Month: February 2014

A joint regional transit agency news release provides the first, rough estimates of transit’s contribution to the estimated 700,000 who showed up for the Seahawks’ parade. The numbers, especially bus numbers, are largely guesstimates, but here are some ridership highlights:

• Link had over 75,000 boardings, over double the average weekday and well over the previous record of 51,000 on opening Saturday in 2009, when rides were free and certain transit nerds boarded again and again.
• Sounder had about 20,000 boardings in the morning and “a similar number” in the afternoon.
• Combined CT and ST bus service into Seattle totaled 22,500 boardings, 5,000 above the average; there were a record 55,000 boardings in Snohomish County.
• PT estimates that there were 6,500-8,500 more boardings than normal at the Tacoma Dome between 7am and noon.
• The West Seattle Water Taxi carried 4,600, compared to a January average of 416. Vashon foot ferries were up 20% to 928.

Across all agencies, there were more vehicles, more trips, and (in the case of Sound Transit) longer trains.

In all, a memorable day for transit. All transportation modes were overwhelmed beyond their capacity. Things might have been much worse had it not been for crowds of riders in good cheer, orderly, and forgiving of systems well beyond their design limits. Moreover, agencies showed uncommon agility in mobilizing for Wednesday on short notice, and the efforts of foot soldiers controlling crowds at Westlake station and other places were nothing short of heroic.

Continue reading “Preliminary Parade Numbers”

As a city’s transportation system pushed to its limit recovers …

• East Link open houses start tonight.
• Wonderful bipartisan bill moving through the House, preventing restrictions on small, affordable homes.
• These rental reforms would seem to help renters while not discouraging construction.
• 185th St. Station planning continues February 20th.
• Landmark status process abused to keep people out of Seattle.
• Sounder mudslides are back.
• Seattle Council moves forward on legislating transportation options and casual work out of existence.
• More on Freighthouse Square plans.
• Tacoma Council states its preference for Link extension.
• Kitsap Transit survey results prioritize restoring Sunday service over other days of the week, reveals other interesting things.
• Kirkland discussing unconventional ways to get around town.
• There is no substitute for building more housing.
• A German visitor attempts to rent a bike to get around Las Vegas; hilarity ensues.

This is an open thread.

Record setting crowds today.  Expect delays and crowding on all buses serving downtown and crowding on Link. Remember tracking tools like OneBusAway do not work when buses are on reroutes. You can follow the mayhem at Metro, Sound Transit, Community Transit, and Pierce Transit. Latest from ST:

Posted: February 5 – 9:07 am

Weds, Feb. 5.  All Sound Transit Express bus service in downtown Seattle is experiencing significant delays.  Sounder is experiencing extremely high ridership and does not have the capacity to board passengers at all stations.  Riders are advised to take a later train when more seats may be available or consider other options such as Link or carpooling.  Link is also experiencing heavy crowding, however trains will be coming every seven and half minutes throughout the day. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding of the huge demand for transit services to today’s Seahawks Parade.

Go Seahawks!

[UPDATE 13:47]  The South Sounder #1509 (4:12 pm departure) will turn around at Tacoma instead of continuing on to Lakewood.  It will deadhead back to Seattle to make an extra Lakewood trip departing King Street Station at 6:30 pm.

Continue reading “Seahawks Victory Parade Open Thread”

(UPDATE: Metro provided some late additions to the list of reroutes since we first created this post, affecting Routes 2, 3, 4, and 13.)

With 300,000 people expected ($) to descend upon 4th Avenue for Wednesday’s parade, driving to the parade will clearly be a nightmare. Walking is always best for events like these, but bicycling and transit are good choices too. If you bicycle, please be courteous and dismount when approaching large crowds.

Transit will get you there safely, but route detours are extensive. We’ll provide a summary here, but it’s best to check Metro‘s or Sound Transit‘s reroute pages for up to date info.

