This Washington
Resurrected Bill Would Allow Private Vans, Limos in Transit-Only Lanes
House transportation leaders seemed poised yesterday to adopt legislation, similar to a bill that failed last year
, that would allow privately run vanpools and limousines, including airport shuttles and services like Microsoft's Connector buses, to use facilities like bus-only lanes, Third Avenue at peak hours downtown, and bus-rapid transit facilities that are currently "reserved for the exclusive or preferential use of public transportation vehicles." It would also allow private transit vehicles to use bus-only lanes even when they don't have any passengers.
For example, a shuttle bus operator could leave the airport, drop passengers off, then drive back to the airport in the HOV lane alone.
While a Microsoft community relations manager, Jim Stanton, argued that private transit like Microsoft's serves a population that's "significant different than those who would ordinarily be riding on public transit," representatives of airport shuttle companies took a more populist approach, arguing that lack of access to public-transit lanes actually threatens their business.
"We're the little guy and the trans[it] people are the big guy," Steve Steve Salins, a manager with Shuttle Express, told the committee. "I don't want to make a war here, but when one of our vans is sitting on I-405 trying to get back out to Woodinville in the morning after having delivered some people from Seattle and the Metro buses are going by along with a few cars and truck at 45, 50 miles an hour and they're sitting in 20 mile per hour traffic, it's pretty hard to believe that we're at capacity."
Transit proponents, however, argued that allowing limos and vanpools in public-transit facilities would jeopardize the speed and reliability of public transit. And they seemed less than convinced by bill proponents' blasé reassurances that the bill would not allow private limos and buses into the downtown Seattle bus tunnel. The legislation does not explicitly bar private cars, bans, and buses from the bus tunnel, saying only that private transit vehicles must be allowed in all public transit facilities "if such use does not interfere with the efficient, reliable, and safe operations of public transportation."
"Community Transit and Everett Transit are very proud of the state's first [bus-rapid transit] system," Community Transit lobbyist Davor Gjorasic said. "Since we've implemented BRT on the Highway 99 corridor, our ridership has increased 27 percent. ... My concern is inefficiency of operations on this corridor. BRT works because people don't have to stand around and wait for the bus." Allowing private vans and buses in what is now a transit-only lane, Gjorasic said, would jeopardize that reliability.
This year's legislation, unlike last year's, would not give private vans and buses access to public park-and-rides.
For example, a shuttle bus operator could leave the airport, drop passengers off, then drive back to the airport in the HOV lane alone.
While a Microsoft community relations manager, Jim Stanton, argued that private transit like Microsoft's serves a population that's "significant different than those who would ordinarily be riding on public transit," representatives of airport shuttle companies took a more populist approach, arguing that lack of access to public-transit lanes actually threatens their business.
"We're the little guy and the trans[it] people are the big guy," Steve Steve Salins, a manager with Shuttle Express, told the committee. "I don't want to make a war here, but when one of our vans is sitting on I-405 trying to get back out to Woodinville in the morning after having delivered some people from Seattle and the Metro buses are going by along with a few cars and truck at 45, 50 miles an hour and they're sitting in 20 mile per hour traffic, it's pretty hard to believe that we're at capacity."
Transit proponents, however, argued that allowing limos and vanpools in public-transit facilities would jeopardize the speed and reliability of public transit. And they seemed less than convinced by bill proponents' blasé reassurances that the bill would not allow private limos and buses into the downtown Seattle bus tunnel. The legislation does not explicitly bar private cars, bans, and buses from the bus tunnel, saying only that private transit vehicles must be allowed in all public transit facilities "if such use does not interfere with the efficient, reliable, and safe operations of public transportation."
"Community Transit and Everett Transit are very proud of the state's first [bus-rapid transit] system," Community Transit lobbyist Davor Gjorasic said. "Since we've implemented BRT on the Highway 99 corridor, our ridership has increased 27 percent. ... My concern is inefficiency of operations on this corridor. BRT works because people don't have to stand around and wait for the bus." Allowing private vans and buses in what is now a transit-only lane, Gjorasic said, would jeopardize that reliability.
This year's legislation, unlike last year's, would not give private vans and buses access to public park-and-rides.
