Bike the 2 Line corridor from CID to Redmond Downtown. (Video by bobco85.)
The craziest trains in Japan. Nine kinds of trains with a twist. (Video by Not Just Bikes.)
This is an open thread.
17 Replies to “Sunday Double Feature: Bike the 2 Line & Craziest Trains in Japan”
The service alerts and details on reroutes are abysmal this weekend for routes 8 and 10 bypassing Capitol Hill Station. John is closed for construction between Broadway and 15th and buses are detouring through this area. No one knows where to catch the bus, there is no temporary signage, waited where I read online they were picking up outside the SCC entrance to CHS only to get passed. This is just one instance but at a critical connection, but who plans this stuff?
Well the 8 and the 10 are Metro routes, so they should be responsible for the reroutes and the temporary signage.
I’d contact Metro.
There were signs on buses yesterday but I don’t understand them. Normally when Olive/John is closed the buses move to Pine Street or vice-versa. But the announcements seem to say Broadway is normal but 15th & John isn’t, so I don’t understand what the routes will do. Turn on 12th? Turn on Broadway? To where?
OK the closure is John Street between Broadway and 15th. The 10’s eastbound stops are Broadway & Denny (SB) and 15th & Harrison (NB). The westbound stops are 15th & Republican (SB) and Olive Way & Broadway (WB, temporary). So there’s a large nonstop gap.
The 8 doesn’t have an alert on the site but I saw one on the bus yesterday, so it’s doing something like that.
Kinda fun to see Link trains packed full of country music fans going to see Kenny Chesney last night donning cowboy hats and boots.
Reminds me of being in Downtown Houston during the Rodeo Parade and seeing their light rail trains packed with large families from ranches in their full cowboy attire leaving after the parade.
I crunched some numbers for the latest NTD data release. Some takeaways:
– KCM continues to grow ridership. I am hopeful that as service returns, ridership will grow with it
– KCM (bus plus trolley) ridership is up ~12% compared to 2023; down ~33% compared to 2019
– KCM (bus plus trolley) ridership per vehicle hour is up ~13% compared to 2023; down ~25% compared to 2019
– Link has more ridership now than 2019, even with the maintenance at the beginning of the year. As expected, Link is down in terms of ridership per vehicle hour (down ~30% compared to 2019)
– The monorail moves more people than the streetcar. It’s even worse if you compare it in terms of ridership per vehicle hour
– T Link has recovered ridership since the new line expansion, but has also dropped in terms of ridership per vehicle hour (down ~50% compared to 2019)
– Sounder ridership is growing but still far below 2019 numbers. Up ~15% compared to 2023; down ~58% compared to 2019
https://pastebin.com/raw/Q6zEMjHv
– The first set of numbers is UPT (ridership); the second set of numbers is UPT per VRH (ridership per vehicle hour)
– “1mo” refers to May; “5mo” refers to Jan through May; “1y” refers to Jun of the previous year through May
Link has more ridership now than 2019, even with the maintenance at the beginning of the year. As expected, Link is down in terms of ridership per vehicle hour (down ~30% compared to 2019)
Northgate Link was added in 2021, so the overall ridership being higher is to be expected. Lower ridership per vehicle hour is depressing though. Northgate Link is extremely good from a ridership per vehicle hour — much better than the rest of the line (although not necessarily the best section). Despite this addition the overall ridership per service hour went down, which means the system as a whole took a big hit. It is like adding an all-star pitcher to your baseball team and losing more games — the rest of the team must really be struggling.
By the way, ST used to release station data which included the direction a rider was headed. So you could look at how many riders took the train north or south from say, Beacon Hill. But they don’t release that data any more. Thus comparing previous data is challenging. Even with that data it would be tricky but it would still offer a better clue as to how damaging the pandemic has been to Link. For example Beacon Hill northbound numbers wouldn’t offer much (fewer people may be going to downtown, but more are going to Northgate) but southbound would. Ideally there would be trip data (stop to stop) but ST never made that available.
According to the NTD, Link runs ~50% more vehicle hours in 2024 than it did in 2019 (comparing the first 5 months of the year). That seems like a big jump to me; I don’t know what explains that discrepancy
ST recently determined that current service needs more trains than estimated, so it may be related to that. Travel time and turnaround is longer than estimated, and more trains need regular maintenance than expected. This may not have been clear in 2019 or they were chalked up to “temporary problems”.
