All posts by GuyOnBeaconHill

The new Skyway library opened last month. Architecturally speaking, it’s a pretty typical, but well done iteration of the modern branch library genre. It’s a nice building; it feels big, there’s plenty of natural light and color. It also occupies a very prominent location in Skyway (you can’t miss it). But having this wonderful new public building points out what a dump the rest of Skyway has become over the decades. It will be quite a challenge to find any other new construction or even another building that has been substantially rehabbed in Skyway since the Reagan era (maybe even the Eisenhower era). Yes, there is a Grocery Outlet that opened within the last 5 years and the casino is always busy; but most Skyway storefronts seem to be empty and surrounded by cracking asphalt parking lots or occupied by weed shops and other struggling small businesses. How could a neighborhood that is a 10 minutes bus ride from downtown Renton and 10 minutes from light rail have become such a depressing and dilapidated mess?

I suspect that Skyway’s problems stem from the fact that it isn’t a city. It’s an unincorporated region bordered by Seattle, Renton and Tukwila and its public services are provided by King County. So when the citizens of Skyway want a problem fixed, they have to go to the county council and fight the other unincorporated areas for attention and public money. Thankfully, the county library system has the money to rebuild some of its libraries and the old Skyway library was replaced with this nice new facility.

So, if you want to take a trip to Skyway and check out this new library, it is served by route 106 that you can catch in the DSTT or you can make a connection from Link at Rainier Beach Station. If you’ve never before made the Link to Metro transfer at Rainier Beach Station, let us know in the comments how that worked out for you. You can also get to Skyway via the Renton Transit Center (again, route 106). Skyway is a neighborhood that has the potential to be a great place to live, shop or go to the library, but unfortunately its problems currently far outnumber its charms.

I’m a Northwest Native and I’ve lived in Washington state my whole life. I often visit warmer, drier climates for business or leisure purposes and I’ve seen how many hot locales deal with an abundance of strong sunlight in their commercial business districts. Tucson is a very hot place, but it still maintains a reasonably walkable and surprisingly pedestrian-friendly CBD. Unfortunately, Albuquerque has taken the most pedestrian repellent aspects of the Southwest/Santa Fe architectural style and built a downtown area that is bland and uninviting for pedestrians. The landscape of downtown ABQ is dominated by blank adobe walls, a bleached out color palette and heat reflective window coverings.

The famous Route 66, “The Main Street of America”, cuts through central Albuquerque. Before the interstate system was built, businesses along Route 66 were very prosperous, but the interstate system has left most of the old Route 66 businesses in decline. There are some signs of urban restoration in downtown Albuquerque: some new apartments near the Alvarado Transportation Center, a circa-1965 office building being rehabilitated, a few other residential projects underway. But the downtown area is mostly governmental office buildings and a few restaurants serving lunch to office workers. After 5pm, downtown Albuquerque is virtually abandoned by all but the street people and the unfortunate.

Despite the problems with the central business district, Albuquerque’s transit system, ABQ Ride, is surprisingly good. ABQ Ride features both gridded routes and pulse routes centered on the Alvarado Transportation Center in downtown ABQ. Amtrak, Greyhound and the New Mexico Rail Runner are also located at the Alvarado TC, so intermodal connections are easy; but the neighborhood adjacent to the TC is rather gritty and I was panhandled constantly at the TC and as I walked to/from the TC. The major transit destination outside of downtown ABQ is the University of New Mexico which is served by 3 Rapid Ride lines (Blue, Red and Green). Rapid Ride buses connect UNM with downtown ABQ every 8 minutes. Because of the history of Route 66, most of the prominent destinations in ABQ are laid out in a straight line and the Rapid Ride lines will quickly transport you to your destination. ABQ Ride is also very affordable for the local citizens: single rides cost $1, an all-day pass costs $2, the senior fare is 35c.

Bus service to the airport is also good unless you have an early or late flight. Route 50 runs on 30 minute headways from 7am-8pm and takes about 20-25 minutes for the trip between the airport and the Alvarado TC. Route 50 also serves the University area. There is an express route (250) that connects the airport with New Mexico Rail Runner trains to Santa Fe. I bought an all day pass and rode the Red and Green lines along Route 66 and finally rode Route 50 to catch my flight out of town. The Rapid Ride lines offer frequent service until about 9pm on weekdays. If you arrive late or on a weekend, you may need to rent a car. But unlike Kansas City, the Albuquerque International Sunport is located close to town and it’s one of the top passenger-friendly airports I’ve ever experienced.

