City
King County Takes Final Testimony on Metro Changes
Yesterday morning, people had their final chance to speak up about King County Metro's proposed service changes---the most significant service realignment since Metro began---and as someone who watches an awful lot of public testimony, I was pleasantly surprised by how constructive most of the suggestions were. Instead of what you might expect (the usual "don't take away my bus" laments), most commenters had specific suggestions for improving specific route proposals---for, by example, extending an adjacent route a few blocks to serve residents whose route is scheduled to be cut.
One speaker, Duff Badgely, who said he represented "Concerned Citizens for Trees," suggested that Metro preserve night service on the Route 24, which currently runs until 1:15 am. Under the Metro proposal, service would stop at 9:30, forcing riders who work or stay out later to take a bus to the Ballard Bridge and walk back to Northwest Magnolia. "We'd have to walk from Ballard almost to Discovery Park," he said.
Another, Paul Meyer of Seward Park, warned that eliminating the Routes 34 and 39, which serve Rainier Beach and Seward Park, would force people to use the new Route 50 and transfer to light rail to get to points north and south---and that light rail, currently, is not synced up well with bus arrival times. "I have used the light rail and the buses in one trip, and I have found that the buses come so infrequently that you can miss a bus and then have to wait 45 minutes to an hour for the next bus," Meyere said. "I think Metro needs to coordinate with Sound Transit and make sure that that buses come frequently enough so that they can pick up the people on light rail."
And Joshua Hicks with the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness said that if King County must eliminate the downtown ride-free area, they need to "pursue a humane mitigation strategy" that maintains "some form of universally accessible transportation" for people who can't afford bus fare but need to get to doctor's appointments, shelters, and human services providers.
But my personal favorite suggestions came from Uptown resident Jane Couchman, an elderly woman who proposed that Metro solicit donations from ORCA card users---along the lines of Seattle City Light's Project SHARE program---to subsidize bus passes for lower-income people who can't afford the passes. Additionally, Couchman suggested that Metro allow retired folks to volunteer as train "conductors," letting people know what the fare is and telling them they aren't allowed to board without paying fare.
"You can't afford to [pay] another staff to stand on the bus and say to people, 'If you don't have your fare, you can't get on,' but the county has an enormous reserve of retirees and other people who want something meaningful to do [and who would be happy to serve as conductors on your Metro buses," Couchman said.
One speaker, Duff Badgely, who said he represented "Concerned Citizens for Trees," suggested that Metro preserve night service on the Route 24, which currently runs until 1:15 am. Under the Metro proposal, service would stop at 9:30, forcing riders who work or stay out later to take a bus to the Ballard Bridge and walk back to Northwest Magnolia. "We'd have to walk from Ballard almost to Discovery Park," he said.
Another, Paul Meyer of Seward Park, warned that eliminating the Routes 34 and 39, which serve Rainier Beach and Seward Park, would force people to use the new Route 50 and transfer to light rail to get to points north and south---and that light rail, currently, is not synced up well with bus arrival times. "I have used the light rail and the buses in one trip, and I have found that the buses come so infrequently that you can miss a bus and then have to wait 45 minutes to an hour for the next bus," Meyere said. "I think Metro needs to coordinate with Sound Transit and make sure that that buses come frequently enough so that they can pick up the people on light rail."
And Joshua Hicks with the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness said that if King County must eliminate the downtown ride-free area, they need to "pursue a humane mitigation strategy" that maintains "some form of universally accessible transportation" for people who can't afford bus fare but need to get to doctor's appointments, shelters, and human services providers.
But my personal favorite suggestions came from Uptown resident Jane Couchman, an elderly woman who proposed that Metro solicit donations from ORCA card users---along the lines of Seattle City Light's Project SHARE program---to subsidize bus passes for lower-income people who can't afford the passes. Additionally, Couchman suggested that Metro allow retired folks to volunteer as train "conductors," letting people know what the fare is and telling them they aren't allowed to board without paying fare.
"You can't afford to [pay] another staff to stand on the bus and say to people, 'If you don't have your fare, you can't get on,' but the county has an enormous reserve of retirees and other people who want something meaningful to do [and who would be happy to serve as conductors on your Metro buses," Couchman said.
