Month: August 2008

In my previous post about possible options for revision of Metro service after Light Rail, one that attracted extra attention was the circulator idea, which would route almost all downtown-bound commuters into the light rail. This would add a transfer for many people, but it would also reduce travel time (if done right), maximally leverage the huge capital investment in light rail, and allow more frequent bus service.

Anyway, I haven’t done professional analysis on the viability of this concept, but with the help of STB Flickr Pool superstar Oranviri, I’ve sketched out how such a concept might work. I emphasize that I haven’t heard of anything like this coming out of Metro, nor do I think it likely that such a radical change would occur. However, even if full implementation isn’t in the cards, I think this might be an interesting thing to phase in during off-peak hours, to test its viability and reduce bus operating expenditure.

Maps and discussion after the jump.

Continue reading “Rainier Valley Circulators”

I just wanted to expand a bit on Andrew’s post.  Like him, I’m all for Metro scrounging every dime of revenue they can, especially given the concessions they’re making to ride quality.  From the Times article:

Sims now proposes that the council allow partial-wrap ads that would leave a 15-inch band of glass unobstructed.

While I imagine that would still leave buses feeling somewhat bunker-like, that’s a lot better than the full wrap, and much better than service cuts.

Councilman Bob Ferguson, who commendably commutes to work on the bus, got in the best cuts at Sims, and they’re worthy of reprinting:

The council has yet to take up the issue, and Councilman Bob Ferguson, a bus commuter who strongly opposes any wrap that would cover windows, said it may be considered as part of the 2009 budget.

He added he would support wrapping bus windows when county executives agreed to wrap their office windows.

Ferguson said there’s nothing to stop Metro from wrapping its buses with ads, as long as the windows aren’t covered. He also said he’s encouraged advertising on bus shelters and in the downtown bus tunnel.

Office windows: tee hee.  Seriously, though, Andrew’s pushed the idea of advertising at stops before, and since it’s done in pretty much every transit system, there’s really not a good reason not to.  It certainly doesn’t impact quality of ride as much as wrapping does.

The bus tunnel, especially, will see tens of thousands of riders shortly, and could be quite lucrative for Metro.

Photo lifted from Bus Chick, who in the same post has lots of neat pictures of shelter advertising in other cities.

I guess Sims has being reading this blog, either that or the idea just makes too much sense: with sales tax receipts down and taxing authority fully tapped: Metro needs other funding sources. SF Muni makes 15% of its operating budget from advertising; if Metro could get that much, there would be no crisis.

I’ve just been notified that, just like Bus Bitch, I will be on the Southeast Seattle Metro Sounding Board, which will provide comment on proposed service changes in the wake of Light Rail.

I imagine that later this fall I’ll circulate some service concepts on behalf of Metro’s outreach program, so that the wider community can comment.  I also promise to make it clear when I’m speculating and when I’m putting out official plans.

 

The Seattle P-I has more information about Ron Sims’ plan for Metro. Including details on what new capital projects might be cut:

Facilities that could be sold to raise money in the short term include 1.2 vacant acres Metro owns in Bellevue next to its transit center, agency general manager Kevin Desmond said. And the $65 million in capital spending reductions mentioned by Sims in his post would include $9.8 million budgeted for an off-street layover facility at the south end of downtown Seattle for buses idling between runs, $10.5 million identified as Metro’s contribution to a South Lander Street overpass that may no longer be needed and $7 million designated for a maintenance of a revived waterfront streetcar line, a project that now seems stalled, Desmond said.

I think we can official call the waterfront streetcar dead.

Thanks to Gordon for the Link. The photo is from Oranviri, as always.

Over on the Rainier Valley Post, “Bus Bitch” has found her(?) way onto the SE Seattle Metro Sounding Board. She’s also starting to suggest some routing changes. The first route discussed is the 36:

In the “Bus Bitch” plan, our favorite vomit wagon would still serve residents south of the Beacon Hill station, essentially replacing the 32 Express— only it would run for longer than a couple of hours each day. Following the 32’s cut through SODO and up Columbian Way, the new 36 would still service the VA and SE residents along Beacon Ave. and on out to Rainier Beach where it would terminate at the RB light rail station.

I think this amounts to abolishing the 36 and making the 32 a full-service route. If I had to guess, I’d say this cuts against the concept that Metro is likely to adopt, which is shunting long-haul commuters onto the light rail and continuing to service shorter hops with the bus. In fact, I’d suggest that the stretch north of the Beacon Hill station was the piece they were most likely to keep unaltered.  As an added drawback, the 32 isn’t wired for electric trolley service.  But I’m glad the conversation is getting started.

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Coincidentally, the “Getting There” feature in today’s P-I also discusses the 36:

Metro plans a new trolley extension to the new Othello light rail station, which Metro said could be Route 36, using new overhead lines to be completed next year as part of the “Transit Now” expansion. That service could begin by September 2009.

My sources at Metro tell me that this extension is specifically intended for the 36, so perhaps all this discussion is irrelevant anyway. I’m pleased that Transit Now is allowing some extension of the trolley lines. In a perfect world, all the main access routes to the LINK stations would be electrified, but it’s not clear if that’s in the cards.