Kansas City’s airport (MCI) must be the worst designed airport in the United States. It consists of 3 cramped, donut-shaped terminals that aren’t well connected. MCI is also a long way from downtown Kansas City and reaching the city without a rental car can be expensive: $60 for a taxi, $18 for a van shuttle. There is a local transit option, but the bus stop was located on a different donut than where my flight arrived and headways were at 60 minutes when I arrived, so I opted for the van shuttle. The trip to downtown took about 30 minutes (at 75mph) and most of the scenery en-route was farmland, cell towers and an occasional waffle house or convenience store. So, considering the existing population density and distance between downtown KC and the airport, it’s hard to see how any high speed airport-to-downtown transit link would be economically feasible. I will offer MCI as a text-book example of how and where to NOT to build an airport.

Kansas City, however, seems to be embracing New Urbanism. From a transit perspective, that means a new streetcar line will open soon that connects the gorgeously restored Union Station building with the central business district and 2 MAX lines offering frequent, branded service with nicely designed bus shelters that display schedules and next bus arrival times. The rest of the urban system tries to offer a grid-based layout but frequency is a real challenge for anyone not using MAX routes or the streetcar. Most of the other routes are scheduled at 30 to 60 minute headways. On my “Transit Day” I found it easier to walk to my destination than wait in 15 degree weather for the next bus.

Kansas City was a major transportation and manufacturing hub during the 1920s. In the latter part of the 20th Century KC’s importance in the business world slipped as air travel replaced train travel and many of KC’s businesses became obsolete. But what was left behind in the area between downtown and Union Station were many gorgeous Art Deco buildings and numerous old warehouses spaces. KC has done a wonderful job of restoring many of those Art Deco artifacts and many of those old warehouses are being converted into lofts and service businesses. Central KC provides a very walkable and interesting street layout. Dead spaces, blank walls and creepy corners are rare in downtown KC and it’s an inviting place for pedestrians to stroll (even in gusty, below freezing weather).

The fact that New Urbanism seems to be taking hold in KC is surprising considering that gas costs about $1.65/gallon and downtown parking lots are advertising monthly parking for $50/month. There also aren’t any Seattle-style geographic challenges that hem in sprawl development. How can transit compete against (almost) free gas and parking? I don’t know, but the urban revival is real and I would cite Kansas City as one of the top urban destinations in America to visit without a car (once you figure out how to get in from the airport).

On an earlier trip to Missoula MT, I used the local transit system to “see the sights”. I was hoping to have the same opportunity to “see the sights” on a recent trip to Billings by using the local transit system “MET” as a tour bus. Unfortunately, the Billings system falls way below the ambitious standards of Missoula’s transit system, despite the fact that Billings has almost twice the population of Missoula. Billing’s system is clearly a minimal system that radiates away from a downtown transit center with timed, but irregular pulses. The most frequent route–the 1D–leaves the transit center at intervals varying from 30 to 50 minutes. Most other routes offer service at intervals between 60-80 minutes and provide up to 11 trips a day with many routes only running at peak hours. The buses are also old and ridership appears to be very low.

Billings would be a very difficult city to create an effective transit system despite a strongly gridded road system and generally flat geography. The city of Billings is the regional shopping and services center for a huge geographic area and many people who live in smaller towns will drive for several hours to do their shopping in Billings. The result is that the local retail scene is dominated by chain stores and restaurants. Independent businesses are almost non-existent in Billings and most of the main roads that lead to the many shopping malls are lined with other chain stores and their acres of asphalt parking lots. With summer temperatures that jump above 100 and winter temps that can fall below zero, waiting for a bus, walking or bike riding in Billings can be difficult. Urbanization doesn’t seem to be emerging in Billings like it seems to be emerging in Missoula. Downtown Billings is a ghost town after 6 pm with most restaurants closing after the lunch rush. Virtually the only building that keeps the lights on in the evening is Billing’s modernist downtown library (worth visiting). More malls, more roads and more cars seem to be Billing’s destiny. A thriving public transit system doesn’t seem possible. Fortunately I had a rental car during my trip.