ARTICLE SCHEDULING NOTE: Metro’s website is down, so the next couple articles will have to wait until it comes back up, because they link to Metro route maps or restructure/expansion projects, and they wouldn’t be fun to read without them. The site may be back up by tonight, or we may be able to do a non-Metro article if it stretches into Monday or Tuesday.
Metro’s website is back up.
Some were stopping at Broadway/John SW corner which isnt a stop, some were stopping at Broadway/John NE corner. Some at Broadway/Denny at CHS SCC entry which was the official detour stop while some buses skipped this stop. I saw no signage on poles at these stops but did see info in an email alert. Unfortunately these plans weren’t followed.
Anyhow my issue is the reroutes with bad info about closed stops and detours which is systemwide. It was a real pain along the 12 on Madison during construction, never knew what stop was open, where it moved to, where the closest one was, etc.
I agree, Metro is generally terrible with reroutes, and even when the information does exist, it can take a surprising amount of translation to even understand what they mean. Even worse, sometimes drivers will forget the reroute and go back on regular route, or just take a different route entirely, or Metro will decide to cancel the reroute with no notice but only tell some drivers so the rest are still on reroute.
I’ve submitted numerous complaints over the years, sometimes Metro even deigns to respond “we take it all customer complaints seriously”.
I was in Portland over the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised I could use a contactless credit card to pay for bus and light rail journeys. Apparently Trimet has had this functionality since 2017, and Transport for London since 2014. Just this year can you use Google Pay on ORCA terminals. Still no credit card or Apple Pay option. It’s frustrating it’s taking so long to make paying for transit in Seattle easier.
Also, the voice on MAX is so much nicer than the harsh robotic one in Sound Transit stations. The poorly-placed, low-quality speakers certainly don’t help. I don’t understand why they can’t have an actor read all the common messages, and leave the robot voice for impromptu messages.
Link is down to 35-40 minute frequency due to “mechanical issue”. While this may be fixed in an hour, and other mechanical issues haven’t been that egregious, it makes me wonder what keeps breaking several times a week, and why the mechanics are so unreliable.
Sam, investigative reporting opportunity for you.
I don’t know about that early frequency issue. “Mechanical issue” is a catch-all phrase that people shouldn’t take literally. For example, ST will sometimes call a security issue, a “mechanical issue,” in an alert.
Sound Transit Open House tomorrow/Wednesday reconsidering the ID/Chinatown Hub vs proposed inconvenient location east of Pioneer Square station
The service alerts and details on reroutes are abysmal this weekend for routes 8 and 10 bypassing Capitol Hill Station. John is closed for construction between Broadway and 15th and buses are detouring through this area. No one knows where to catch the bus, there is no temporary signage, waited where I read online they were picking up outside the SCC entrance to CHS only to get passed. This is just one instance but at a critical connection, but who plans this stuff?
Well the 8 and the 10 are Metro routes, so they should be responsible for the reroutes and the temporary signage.
I’d contact Metro.
There were signs on buses yesterday but I don’t understand them. Normally when Olive/John is closed the buses move to Pine Street or vice-versa. But the announcements seem to say Broadway is normal but 15th & John isn’t, so I don’t understand what the routes will do. Turn on 12th? Turn on Broadway? To where?
OK the closure is John Street between Broadway and 15th. The 10’s eastbound stops are Broadway & Denny (SB) and 15th & Harrison (NB). The westbound stops are 15th & Republican (SB) and Olive Way & Broadway (WB, temporary). So there’s a large nonstop gap.
The 8 doesn’t have an alert on the site but I saw one on the bus yesterday, so it’s doing something like that.
Kinda fun to see Link trains packed full of country music fans going to see Kenny Chesney last night donning cowboy hats and boots.
Reminds me of being in Downtown Houston during the Rodeo Parade and seeing their light rail trains packed with large families from ranches in their full cowboy attire leaving after the parade.
