislative Debate
When: Sunday, October 21st: 11:00am-3:00pm
Where: Third Place Books Commons – 17171 Bothell Way Northeast, Lake Forest Park, WA98155
Agenda
11:00-1:00pm: Educational Presentations
1:00 – 2:30pm: 46th District Legislative Debate
2:30 – 3:00pm: Wrap up with Senator David Frockt
Candidates
Position 1 – Sylvester Cann (D) vs. Gerry Pollet (D)
Position 2 – Jessyn Farrell (D) vs. Sarajane Siegfriedt (D)
State Senator – David Frockt is running unopposed
Coalition Members
Energy Transition Northwest, Sierra Club, Cascade Bicycle Club, Washington Conservation Voters, Climate Solutions, Transportation Choices Coalition, Futurewise, Cascadia Center for Regional Development, Seattle Electric Vehicle Association, Northwest Biodiesel Network, Sustainable Northeast Seattle, Transportation for Washington, 350.Washington, Scallops, Friends of Third Place Commons, Northwest Energy Coalition, Sustainable Works, Washington Environmental Council, Seattle Transit Blog
Please RSVP for priority seating
Third Place Books is served by ST 522 (among others) and right next to the lovely Burke-Gilman Trail.
Attending an event like this is a great way to advocate for better transportation policy.
The location here illustrates one of the problems with our bus network – that the bus network for the highway 522 corridor is designed almost exclusively for getting to downtown, at the expense of making it very difficult to get to anywhere in north Seattle other than Lake City. On weekdays, when the 372 is running, it’s not so bad, but on weekends, the choice between the forced transfer at Lake City (which is poorly timed and usually requires a 30 minute wait) or backtracking all the way to downtown make almost anywhere in North Seattle a 60-90 minute bus ride away from Lake Forest Park.
I’m hoping Metro can do something in their upcoming 2016 service restructure to remedy this. For instance, could the complete elimination of the #25 pay for weekend service on the 372? If not all the way to Woodinville, at least to Lake City (interlined with the 72 to provide combined 15 minute headways, of course)?
Given our current network, anyone who lives anywhere in North Seattle who wants to go to this (which is on a Sunday, by the way) would get there faster by simply ignoring the bus altogether and riding the Burke Gilman Trail. With a decent network, riding a bike 10+ miles should not be faster than riding the bus.
One cheap fix that would greatly help here is if the 522 could serve the I-5/45th St. freeway station on the way to downtown during the weekend hours when the 372 isn’t running. This would at least give the 522 corridor a quick one-seat ride to the U-district and Wallingford, and put Fremont and Ballard within a 2-seat ride. And at the same, boosting combined frequency between the 45th St. station and downtown, a fast alternative for people in the U-district and Wallingford over the 71, 72, 73, and 26.
… or do it like the 511 and stop there any time it’s not using the I-5 express lanes. For people coming from the west it’s a huge improvement over staying on the 44 all the way into the U District then slogging through UW.
Connectivity to the whole Route 522 corridor is really not very good — it’s silly to skip over one of the few decent transfers that’s available.
One more 522 stop at 15th or 80th would be very helpful, too. The 522 could skip the stop during hours when the 77 is running. That stop could be one of several measures that would allow outright cancellation of the 73, without negatively affecting anyone’s service, once North Link starts.
+1.
It also illustrates the crapfest that is Metro service to NE Seattle in general (outside of the Lake City core). The entire area between NE 65th and NE 145th along the 35th NE corridor and east used to have two single-seat rides downtown: the old 25 and the old 41. Those routes long ago were truncated or completely changed; now there is no single-seat service to downtown in that entire area. This is not a bad thing, any more than it would be in other parts of the city that like to gripe about it, as long as there is a viable transfer to a frequent line. Unfortunately the only place that occurs is to the 522 in central Lake City, meaning the only connecting service from south and east is on the 75…and it only makes sense to try that if you live along Sand Point Way north of about 105th. Otherwise there is too much of a time penalty to make it worthwhile. There’s nothing along 35th until you transfer to a 71 at NE 65th, which is a rather circuitous route to say the least.