In general, services will operate normally until approximately 10 a.m., after which buses will neither travel along nor cross 4th Avenue, and service will be reduced on 3rd Avenue as well. To travel within downtown, the transit tunnel will be open.  Tunnel bus routes will operate normally and Link will remain at its rush-hour frequency (7.5 minutes) throughout the day. The following general detours will be in place:

Metro

• Routes 1, 2 (Queen Anne), 3/4 (Queen Anne) and 13 will have a temporary terminal at 3rd and Virginia.  Those routes will not go further south.
• Route 2 (Madrona) will have a temporary terminal at 5th and Spring, and will not serve 3rd Avenue. 
• Late Update: Routes 3/4 (Queen Anne) will miss most of their routes.  They will use Queen Anne Avenue between Queen Anne and downtown, missing all stops along Boston St, Taylor Ave N, and 5th Ave N.  Route 4 will not serve the Nob Hill loop.  Inbound passengers on east Queen Anne should use routes 5 and 16 on Aurora.  Outbound passengers will have to walk from Queen Anne Avenue.
• Routes 3 and 4 (First Hill/Madrona/Judkins Park) will be rerouted to avoid crossing 4th by using 5th, Terrace and Yesler in both directions.  Buses will not serve all of 3rd.  Outbound buses will serve only the following two stops downtown: 3rd/Marion and northbound 5th at James.
• Aurora, Dexter, and Westlake routes (5, 16, 26, 28, 40, 358) will serve Lower Queen Anne in both directions, skipping South Lake Union, to avoid crossing 4th Avenue in Belltown.
• Jackson St routes (7, 14, 36) will terminate in the International District.
• Route 8 will not serve Lower Queen Anne, but will terminate at 9th/John after serving Denny/Dexter.
• Pike-Pine routes (10, 11, 43, 47, 49) will not serve downtown west of  7th Avenue, but will live-loop back to Capitol Hill.
• Route 12 will basically become the First Hill Streetcar for a day, using Broadway, Boren, 12th, and Jackson to terminate in the International District.
• 4th Avenue South and Airport Way routes (21, 40, 124, 131, 132) will serve 3rd Avenue, but will use Yesler/Terrace/5th in both directions to avoid Pioneer Square and 4th/Jackson.  4th Avenue South routes return to 4th at Royal Brougham.
• Routes 25 and 66 will have a temporary terminal at Convention Place Station.  Passengers should transfer to Link or tunnel buses to continue to or from downtown.
• Route 70 will terminate at 6th/Virginia, not serving 3rd Avenue.
• RapidRide C and D Lines, and Routes 24, 27, 33, 120, and 125, should be unaffected by the event aside from likely delays due to congestion.

Sound Transit

• Route 512 will live loop southbound on 5th, picking up northbound passengers as it drops off southbound passengers.
• Outbound routes 522 and 545 will skip most of downtown by using I-5.  Each will only have one outbound stop downtown: the 522 will have a temporary stop at 6th and Pike (across 6th from the regular stop), and the 545 will make its regular stop at 8th and Olive. Inbound, things are much simpler. Route 522 will use 5th Avenue, and inbound Route 545 is unaffected.
• Routes 554, 577, 578, 590, and 594 will terminate at Stadium Station.  Passengers should use Link or tunnel buses to continue to or from downtown.
• Link will run every 7.5 minutes all day.
• North Sounder will add cars on the last two morning trains and first two afternoon trains.
• South Sounder will have one additional trip, departing Tacoma at 8:30am and arriving in Seattle at 9:30am. The return trip will leave King Street at 2:30pm.

Community Transit’s commuter routes are unaffected.

If you’re coming from further afield, Amtrak Cascades 513 is completely sold out, as is BoltBus from Vancouver and Bellingham. As of this posting, limited seats remain on the 8:30am bus from Portland and the 5:30am Amtrak Thruway bus from Vancouver.

Stay safe and have fun, everyone.

Last week, in response to Martin’s questions about tunnel operations, Metro staff slipped in this quiet bombshell:

Metro continues to take actions to expand ORCA use throughout the system and reduce cash payments. [This includes…] working with our regional transit partners to implement a regional ORCA day-pass demonstration beginning in April.

A multi-agency ORCA-based day-pass is probably the most requested fare product in the Puget Sound region, and for good reason. Today, interagency transfers are free with ORCA but (mostly) not with cash fare. An ORCA-based day-pass, if priced right, holds out the concurrent possibilities of improved comprehensibility for visitors, and good value for residents who plan to make several trips in a day. For people like me, who want buses to not suck, it’s another weapon in the war against time-consuming on-board cash payment, and easily-abused paper transfers.

