Brent White on Open Thread 9I recall ST’s fleet being enough to handle demand when U-link opened. They just didn’t have enough LRVs to run 3-car trains every 6 minutes. Sure, they could have reduced frequency a little to run all 3-car trains, and spread the passengers out more evenly, but those lobbying the loudest preferred the frequency.
Anonymouse on Open Thread 9I'm curious how many people who comment on CT buses here (on this thread, particularly) have taken CT buses, in particular the ones discussed here (the "12" and "5" specifically). I have, though not since Northgate Link opened, so I can at least give my take on how things were in the "before" times and how the routes relate to each other. I have ridden most of the previously-to-UW routes and about a third of the 12 "to downtown" ones over the years. The 5 routes going to Northgate all went to UW before. Four of them (821, 860, 871,...
Daniel Thompson on Open Thread 9https://www.communitytransit.org/maps-and-schedules/maps-and-schedules-by-route Glenn, based on the greatest peak weekday frequency all 12 buses to Seattle if truncated at Northgate or 130th equal at most two additional four car trains per hour. For a two hour window in the am and pm. The point is Lynnwood Link can open before East Link without capacity issues, and DSTT2 isn’t really needed for capacity. Will Lynnwood Link draw car drivers who drive now to transit? I don’t know, but WS Link is estimated by ST to move 600 car drivers PER DAY to Link, and I suspect that estimate is high. Folks who take...
asdf2 on Open Thread 9On the topic of most transformational Link stations, I am quite surprised that nobody mentioned Capitol Hill. Before Link, getting to Capitol Hill on a buses was a pain. Slow buses from downtown and the U-district, transfers to said slow buses from nearly everywhere else. With Link, it's a fast ride to or from any Link station along the entire line. I myself have visited Capitol Hill far more often after Link opened than before, and anecdotally, the Link station itself seems to be among the busiest. With respect to SeaTac, yes, there was the 194 that had faster travel...
Glenn in Portland on Open Thread 9“, I think Tom’s point is Link ridership at Northgate won’t increase much when Lynnwood Link opens because those riders take CT to Northgate now and transfer. ” Which is clearly not currently the case. I will repeat again for those that didn’t read it the first time: “There are currently 12 CT expresses that go to downtown Seattle and 5 that go to Northgate. ” Clearly, the riders of the 12 express routes (plus the 510) that don’t stop at Northgate but instead continue to downtown Seattle do not, in fact, transfer to Link at Northgate. They can’t, since...
Mike Orr on Open Thread 9A train running every 3, 5, or 10 minutes will tend to attract more people over time than a bus running every 15, 20, or 30 minutes. Especially when it's immune to traffic congestion and car accidents, and it's a one-seat ride to many areas that express buses from Snohomish County don't go. Actual ridership depends on thousands of people's individual choices, so we can't say for certain what the increase will be. The people themselves may not know yet, or may not live in the area yet. And as we saw in Rainier Valley, some people who think they...
WL on Open Thread 9> The Urbanist worries that new Denny station alternatives could delay Ballard Link. It looks like they want to drop the SLU station (the one near sr 99/Mercer) and only have the Denny station. The amount of “savings” around 400 million from the station merger also seems to be the same amount required for the CID north and south plan. So it seems their solution is to just cut out another downtown station
Tom Terrific on Open Thread 9Lazarus, just because a Link train can "carry as many people as ten buses" is far from the same as "will carry" and there's only a tiny probability that the ridership south of Northgate will increase more than a few percent. If people are going to use CT feeders to get to Lynnwood, they're already using them to get to Northgate. There may be a few "walk-up" riders from the station areas, and a few park-n-riders from Lynnwood and MLT, but not many. Basically, if Link can run on ten minute headways now it won't need five minute headways after...
Evin on Open Thread 9Daniel, I used to be someone like you who was pretty much anti-transit, as recently as five years ago. I thought the car was the best way to get around and I got mad about Seattle doing road diets on it's four lane arterials to add bike lanes. However in recent years, my opinion has completely changed on this. I did have some experience with buses in Seattle over ten years ago while I was in high school since my school (Nathan Hale HS) gave us all bus passes and so I took the bus to school for my freshman...
Al S. on Open Thread 9The City’s traffic count data puts Aurora at over 40K average weekday vehicles. https://data.seattle.gov/Transportation/Traffic-Flow-Map-Volumes/38vd-gytv The 2019 average weekday ridership (no data for 2022 yet) is listed as 16,700. https://kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/metro/accountability/reports/2020/system-evaluation-attachment-a
Alonso on Open Thread 9That’s a good point Al S. Aurora is a pretty dangerous street as it is for pedestrians. Since ridership is already strong, signal priority is probably not needed. Pedestrianization along stretches such as Lincton Springs are probably a better use of funds.
eddiew on Open Thread 9RR is the short-wait bus. It is low grade BRT, but BRT. WSDOT, Shoreline, Seattle, and Metro collaborated to improve its flow; the transit speed improved up until 2020 when the deep opened even though background traffic was heavier. Route 358 was better than its former network; the E Line was better than Route 358. Each provided shorter waits. The E line can be successful and Lynnwood Link can be a game changer; they will complement each other; they will be like the rails of a ladder; the local routes will be like the steps. I hope Metro focuses its...