People not familiar with the area say “Northgate! NE Seattle gets a Link station at Northgate and has very frequent 41 service!” True enough–if you consider Northgate NE Seattle, which is a stretch as it’s pretty much dead center–except the only service to Northgate from that entire area is, again, the 75, which only serves Sand Point Way and not Meadowbrook or Wedgwood. In addition, due to traffic and only one two-lane cross-town arterial between 80th and 125th, that’s a slow bus that gets stuck in the same mess that cars do. Throw into the mix that to get to the transit center and future Link station from the north and east you have to bus or drive through the entire Northgate Mall complex and you have the makings for a hell commute just to get to that frequent service. Despite living a block from the 75 for nearly 20 years, I quickly gave up on that and just drove to the 41 since I worked early enough to get a space at the transit center.
A Maple Leaf Link station at 80th and a station at NE 130th (at least we may get THAT one) and a complete restructuring to crosstown bus service on 65th, 80th/85th, 110th and 125th/130th would go a long way towards ameliorating the horrible transit situation in the area, but some of that ain’t happening and the rest won’t until 2020…by which time a rational city would be implementing serious HCT to Lake City and perhaps beyond. Hell, it’s only been 45 years since that was proposed….
This shows what kind of crosstown feeders North Link will have.
I’m pretty sure there will be something because at the Northgate station open house, almost everybody asked for said crosstown service.
All the terrain in the area, not to mention the layout of Highway 522 and how the other roads connect to it, make it a little tricky to efficiently go crosstown to Northgate from east of highway 522, especially with the horrific Northgate traffic mess. To go south, people in this area might be better off going through UW station. Or having a good connection to a more versatile route 522 (with stops at 45th, somewhere around 80th/15th, and probably a couple more between there and Lake City). It’s time the 522 was operated like a key regional route rather than an overgrown commuter route.
I’m hoping we will get some sort of restructuring in 2016 that gives northeast Seattle fast and frequent connections to the Montlake Link station. For instance, more trips on the 65 and 75, weekend service on the 372. Maybe even some trips that use Montlake, rather than meandering through UW. For instance, the snow route of the 30 and 75 would make better connections to the light rail than the regular route.
To pay for just service, we can euthanize the 25, 72, and maybe restructure the 71 so it doesn’t go all the way downtown.
Just thinking aloud because I’m too wired to go to sleep…
The 71 restructuring is a given, at least once Brooklyn station opens. Rationalize Bryant and Sand Point: reroute the 71 to Sand Point, expand frequency on both it and the 75, and take away the 30. Especially with the 65′s deviation to Children’s, the loss is minuscule.
Pump up the frequency on the 70 (or streetcar!) and the downtown portion of the 71/2/3 can go away. Direct service should be kept on the 77. People will probably prefer to transfer from 71 to Link at Roosevelt than to stay on the 76.
I still think it’s harder than people think to entirely take away the part of the 72 between Roosevelt and Lake City, at least weekdays during the day. Too many schoolkids need it. But it should change a lot. Use 75th instead of 80th; then use 35th instead of Lake City Way. That would create a real new east-west connection, while continuing to get the kids to Roosevelt and Hale.
This all leaves a frustrating hole on 75th east of 35th. There are a number of riders there. But I’m not sure how to serve them without hurting an area with more riders.
Put all-day service on the 373, or a variant thereof, and the 73 can go bye-bye.
The 68 can disappear as well. Take the 72 off of 80th and route it along 75th instead, and you’ve covered the only real hole (although you need more peak 372 capacity). Folks along the north part of Roosevelt can walk to either the 66/67 or the 373.
I don’t know how well using Montlake will work on inbound 65 and 75. 10- to 15-minute waits on southbound Montlake are pretty routine at some hours of the day. If the 31/32 through-route was kept, Montlake would kill the peak reliability on those buses I’m inclined to think reliability might be better if the 65/75 buses go straight up 45th to Brooklyn station.
Seattle is planning some street improvements on Northgate Way next year, which they say will improve transit thoroughput. I’m not expecting a dramatic improvement but it may be something.
Brooklyn Station isn’t opening until 5 years after Montlake. We need to do something in 2016 to make it easier for people in North Seattle to get to Montlake station. Not tell them that they have to keep taking the slow 71/72/73 all the way to downtown until 2021.
More Sales Taxes!!
More Car Tab Taxes!!
What is it about this you people do not understand????
Well if Washington had a income tax, like reasonable states, the sales tax and car tabs wouldn’t be so high.
Where does it say anything about either of those in this post?
And, BTW, car tabs are dirt cheap now compared to what they were in the 80′s and 90′s.
What I don’t understand is the relevance of your post.