Rail advocates can be forgiven for a little bit of triumphalism. The region would indisputably have been better off this week if we’d had more light rail, and that’s not true of buses or highway capacity.
That said, no one who thinks rail is a bad investment is going to change their mind because it helps out a lot on a few days a year, any more than rail advocates throw in the towel because of an accident on MLK. I think the better point to be made is that the best transportation systems have redundancy.
Sometimes a big accident or storm renders highways impassable and the buses on them unusable. Other times, Link has a mechanical problem or Sounder is stopped by a mudslide. A robust system doesn’t force people to spend 10 hours in a car, because each mode is slowed by independent phenomena. As a region, we have dramatically underinvested in modes not dependent on highways, which is how you get this week. We’re working to rectify that but it will take time.
We might get another inch tomorrow morning, adding to a far from normal weekend for transit:
So, Metro Transit will continue to have buses on snow routes on Thanksgiving and reminds bus riders that it will operate with a Sunday schedule for the holiday. As snow and ice melt and roadways return to normal, Metro will begin to ease back into regular operations.
The long holiday weekend includes already-scheduled changes for Metro service:
• Thursday, Nov. 25, Metro Transit buses operate on Sunday schedule;
• Friday, Nov. 26 there is a reduced weekday schedule which features more service than weekends but less than a regular weekday. This is done during holiday periods when Metro traditionally sees 20-40 percent lower ridership;
• There are many holiday events in Seattle this weekend that will cause temporary reroutes and delays for bus service including the Ballard Turkey Trot on Thursday, the downtown Macy’s Holiday Parade on Friday morning, the Friday evening Westlake Tree Lighting ceremony, and the Seattle Marathon on Sunday and related events on Saturday.
Apparently something happened this week besides Seattle being hit with a snowstorm. We postponed a couple of pretty decent policy posts to give wall-to-wall coverage of the storm, and you’ll probably see those next week:
Yonah Freemark reports that the transit federal tax subsidy, set to fall below the subsidy for parking, is on the agenda to be restored to the same level during the lame duck session.
Young punk blogger has an op-ed in the Seattle Times. From the comment thread you wouldn’t be able to figure out the actual subject.
Metro has to use some articulated buses, even in the snow. Not mentioned: they have to be hybrids in the DSTT, and almost all of those are artics.
Complaints about Metro’s information in the storm.
Building up Pioneer Square. Bertolet tackles Sodo’s zoning; I could stand about a dozen more posts from him on tradeoffs between upzones and incentive zoning.
I think most people (myself included) would applaud Metro’s handling of our most recent snow/icestorm. Communication has been frequent and detailed, operators have been helpful and upbeat, and there has been an overall sense that Metro has been competently performing a public service under difficult operating conditions. Our other agencies have done pretty well, too.
Yet given the extensive contingency planning for just these types of events over the past 2 years, I have been disappointed that one aspect of snow routing has gone overlooked: headsigns. Despite ubiquitous reroutes, all headsigns that I have seen retained their usual designations. Two examples from yesterday: Route 2 read its usual “Madrona Park – via E Union”, despite the fact that it traveled to neither Madrona Park nor along E Union. Rather, eastbound it was traveling to 34th/Union via Jefferson and Cherry (the same as Route 3), while westbound it traveled its regular snow route. Secondly, every other Route 3 read its usual “First Hill” despite the fact that Metro’s website prominently warned “Route 3 is not serving First Hill.”
I don’t know how labor intensive it is to program new headsign choices, but I do think it would be helpful to have accurate displays on snow days. A brief and incomplete(!) brainstormed list:
1 – West Queen Anne via Kinnear
2 – Madrona via Int’l Dist // Lower Queen Anne via Downtown
3 – Madrona via Int’l Dist // Queen Anne via Int’l Dist
4 – Judkins Park via Int’l Dist // E Queen Anne via Int’l Dist
8 – Seattle Center via Downtown // Rainier Beach via Downtown/Cap Hill
14 – Capitol Hill via Broadway
16– Northgate via E Green Lake
24 – W Magnolia via 15th Ave W
27 – Central District via Yesler
30 – Sand Point via Montlake
33 – Discovery Park via 15th Ave W
What do you think? Would this be helpful, or add unnecessary complexity?
[UPDATE 5:10am: Pierce Transit announced that they are NOT operating snow routes anymore.]
Metro sent out pretty much the same message tonight as last night. The forecast is for weather similar to today’s, although slightly warmer. Metro will make the call on routes canceled by 4am tomorrow.
Seattle Snowpocalypse 2010 by Dave Lichterman (CC: Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivs 2.0 Generic)
This is a repost of mine from the Snowpocalypse 2008. Although the particulars are different I think snow storms like this help us experience first hand what a more local, non-motorized and sustainable transportation system looks like, and how our choices do or do not support that.
Here is a question posed by Diane Sugimura (Director of Seattle DPD) a few years ago at the Urban Sustainability Forum. What do you think a sustainable Seattle will look like? Answer, a snow covered one. It might sound odd but think about your experience over the past few days.
All Metro buses are on snow reroutes this morning. Metro says that some routes may be canceled due to the weather, and to check their site for updates.
Some Sound Transit Express buses are planning on skipping some stops, but the planning here doesn’t seem to be as rigorous as Metro’s.
Link light rail was unaffected by the snow Monday and that will probably remain unchanged today. The trains were ran overnight to prevent ice from building on the overhead wires that deliver power to the cars.
My impressions are that Metro did a good job today of communicating snow routes and various changes as the day went on. The agency came off as organized, prepared, and all on the same page. Moving every route to a snow route set the appropriate expectations for riders and helped minimize confusion. Drivers were jovial and professional.
Improved communication will not wipe away severely inclement weather and our collective inability to commute through it. While Monday gave us a chance to all sigh about how our bus came at a random time in the morning or how the afternoon was a complete mess, the only response to those complaints we love to share is that there is no fix. Snow will hurt transportation in Seattle. More rail would help, but rail has also its own problems. The way to avoid getting snared in gridlock when it snows: don’t commute.
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@myballard: Wow, Seattle Police just told @KIRO7Seattle that 200 Metro buses are stuck in the snow.
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Seattle Weekly: Light Rail Kicks Metro’s Butt in the Snow.
In short, the trains have been running absolutely normally — seven to 15 minutes apart, with no added travel time.
That doesn’t necessarily mean light-rail riders never have to worry about inclement weather. Patrick says freezing rain presents a particular danger due to the overhead electrical system used by the trains. If ice forms on the wires, that could cause a breakdown.
But Patrick says there is a solution: Sound Transit can run the trains all night long, rather than stopping them between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. as usual. That should keep the ice from building up.
@SoundTransit: Link light rail trains will run all night to keep the tracks clear. Passenger srvc ends @ 1.
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@westseattleblog: Metro says full service even on snow routes will be impossible tomorrow so their advice is STAY HOME STAY HOME STAY HOME
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Seattle Times, The long, long bus ride home to West Seattle:
Four hours after he boarded the No. 22 downtown, he was reading through a circular and wondering if the Mariners were in fact seriously interested in trading for the Diamondbacks’ outfielder Justin Upton. We all just hoped we’d reach West Seattle by the time any deal might be consummated.
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University of Washington: The UW Seattle and Tacoma campuses have suspended operations and canceled classes for Tuesday.
@seatransitblog: The degree to which you can continue to live normally with weather like this is a rough measure of your transportation sustainability.
