Hey Sound Transit: Better Process for Bad Weather, Please

Posted on by Ben Schiendelman

I’ve been to work both yesterday and today, and while the buses have been running, there seems to have been very little information available about Sound Transit services.

I understand the web site wasn’t in great shape because of all the people looking, but that makes it all the more necessary to have a low-bandwidth plan for situations like this. I suggest that immediately, when there’s a major disruption, the agency should drop the regular site (before it gets overrun) and put up something like what’s there now – a simple table of services and notes – each service listed, then a reassuring ‘weekday schedule’, ‘sunday schedule’, or special comment.

There will always be major issues during snowstorms – that’s fine, to be expected. But when the 545 is put on reroute, that specific reroute should be listed. This morning there was nothing about the 545 on the website, but eastbound, it turned right on ninth – before convention place station – leaving a crowd who expected it to skip Bellevue and Olive and had walked down there instead.

Yesterday, 545s were piled up at Overlake on the NE 40th Street exit from 520. Drivers were being told to use that exit to turn around, when the exit was blocked, and had been for some time. Nothing on the web.

If there is a big disconnect between dispatch and Sound Transit’s staff, that’s fine. Say so. Put up a note saying that you’re having trouble finding out what reroutes have been implemented, as the contracted agencies make that decision on their own.

More than anything, though, have a snow site ready to switch over to. Yesterday and today have been a mess, and while the site is decent now, this is the kind of thing that needs to be planned out in advance. Earlier this morning, when people actually needed this information, the site was mostly yesterday’s reroutes. Even now, the routes are out of numerical order, and there should really be a comment for every route, so people can find out if theirs is okay. So next time – have this ready!

Seattle Streetcar is Free Until After Xmas

Posted on by Matt Gangemi

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

After the bus system failed me yesterday, and others at the bus stop told me they’d been waiting an hour with no bus in site, I thought I’d walk home. I realized the streetcar would save me a bit of time on this walk, and hopped on board. But when I went to pay, there was a sign telling me it’s free until Dec. 26. So I thought I’d share the news.

Snow Day Web Surfing

Posted on by Martin H. Duke

UPDATE: Most people are probably at work, and the Metro and CT websites seem to have limped through the day, so we’ve stopped updating here.  We may start an afternoon thread if the websites collapse then.

*********

Because the various transit agency websites are likely to collapse under the strain, here’s a snapshot of their plans for the morning:

Tips and guiding principles from rpin.org:

Bus passengers should be aware that travel conditions can change quickly, and this list of disrupted service may be revised at any time due to weather and road conditions. In some locations, where roads are impassable for large buses, Metro will be operating chained shuttles. In order to safely transport as many passengers as possible, Metro is focusing on providing bus service on cleared highways and arterial roads, and to major transit centers and park-and-ride lots. Access in and out of West Seattle continues to be a problem, and there will be very little service to side streets and smaller neighborhoods.

Passengers should be prepared to board buses at major transit centers, flat arterials, or at the top or bottom of hills. Please dress warmly, wear appropriate footwear, and be prepared to wait. The buses that are running are expected to be significantly delayed.

Lots of more specific information (Metro, ST, CT) is after the jump.  Watch here for updates, and consider this your snow day thread.

Continue reading “Snow Day Web Surfing”

January Puget Passes Delayed

Posted on by Martin H. Duke

According to this King County website, there’s been a production problem with the run of January 2009 PugetPasses, so many customers may not receive their passes in the mail in time for next month.  They are also not in stock at the various walk-up sales outlets.

Not to fear, however.  I’ve received word that December 2008 PugetPasses will be honored through January 9, 2009 on Sound Transit, King County Metro, Community Transit, Pierce Transit, and Everett Transit.  The flyer, of which I’ve seen an advance copy, will allegedly be out on RPIN.org in the next few days.

In other fare news, the visitor pass will cease to exist in January.  With ORCA on its way in Spring, we can expect a major revision of the entire pass structure.

Remember, also, that your February pass’s value may have to be 25 cents higher to keep up with rising Metro fares.

News Round-Up

Posted on by Andrew Smith

Jackknifed Articulated Buses

With snowpocalypse upon us, it’s difficult to make time to post on all of these, so here’s a news round-up.

  • The Beacon Hill Station construction is coming along, according to the Beacon Hill blog. Apparently the big blue wall will come down in February or March. Via Seattlest.
  • Thurston County’s Intercity Transit will probably ask voters for a tax increase, according to the Olympian. Currently, Intercity Transit gets a 0.6% sales tax, and the increase would move the rate to .8%. Under state law, transit agencies can have up to a .9% sales tax. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this over the coming year.
  • According to Community Transit, Swift was supposed to break ground Thursday. I doubt that it did, with Snowpacolypse and everything. Swift has been moving along really quickly, especially compared to Rapid Ride. Both Swift and Rapid Ride were approved in 2006, and Swift is ready to begin construction, and Rapid Ride construction has not started yet.
  • Obama’s stimulus plan keeps growing and is now up to $850 billion. Every time I read an article about the stimulus that doesn’t say “transit”, I worry a little bit.
  • The results from 520 Bridge tolling poll I mentioned last month have been released, along with a HOT lane discussion.

Photo of Snowpocalypse by Oran in the STB flickr pool.

The Tea Leaves of Cabinet Appointments

Posted on by Frank Chiachiere

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

Republican Rep. Ray LaHood is Obama’s choice for Transpo Secretary. Erica Barnett rounds up the reax here.

Take John Ashcroft. When he was nominated for Attorney General back in 2001, the big concern was that he was a hard-right anti-choice guy. But no one remembers Ashcroft’s tenure at the DOJ for his take on abortion. Instead, questions of detainee rights and the limits executive power dominated his term. And to complicate matters further, while Ascroft seemed to be a hard-core Bushie on those issues as well, we learned after he resigned that he actually took a respectable stand against Bush’s efforts to shred the constitution on at least one occasion (the infamous hospital room incident).

Paul O’Neill, Bush’s first Treasury Secretary, was a similar case. His moderate views on tax policy ended up with him getting shown the door because of his disagreements with White House staff.

Point being, a lot of things can happen in a given realm of public policy that’s far outside the domain of the relevant Cabinet Secretary. World events and White House priorities being among them. Why, for example, did Tom Daschle accept the role of HHS Secretary only under the condition that he would also serve as white house advisor on health care? Because he knew that the Oval Office is where the action is.

That’s not to say that cabinet secretaries are irrelevant. They run massive federal agencies, hire dozens of like-minded deputies to serve under them and carry out policy, etc., etc. But you can’t extrapolate from a single nominee’s record in congress to the kind of policies they’ll carry out as head of an agency. It’s not a straight line at all.

Metro Suspends Routes for Thursday Evening Commute

Posted on by John Jensen

Update: Sounder 1514 (departing Seattle at 5:55 pm) and 1515 (departing Tacoma at 4:55) have been cancelled.

morganhillKing County Metro has pulled the plug on many bus routes for this evening’s commute. You can see the full list of routes that are canceled at the previous link. Metro has also announced that no articulated (bendy) buses will be running — so expect packed buses if you’re leaving from downtown.

The adverse weather page now contains more information at a glance, which is a good improvement from this morning’s chaotic page.

Continue reading “Metro Suspends Routes for Thursday Evening Commute”