Today is the second day of the new traffic re-channelization project on Rainier Avenue through Columbia City. SDOT is hoping to reduce the number of traffic accidents in the Columbia City neighborhood by reducing the number of general purpose traffic lanes on Rainier Avenue from 2 in each direction to 1 in each direction (with a left turn lane between the lanes). Since the new lane markings have appeared I have made a couple of transit trips, a car trip and I walked along the route this morning.

With the new traffic pattern, there is a noticeably calmer environment on the sidewalks next to Rainier Avenue. Reducing the number of lanes creates a huge reduction in auto noise. I guess that should be obvious, but I was surprised at how much calmer the sidewalk felt. If a quieter street draws more pedestrians onto the sidewalks, fringe neighborhoods like Hillman City may become more friendly for businesses and foot traffic. I also crossed Rainier at Mead St.–an unsignalized intersection–without much trouble. When Rainier was 4 general purpose lanes I never would even attempt to cross at any unsignalized location. For pedestrians, the re-channelization project should be an improvement.

The bus trips were somewhat less of an improvement. A trip on the 9 during morning rush was definitely slower than usual and I missed my planned transfer at I-90. But we also had a newbie driver who was confused by which stops were for the 7 and which stops were for the 9, plus there were lots of confused drivers on the road, too. My return trip, last night on the 7 was very slow through Columbia City, but SDOT crews were still working on the changes, so it’s too soon to tell if bus times are negatively affected by the re-channelization. I hope that SDOT and Metro have worked to make sure that transit times won’t be much slower. The southbound stop at Edmonds St. (Bank of America/new PCC) may become a real bottleneck, however.

As for driving on Rainier Avenue, hopefully it will become less of a drag race and more of an orderly trip from Rainier Beach to Columbia City. The left turn lane may help reduce the amount of swerving auto traffic, but lefts will still be very difficult during peak hours when all oncoming traffic will be channeled into one lane. The best way to make Rainier Avenue safer is to make transit more useful. If these changes have a negative effect on transit operations, more people will want to drive.

I recently had a dreaded first-flight out/last-flight back business trip scheduled to San Diego. My alarm was set for 4am, my bag was packed and all I had to do was roll out of bed, take a shower and get to the airport by 5am. Because I live south of downtown it would have been possible for me to take either of the first 2 southbound Link trips and get to the airport in time for my flight. But I was concerned about the possibility of a late flight arriving back in Seattle after the last Link trip, so I chose to drive to the airport. At 430am traffic is very light and the drive to the airport took about the same amount of time it would have taken to walk to the Link station. Also, the $28 all-day parking fee is less than what a taxi would cost at 1am.

Although I chose to forego the public transit option in Seattle, I did plan to use public transit from the San Diego airport to downtown San Diego. Lindbergh Field is less than 2.5 miles from downtown so it’s pretty easy to get from the airport to downtown via public transit: Route 992 runs all day at mostly 15 minute headways, the trip takes about 12 minutes, the fare is $2.25 and the stops are right outside each airport terminal. San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) also sells an all-day pass for $5, but it is only available with a Compass Card (the MTS equivalent of ORCA, except that a Compass Card costs $2). The problem is that there aren’t any TVMs at any of the airport terminals that I could find that would issue a Compass Card. It is possible to buy a paper all-day pass on a bus, but it costs $7 and doesn’t provide an official, reusable plastic Compass Card. I know I will be making several more trips to San Diego and having a Compass Card will be handy, so I paid $2.25 for the trip to downtown and bought a Compass Card at a TVM in America Plaza with an all-day pass for an additional $7. Two day ($9) and three day ($12) passes are also available at the TVMs with a Compass Card.