I crunched some numbers for the latest NTD data release. Some takeaways:
– KCM continues to grow ridership. I am hopeful that as service returns, ridership will grow with it
– KCM (bus plus trolley) ridership is up ~12% compared to 2023; down ~33% compared to 2019
– KCM (bus plus trolley) ridership per vehicle hour is up ~13% compared to 2023; down ~25% compared to 2019
– Link has more ridership now than 2019, even with the maintenance at the beginning of the year. As expected, Link is down in terms of ridership per vehicle hour (down ~30% compared to 2019)
– The monorail moves more people than the streetcar. It’s even worse if you compare it in terms of ridership per vehicle hour
– T Link has recovered ridership since the new line expansion, but has also dropped in terms of ridership per vehicle hour (down ~50% compared to 2019)
– Sounder ridership is growing but still far below 2019 numbers. Up ~15% compared to 2023; down ~58% compared to 2019
https://pastebin.com/raw/Q6zEMjHv
– The first set of numbers is UPT (ridership); the second set of numbers is UPT per VRH (ridership per vehicle hour)
– “1mo” refers to May; “5mo” refers to Jan through May; “1y” refers to Jun of the previous year through May
Link has more ridership now than 2019, even with the maintenance at the beginning of the year. As expected, Link is down in terms of ridership per vehicle hour (down ~30% compared to 2019)
Northgate Link was added in 2021, so the overall ridership being higher is to be expected. Lower ridership per vehicle hour is depressing though. Northgate Link is extremely good from a ridership per vehicle hour — much better than the rest of the line (although not necessarily the best section). Despite this addition the overall ridership per service hour went down, which means the system as a whole took a big hit. It is like adding an all-star pitcher to your baseball team and losing more games — the rest of the team must really be struggling.
By the way, ST used to release station data which included the direction a rider was headed. So you could look at how many riders took the train north or south from say, Beacon Hill. But they don’t release that data any more. Thus comparing previous data is challenging. Even with that data it would be tricky but it would still offer a better clue as to how damaging the pandemic has been to Link. For example Beacon Hill northbound numbers wouldn’t offer much (fewer people may be going to downtown, but more are going to Northgate) but southbound would. Ideally there would be trip data (stop to stop) but ST never made that available.
According to the NTD, Link runs ~50% more vehicle hours in 2024 than it did in 2019 (comparing the first 5 months of the year). That seems like a big jump to me; I don’t know what explains that discrepancy
ST recently determined that current service needs more trains than estimated, so it may be related to that. Travel time and turnaround is longer than estimated, and more trains need regular maintenance than expected. This may not have been clear in 2019 or they were chalked up to “temporary problems”.
ARTICLE SCHEDULING NOTE: Metro’s website is down, so the next couple articles will have to wait until it comes back up, because they link to Metro route maps or restructure/expansion projects, and they wouldn’t be fun to read without them. The site may be back up by tonight, or we may be able to do a non-Metro article if it stretches into Monday or Tuesday.
Metro’s website is back up.
Some were stopping at Broadway/John SW corner which isnt a stop, some were stopping at Broadway/John NE corner. Some at Broadway/Denny at CHS SCC entry which was the official detour stop while some buses skipped this stop. I saw no signage on poles at these stops but did see info in an email alert. Unfortunately these plans weren’t followed.
Anyhow my issue is the reroutes with bad info about closed stops and detours which is systemwide. It was a real pain along the 12 on Madison during construction, never knew what stop was open, where it moved to, where the closest one was, etc.
I agree, Metro is generally terrible with reroutes, and even when the information does exist, it can take a surprising amount of translation to even understand what they mean. Even worse, sometimes drivers will forget the reroute and go back on regular route, or just take a different route entirely, or Metro will decide to cancel the reroute with no notice but only tell some drivers so the rest are still on reroute.
I’ve submitted numerous complaints over the years, sometimes Metro even deigns to respond “we take it all customer complaints seriously”.
I was in Portland over the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised I could use a contactless credit card to pay for bus and light rail journeys. Apparently Trimet has had this functionality since 2017, and Transport for London since 2014. Just this year can you use Google Pay on ORCA terminals. Still no credit card or Apple Pay option. It’s frustrating it’s taking so long to make paying for transit in Seattle easier.
Also, the voice on MAX is so much nicer than the harsh robotic one in Sound Transit stations. The poorly-placed, low-quality speakers certainly don’t help. I don’t understand why they can’t have an actor read all the common messages, and leave the robot voice for impromptu messages.
Link is down to 35-40 minute frequency due to “mechanical issue”. While this may be fixed in an hour, and other mechanical issues haven’t been that egregious, it makes me wonder what keeps breaking several times a week, and why the mechanics are so unreliable.
Sam, investigative reporting opportunity for you.
I don’t know about that early frequency issue. “Mechanical issue” is a catch-all phrase that people shouldn’t take literally. For example, ST will sometimes call a security issue, a “mechanical issue,” in an alert.
Sound Transit Open House tomorrow/Wednesday reconsidering the ID/Chinatown Hub vs proposed inconvenient location east of Pioneer Square station