City
Big Changes Coming to Metro Bus Routes
The public got a chance last night to express their concerns (and, surprisingly, compliments) at a public hearing on the most dramatic Metro route update ever proposed. The changes, which will impact 48 bus routes---eliminating 17, and reducing service on eight others---are aimed at making Metro service more efficient as the clock runs down on a two-year temporary fee that has kept service more or less at its previous levels. That fee runs out next year; when it does, at the end of 2013, Metro will need to come up with another funding source (through the state legislature) or make cuts.
Before the fee passed last year, Metro was facing service cuts of 17 percent. Metro spokeswoman Rochelle Ogershok says there's no way of knowing what kind of cuts the agency might have to make. Since the economy is currently improving (and Metro's main funding source, sales tax, tends to bounce back when the economy improves), it's likely those cuts would be smaller than 17 percent.
The new Route 50 will finally connect southeast and southwest Seattle without a downtown transfer.
The biggest service increase will be two new RapidRide bus rapid transit routes---one between downtown and West Seattle, and one between Ballard and downtown. The proposal also creates three new bus routes --- the 32, between Seattle Center and the U District, the 50, linking Southeast Seattle to West Seattle without going through downtown, and the 61, replacing part of the 17 slated for elimination along 32nd Ave. NW.
The routes that most people were interested in, however, were the ones slated for cuts or elimination. Disabled riders talked about the need for routes that are accessible to their homes and jobs, preferably on level ground; advocates for the homeless told council members that whatever replaces the ride-free area needs to be more than a single circulator bus (and that it needs to serve Harborview); and users of specific routes that were being cut argued against shortening routes, which often forces riders to make more transfers. For example, the 18 will no longer serve parts of Ballard and Greenwood.
As we've reported, Metro is considering "replacing" the downtown ride-free area, which ends September 29, with small, Access-style circulator buses that hold about 16 people.
More of the big changes that are coming in late September:
• The 2 and 4. After residents complained about a proposal to split the Route 2, serving Queen Anne, into two routes, and to eliminate the Route 4 (which largely duplicates the Route 3), Metro backed off. Instead, it will expand peak-hour coverage on the 2 and combine the 4 with the 3 between Queen Anne and downtown to create a new Route 4 with more service hours overall.
• The 14. Metro's proposal will cut service on the 14 both north and south of downtown, reducing frequency between downtown and Capitol Hill to every 45 minutes at night (after 7pm), and reducing frequency between downtown and Mount Baker to every 60 minutes at night.
• The 15 and 18. Because the new RapidRide route to Ballard will largely replace the 15, Metro is reducing service on the 15 Express to six trips a day during the morning and afternoon peak periods. They're also expanding the 18 to serve Northgate,South Lake Union, and Fremont, while eliminating service to North Beach, Interbay, and Queen Anne.
• The 37. Service on the 37, which links the Alaska Junction, Alki, and downtown, which is already infrequent and at peak hours only, would be effectively cut in half, with just four runs every morning and evening peak period.
• The 3, 15, 23, 34 Express, 35, 39, 45, 46, 51, 53, 54, 54 Express (both 54s are being replaced by the RapidRide C route), the 56, the 81, the 85, the 133, and the 134. All those routes are being eliminated.
More info about the service changes is available on Metro's web site.
Before the fee passed last year, Metro was facing service cuts of 17 percent. Metro spokeswoman Rochelle Ogershok says there's no way of knowing what kind of cuts the agency might have to make. Since the economy is currently improving (and Metro's main funding source, sales tax, tends to bounce back when the economy improves), it's likely those cuts would be smaller than 17 percent.
The new Route 50 will finally connect southeast and southwest Seattle without a downtown transfer.
The biggest service increase will be two new RapidRide bus rapid transit routes---one between downtown and West Seattle, and one between Ballard and downtown. The proposal also creates three new bus routes --- the 32, between Seattle Center and the U District, the 50, linking Southeast Seattle to West Seattle without going through downtown, and the 61, replacing part of the 17 slated for elimination along 32nd Ave. NW.
The routes that most people were interested in, however, were the ones slated for cuts or elimination. Disabled riders talked about the need for routes that are accessible to their homes and jobs, preferably on level ground; advocates for the homeless told council members that whatever replaces the ride-free area needs to be more than a single circulator bus (and that it needs to serve Harborview); and users of specific routes that were being cut argued against shortening routes, which often forces riders to make more transfers. For example, the 18 will no longer serve parts of Ballard and Greenwood.
As we've reported, Metro is considering "replacing" the downtown ride-free area, which ends September 29, with small, Access-style circulator buses that hold about 16 people.
More of the big changes that are coming in late September:
• The 2 and 4. After residents complained about a proposal to split the Route 2, serving Queen Anne, into two routes, and to eliminate the Route 4 (which largely duplicates the Route 3), Metro backed off. Instead, it will expand peak-hour coverage on the 2 and combine the 4 with the 3 between Queen Anne and downtown to create a new Route 4 with more service hours overall.
• The 14. Metro's proposal will cut service on the 14 both north and south of downtown, reducing frequency between downtown and Capitol Hill to every 45 minutes at night (after 7pm), and reducing frequency between downtown and Mount Baker to every 60 minutes at night.
• The 15 and 18. Because the new RapidRide route to Ballard will largely replace the 15, Metro is reducing service on the 15 Express to six trips a day during the morning and afternoon peak periods. They're also expanding the 18 to serve Northgate,South Lake Union, and Fremont, while eliminating service to North Beach, Interbay, and Queen Anne.
• The 37. Service on the 37, which links the Alaska Junction, Alki, and downtown, which is already infrequent and at peak hours only, would be effectively cut in half, with just four runs every morning and evening peak period.
• The 3, 15, 23, 34 Express, 35, 39, 45, 46, 51, 53, 54, 54 Express (both 54s are being replaced by the RapidRide C route), the 56, the 81, the 85, the 133, and the 134. All those routes are being eliminated.
More info about the service changes is available on Metro's web site.