My expectation when I left home at 430am was a long day of work ahead in San Diego; but, thanks to my associates, there was actually very little work that I had to deal with once I arrived in town. In fact, by lunchtime, I was done with my work day and I had over 8 hours to kill before my return flight. So I decided to do a little San Diego sightseeing courtesy of MTS and my Compass Card. My first planned expedition was to take a grand circle trip of the area via the Green and Orange Lines of the San Diego Trolleys. Just to clarify, what San Diego calls a trolley is what Seattle calls light rail and there are no electric powered, rubber tired transit coaches in San Diego. Unfortunately, the Green Line offers very little scenery and serves mostly shopping malls, a football stadium and stations located next to freeways. So I abandoned my grand circle plan at San Diego State University station and walked around the nearby business district hoping to find something equivalent to the U District in Seattle. No luck with that either, so I returned to the SDSU TC and looked for a bus to somewhere else. The 215 Rapid seemed to be the best bet. The 215 Rapid looked like a BRT route to downtown San Diego via Balboa Park. In reality, the 215 Rapid is a watered down version of Metro’s RapidRide service: the 215 makes fewer stops and the stations are distinct, bigger and better than a regular MTS bus stop, but no off-board payment is available and the buses aren’t noticeably different from other MTS coaches. The 215 also travels a route that is pretty equivalent to Aurora Avenue between SDSU and Balboa Park. So I abandoned the 215 at Balboa Park.

Getting off at Balboa Park was an excellent idea. I spent a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine and I ventured into the Model Railroad Museum for a tour. I know model railroading isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time, but if you have any interest in model trains, you must take trip/pilgrimage to the Balboa Park Museum. I won’t go into a long review of the museum, but it’s a 5 star experience for anyone who might be interested in model railroading.

After I left Balboa Park I didn’t have a definite plan for the next few hours, but I was hungry so I decided to hunt for another bus and hopefully take it somewhere interesting (other than downtown). The first bus stop I encountered didn’t have any schedule or precise destination information, but it did have a stop number and signage that said “text stop number 12757 to 46687” for schedule information. Within seconds the stop schedule information was texted back to my phone. And that was pretty much how I spent the rest of my day until I caught the 992 back to the airport.

Overall, riding transit in San Diego is pretty easy and economical. Most routes are on 15 minutes or better headways. Every bus I rode was well maintained and clean. The drivers were friendly and the network is relatively easy to figure out for a visitor. Fares are $2.25 for regular buses and trolleys, $2.50 for express routes and $5.00 for peak hour long distance trippers. On the bus stop signs the fare for each route is clearly displayed and every bus has a dash board sign with the appropriate fare. The Compass Card has eliminated the need for paper transfers. The trolleys are proof-of-payment and there is very heavy enforcement during rush hour. Every platform had 2-4 uniformed FEOs checking just about every passenger which seemed quite heavy-handed and likely not very cost effective.

If you are planning a trip to San Diego, I highly recommend buying a Compass Card and forgetting about the rental car.

If you have complaints about the current service provided by RapidRide C or RapidRide D, just be glad you didn’t try to commute from West Seattle or Ballard to downtown 30 years ago using Metro routes 15 or 18.

• 15 Map & Cover
• 15 Schedule
• 18 Cover & Schedule
• 18 Map

The maps for the 15 and 18 show that their 1985 routings hadn’t changed much from 1941 when those routes were established as part of the original electric trolley network. Both routes added service north of NW 85th Street when they were dieselized in 1963, but those are the only obvious service additions I can see. The 1941-63 trolley version of route 18 did have 2 branches south of Morgan Street in West Seattle: the 18 Fauntleroy as pictured in the link above and the 18 Gatewood which is today mostly covered by route 22. The 15 West Seattle also had 2 branches in West Seattle: the branch to Alki that is shown in the 1985 map and another branch that was routed through the Admiral District/Genesee Hill area (similar to the current route 57). The bifurcated versions of the 15 and 18 in West Seattle continued to be operated by diesel coaches until 1978 when the Genesee Hill and Gatewood segments of the 15 and 18 were combined into a new route (the 49).

In 1985, the 15 and 18 followed identical routes from approximately Harbor Island to just north of the Ballard Bridge. Together, they provided local service on 1st Avenue South in SODO and operated through downtown Seattle on 1st Avenue to the Seattle Center and Ballard. Midday headways on both routes was 40 minutes, which provided service every 20 minutes for Interbay, downtown and SODO; but Alki, Fauntleroy, 15th Avenue NW and 24th Avenue NW only saw a bus every 40 minutes. Today, most of those corridors get headways of 15 minutes or less.