The devil, however, is in the details, which Metro staff supplied to us last week.

As you saw, the ORCA agency partners are planning a six-month pilot/demo of a regional day pass later this year, hopefully beginning sometime this spring.

The day pass demonstration will target visitors using hotels and convention centers. But, because the regional day pass will be available at all our current sales outlets, anyone could load the product on their card. At the conclusion of the demo, the ORCA partners will assess how well the card was received and determine the future of the program depending on what we learn.

Q: What agencies will or could be included?
A: All ORCA agencies except WSF

Q: How much will it cost?
A: $9 sales price, $4 per trip value. Riders would use E-purse to supplement higher fares based on how much they plan to travel.

Q: What modes and fare zones will it cover?
A: Good for any trip up to the $4 per trip value.

Q: Is it a daily cap or a fare product you have to buy?
A: It is a pass product loaded on the card. Once tapped it is valid for that service day. Service days is 3 a.m. – 2:59 a.m.

Q: Will it be issued on a disposable ORCA or just added to the existing $5 ORCA?
A: Existing card. We do not have disposable card stock in the system

Discussion after the jump. Continue reading “Critiquing Metro’s Day-Pass Trial”

The Chicago Transit Authority rolled out it’s new Ventra Card last October, becoming the first transit agency in the US to offer a fare payment card that can hold both passes and cash value, and that can be used as a debit card for non-transit transactions.

With Chicago’s transition to contactless open payment technology, CTA becomes the second US transit agency to allow open payment, joining the Utah Transit Authority in accepting payment from private debit and credit cards that have contactless technology, when boarding a bus or paying at a train turnstile.

For either Ventra or your private card, you would need to set up separate transit and debit accounts on the card, but once the transit account is set up, your private contactless card can hold passes, just like Ventra.

The transition has not been without hiccups. CTA has been holding off payments to the vendor, Cubic, Inc., until Cubic meets its contractual performance requirements. Cubic has been meeting the requirements in January, and will start receiving its contractual payments upon two consecutive months of meeting the performance standards.

Just three months after rollout, over 75% of rides are being paid for with Ventra. Here are some possible reasons why:

· The cash bus fare is $2.25. The electronic bus fare is $2. For reduced-fare riders, the fare is $1.10 cash or $1 electronically.
· There is a $5 fee to get the Ventra card, but it comes with $5 cash value loaded once you register the card within 90 days.
· CTA has 1-, 3-, 7-, and 30-day passes, all available through electronic media.
· Ventra can be used to pay for multiple riders.

CTA also offers Ventra Tickets, for single rides and 1-day passes.

With most of the bars in town showing the Super Bowl today, and scarcely a mention of any family-friendly party venues, today is a really good day to not get behind the wheel.

A short list of restaurants and bars showing the Super Bowl and billed as “Kid-Friendly” is available here.

The Seattle Center is offering a no-alcohol place to view the Super Bowl for free, in the Armory / Center House Main Floor. But there are no plans for big screens, if that is what you are seeking.

If you know of other transit-friendly/family-friendly establishments showing the Super Bowl, please list them in the comments below. Any cab companies or for-hire driver services, or any other free or discounted service to get people home today, can also promote their specials in the comments below.

If you plan to watch the game somewhere other than at home, and plan to drink, plan not to drive. Please and thanks.

Update: The big screen in the Microsoft Auditorium at the Seattle Central Library will show the Super Bowl for free. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. The Bothell branch of King County Libraries will also show it for free.

On California High Speed Rail Blog, Robert Cruickshank (who also writes guest posts here) writes about a California ballot initiative to replace HSR with… hyperloop.

In August, I made the prediction that the hyperloop proposal, which appeared at a pivotal moment in CA’s HSR project, would be in effect attack on HSR: “The hyperloop idea will peel off some of CAHSR’s support, putting HSR at more risk…”

Generally, publicly sourced alternatives to any infrastructure project are a strategy to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt (or FUD). We see this whenever light rail comes to the ballot – a group of otherwise anti-transit activists will propose bus rapid transit that we don’t seem to hear about either before or after the rail campaign.

My hope is that this pattern helps transit supporters identify this behavior when it happens and helps us prevent this type of attack on transit from getting traction in the future.