Month: November 2010

20 people aboard, no serious injuries. The TNT is all over it.

Update 3:40 pm: Metro just announced they’re staying on snow routes the rest of the day.

Update 2:30 pm: Some ST bus routes are delayed. It’s all tracked here.

Update 11:10 am: All Pierce Transit buses on snow routes.

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It looks like Metro made the right call last night to plan on AM snow, as snow is down and sticking in many areas of Seattle. All Metro routes remain on their snow routes. Route 90 — a snow-only route — is currently operating with 3 buses an hour. Link light rail seems somewhat unaffected thus far.

So far — and we’re still early in what could be a cold, icy week — Metro is having a pretty good performance. This is a far cry from the chaos of Snowpocolypse 2008. Metro will be severely challenged, however, if the slush on roads freezes tonight as some expect.

For OneBusAway users: Metro has further taken the step of shutting down real-time data to services like OneBusAway, since the data is inaccurate when buses are on reroute.

Tell us how things are for you in the comments.

[UPDATE 6:10am: No change to Community Transit’s service this morning.]

[UPDATE 7:53pm: ST Routes 545 and 560 also will miss some stops in Seattle.]

Here’s Metro’s full press release on the subject. Money quote:

“We decided Sunday night to be proactive, even though we know how unpredictable snowfall can be in King County,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “We would rather be over prepared than have buses stuck on regular routes during the middle of a snowy commute in the morning or afternoon.”]

In a pre-emptive move, Metro just announced that all routes will use their snow routing on Monday morning. Take a moment to re-familiarize yourself with your route’s snow route.

Updates will be at Metro’s adverse weather page. We’re told that more information will follow, so check back here.

By DON KOSTELEC

“Straddled that Greyhound and rode him into Raleigh, and on across Caroline.”

–Chuck Berry, The Promised Land

Without a single proposition for change or a smoke, I reached the Greyhound terminal in downtown Raleigh an hour before my scheduled departure with one goal in mind: For a modest $5 fee, Greyhound allows you to purchase a priority boarding pass. It’s the closest they can come to a First Class ticket.

The total fare was $60, which when compared to a $300 one-way rental car rate seemed to be a fiscally sensible choice for travel home to Asheville on the company’s dime.

I’m armed only with my computer bag, a bus ticket, various gadgets, snack food and advice from my friend James: “Sit near the front. The weirdos sit in the back, plus you have to deal with the noisy engine and the stench from the bathroom. If anything happens the driver probably has a gun or some type of self defense training.”

Yep, it’s a bargain at $5.

Continues after the jump. Continue reading “Ridin’ Dirty: An Enlightening Journey on America’s Intercity Bus System”

This is worth watching a few times to pick up the more subtle jokes:

Obama Replaces Costly High-Speed Rail Plan With High-Speed Bus Plan

Sound Transit is doing some track maintenance on Central Link each night from 8 pm till closing, from Sunday through this Tuesday. Headways will be 20-25 minutes and only the Northbound platform will be open at Beacon Hill and Mt. Baker.

As usual, there will be neither schedule, nor real-time arrival information, nor onebusaway, so it’s a roll of the dice when your train might arrive.

I was planning to use today to hype Mapnificent — a cool Google Maps derivative that tells you how far you can get by using transit, bikes, and your own two feet:

Of course, the algorithm at this point still has its flaws. Seattle Bike Blog used the program to talk about bike/transit synergy, which is one of my favorite topics, so I’ll let Tom take it away.

The vote of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 587 membership is in. Its 3800 members approved the new labor contract with a 69% yes vote. About two-thirds of members voted. All that remains is a vote of the King County Council.

John wrote up the main contract provisions last week. According to press release, the cost savings amounts to 130,000 service hours, or a fifth of the projected 600,000 hour shortfall in 2015. That is a huge and important step towards resolving the Metro budget crisis.

Transit operators are to be thanked for honoring the need to serve the people of King County with as much service as possible, whether they perceived that as in their self-interest or not. Here’s to hoping that other stakeholders — voters, the State Legislature, the King County Council, and neighborhood interests — exhibit similar community spirit and enlightened self-interest when more change comes to Metro.

More related documents than you can stand are prominently featured on the ATU 587 website.

Tuesday the Washington State Transportation Commission, which has toll setting authority, released it’s recommendations for SR-520 tolling. The rate vary by time of day but not dynamically like HOT lanes.  This proposal has been years in the making. Two years ago the state legislature asked WSDOT to look at tolling options for the cross lake corridor. The report outlined ten tolling scenarios, five that only tolled SR-520 and five that toll both SR-520 and I-90.

More after the jump. Continue reading “SR-520: Peak Tolls $3.50, Still Need $2,000,000,000.00”

• Dan Bertolet joins my war on open space.
• HOT lanes still popular in the legislature; 520 tolls to be up to $3.50, with Initiative 1053 possibly obstructing. More from Adam later.
• Best bus route contest results: 120, 550 and 554 made it in top 15.
• Paying for deep-bore tunnel overruns is not. More problems with the tunnel plan.Wheels turning for an initiative.
• Report from the Town Hall on the Regional Transit Task Force.
• Tons of analysis of how Prop 1 wins in Pierce County.
• Tacoma Tomorrow breaks down Link extension options.
• Viaduct reroutes next year.
• Ferry system will not make bikes disembark last after all; welcome the new MV Chetzemoka.
• Redmond seeking comments on their “Central Connector“.
• Beacon Hill Blog helps to improve the crosswalk at the station.
• Please make life easier for your bus driver.
• Jarrett Walker has a plan for “sprawl repair.”
• Danny Westneat agrees with me.
• More on urban living and kids, although often it’s the schools that cause families to move, not anything Carla discusses.
• New Jersey’s “quiet cars” popular; would you like them on Sounder?

This is an open thread.