At night, service on route 18 improved to 30 minute headways, but route 15 was served by the always unpopular Night Shuttle service. On the north end, the 15 operated only from Blue Ridge to the Ballard Bridge on a schedule that created a timed meet with the 18. The riders on route 15 would then transfer to the 18 to complete their trips to Interbay, Seattle Center or downtown. Going from downtown to 15th Avenue NW required catching the 18 in downtown Seattle and transferring to the 15 Night Shuttle by the Ballard Bridge. On the south end, a similar transfer point was established near Harbor Island. The 15 shuttle buses were supposed to always wait for the 18 before leaving the transfer point, but I can testify that there were plenty of times when the Night Shuttle bus left without waiting for its transfer load.

Today, 30 years later, the 15 and 18 network has been replaced by a number of frequent service routes. RapidRide C, RapidRide D, the 40 and partial service from the 21 have all replaced segments of the service provided by routes 15 and 18 in 1985. Plus, we’re seriously entertaining plans to build frequent light rail lines to both Ballard and West Seattle. I wonder how much progress will be made in the next 30 years.

The 23 South Seattle in 1975 was a very basic route between downtown Seattle and Georgetown. The 1975 schedule and route map show 30 minute headways throughout the day with a couple of extra peak hour trips for riders headed to or from the industrial areas along Airport Way and the residential area in Georgetown. The 23 South Seattle route map from 1975 is very similar to the routing of today’s Metro route 124 between Georgetown and downtown Seattle. The main differences are that the 23 served Georgetown via a Flora Avenue/Carleton Avenue loop and that the 23 entered and exited downtown Seattle via Dearborn/Airport Way (perhaps to connect the Atlantic bus base with downtown) instead of via Holgate/6th Avenue.

Today, Flora Avenue is a very quiet neighborhood street and the buses that serve Georgetown (Metro routes 60 and 124) operate one block over on Ellis Avenue. A few years ago I was in Georgetown and I noticed that there still are still some ghostly remnants of curb paint along Flora Avenue where the 23 South Seattle bus stops were once located.

I was in Missoula MT (population: ~70,000) over the weekend and I explored the town using Missoula’s Zero-Fare Mountain Line transit system which offers free rides on all of the system’s 13 transit routes. Geographically, Missoula is very flat and the city is divided by the Clark Fork River. On the north side of the river one finds the downtown area (with the main transit mall), a Lowe’s/Home Depot/Target/Best Buy shopping complex and some residential housing mixed in with light industrial uses. The University of Montana (15,000 enrollment) and its trendy nearby University commercial district, a Northgate-type mall and most of the city’s single family and college student residential areas are located on the south side of the river. Four different bridges are used by Mountain Line to connect the south side with the north side.

Mountain Line features two BOLT! routes with frequent service (every 15 minutes on weekdays, less frequent service evenings and Saturday). My grand tour of the city started at the downtown transit mall where I boarded BOLT! Route 2 which offered a very circuitous trip through the north side that eventually arrived at the Target/Lowe’s strip mall complex. We then crossed the river and continued through a south side neighborhood heading towards the South Gate Mall where I de-boarded for a break. There was a fantastic collector car show in the mall that featured about 70 beautifully preserved autos from the 1920s to the 1980s. After I had spent about an hour looking at Hudson Hornets, Barracudas, Skyliners and plenty of other classic American (and a few non-American) cars, I went back to the bus stop and caught BOLT! Route 1 which took a much more direct route back to the downtown transit center via the University of Montana campus.

BOLT! Route 1 seemed to be more popular of the two BOLT! routes. Route 2 seemed to wander through the north side neighborhoods trying to hit every possible residential area on its way to the Target complex. The wandering path of Route 2 created lots of left turns and an inefficient hairpin routing. Route 2 seemed like it was fishing for riders while Route 1 took a much more direct route from the South Gate Mall to the University and back to the transit center. Fifteen minute headways on both BOLT! routes is high quality service, but the circuitous routing of Route 2 on the north side of the river is a definite detriment. The wandering path of Route 2 seems like a classic example of transit adapting to auto-centric land use patterns rather than adapting land use laws to build efficient and sustainable transit routing.

The only other route that consistently offers better than 60 minute headways is Route 6 which runs every 30 minutes for most of the day. Route 6 connects the Transit Center with the University District (a commercial district about 5 blocks away from the UM campus) and the South Gate Mall. The only route that doesn’t radiate from the Transit Center is Route 8 which runs from the UM campus across the south side to the South Gate Mall. Service on most routes starts about 630am and ends by 1000pm with hourly service after 6pm–even on the BOLT! routes. Saturday service starts about 930am and ends by 630pm with all routes running on 60 minute headways. Sunday is a day of rest for the Mountain Line with no service offered.

I don’t have any ridership numbers for the Mountain Line system, but the buses I rode on had pretty good ridership. The Mountain Line buses offer free WiFi and a downloadable bus tracker app. The local newspaper is also provided free of charge on-board the buses. Overall, Missoula seems to be making a positive commitment to providing quality transit service for its citizens.

This restructure builds on my proposed changes for Mt. Baker Station/Rainier Avenue services and focuses on transit service for Othello Station and Rainier Beach Station. The routes affected are current routes 8, 9, 50, 60 and 106. The goal of this restructure will be to focus on building up transit service at Othello Station where there is an existing retail base, a residential base and the possibility to expand both. Unfortunately, Rainier Beach Station currently lacks both a surrounding commercial and residential base and because of topography and the overhead power transmission lines, future development in the area surrounding RBS will be highly constrained.

There is an existing Rainier Beach commercial and educational district that is roughly centered at Rainier & Henderson. Metro currently connects the commercial district with RBS via routes 8, 9, 106 and 107 but the existing transfer process can be frustrating and confusing (from RBS to Rainier Beach catch the 9 or 107 on the north side of Henderson, catch the 8 and 106 on the south side). Plus the 107 may actually be going to Renton instead of Rainier Beach (I think transit geeks call this problem “illegibility”.) This restructure would aim to connect the businesses and schools around Rainier & Henderson to Link and other buses at Othello Station instead of at Rainier Beach Station. There will still be a frequent connection from Rainier & Henderson to RBS provided by routes 50 and 88, but Othello Station will be the main hub for transfers in south Rainier Valley.

The proposed changes

Route 8 No changes in routing or frequency between Rainier Beach and Mt. Baker but its number was changed to 88 to avoid confusion with the existing 8.

Route 9 deleted

Route 50 The 50 will be extended from its current terminal at Othello Station to Beacon Avenue & Myrtle where it will then follow the current 106’s route back to Rainier Beach Station and terminate at Rainier & Henderson. David Lawson proposed this coverage as an extension of the 107, but I think the span of service and frequency needed is a better match for the 50.

Route 60 South from Cleveland High School the 60 would follow Swift Avenue (currently served by the 106) to Othello Street and continue to Othello Station. Whether or not this route would make the diversion into Georgetown would be open for discussion as is the VA diversion. Also, the northern terminal would need to be decided. The new 60 would certainly serve Beacon Hill Station and Jackson Street, but its routing north of Jackson Street would need to be decided. There is little need to have the 60 running to Broadway once the streetcar begins operation.

The existing route 60 service from White Center to Georgetown would become a separate route.

Route 106 The 106 would still start at the Renton Transit Center and follow its current routing to Rainier & Henderson. From Rainier & Henderson it would now stay on Rainier Avenue until Othello Street and terminate at Othello Station. There also is the possibility that the 106 could be thru-routed with the new 60 to directly connect Rainier Beach with Cleveland HS and 15th Ave S. Establishing a 60 + 106 connection would maintain the needed Renton to Rainier Valley bus connection but it would facilitate easier transfers to routes 36, 50 and Link at Othello Station. Also, it would partially compensate for the loss of route 9 by connecting Rainier Avenue (between Henderson and Othello) with Link at Othello Station.

These changes would create a major transfer hub at Othello Station while reducing transfers at Rainier Beach Station. Othello Street would get much more service but Henderson would lose some (confusing and illegible) service. A section of Rainier Avenue that loses route 9 would get a connection to Link and the 36 at Othello Station and Rainier Beach would be better connected to all parts of Beacon Hill.