Alert for bus riders: Metro schedule doesn’t “go back to normal”

(Photo courtesy Austin)
Since Snowmare ’08 (or whatever you want to call it) is seguing directly into Christmas, few things really “get back to normal” for quite some time. Metro bus service, for example. Linda Thielke of Metro, e-mailed WSB a little while ago, wanting to make sure the many bus riders in WSB-land know what’s in store:

I’m concerned that your readers aren’t realizing that before this bad weather hit Metro was already planning for holiday schedules between Dec. 25-Jan. 2. Also, we’ve added a few more next week on historically low-ridership days to give us some recovery/repair time for the buses.

I see several comments in the blog about getting buses back to the normal schedule. So, people need to check what the schedules will be in the coming nine days. I think most of the West Seattle service will be fairly normal (barring more weather emergencies), but there are some individual trip cancellations and route cancellations coming up.

Dec. 25 – Sunday schedule

Dec. 26 – partial holiday schedule – this is the schedule we introduced on the day after Thanksgiving and plan to operate on 10 days in 2009. It’s denoted by an “H” in the paper and online timetables

Dec. 27 – Saturday schedule

Dec. 28 – Sunday schedule

Dec. 29, Dec. 30, Dec. 31 – partial holiday schedule (see above)

Jan. 1 – Sunday schedule

Jan. 2 – partial holiday schedule

Once again, operating these schedules fully will be dependent on road and weather conditions; and how much physical abuse the buses that have been running have taken.

Metro’s website, as you are likely well aware by now, starts here.

Jo December 24, 2008 (3:22 pm)

I’m not sure I understand what the ‘partial holiday schedule’ is.
Hmmmmmm!

Gina December 24, 2008 (4:07 pm)

So I should drive to work and not take Metro until after New Years.

Melt snow! Melt!

supernova72 December 24, 2008 (4:12 pm)

I agree with Jo. I looked for the “Holiday Schedule” on the Metro website and came up short. Could have been a senior moment however because I’ve read about it before. I don’t recall if it has more routes than the regular Sunday schedule or less?

supernova72 December 24, 2008 (4:16 pm)

Oops. Found it in the day after Turkey Day section.

http://transit.metrokc.gov/up/holidays/h-11-thanksgivingnext.html

J.See December 24, 2008 (4:17 pm)

I officially hate Metro. I suppose I should just get fired for not having another way to get to work other than a bus.

JanS December 24, 2008 (5:07 pm)

Whatever the schedule, whether it’s “normal” or whether it’s “holiday” just show up when you’re supposed to and keep the people moving. It’s when it doesn’t show up that people get a little ticked. I’m not dependent on the bus to get to work, as I work at home, but I so sympathize with those who have to use them.

matthew darling December 24, 2008 (5:09 pm)

oh for fricks sake! i just spent another several hours out of my day getting home from downtown on the 21. i hated that bus route enough when it was “normal” but now i am livid!
maybe i should run for mayor…i’m mouthy enough and its time a metro rider actually had a say!

linda December 24, 2008 (5:30 pm)

oh yippee (insert heavy sarcasm emoticon here). I was really hoping things might be a little better this evening, the earliest I’ll be off work tonight is 6 p.m. and it would have been nice after a 12+ hour day at work to have been home in a timely fashion. Guess it’s another round of Metro Mystery Bus Challenge when I get off….
And since I “won” last night (only a 20 minute wait, packed bus allowed me on and it was a 22, the bus I needed), I may not be so lucky tonight.
Heavy sigh and Merry Christmas.

Alice December 24, 2008 (6:05 pm)

I’m impressed – she reads WSB!

Alice December 24, 2008 (6:06 pm)

And … I think it should be called

“Metro Mystery Bus Challenge ’08”

I was planning to walk to work today, but they called me and canceled.

Judy December 24, 2008 (6:33 pm)

Aren’t we all a silly bunch though, all we want for Christmas from our city are: BASIC SERVICES! Is that really asking too much?

MrJT December 24, 2008 (6:58 pm)

Alice – who is she ?

MrJT(Emily LaTilda) December 24, 2008 (6:59 pm)

Nevermind…

miws December 24, 2008 (7:02 pm)

MrJT, I believe Alice was talking about Linda Thielke from METRO.

I have to say, I was impressed by that also, and that she took the time to respond and clarify!

Mike

AlkiRagdoll December 24, 2008 (7:14 pm)

Let me start by thanking WSB for their updates. YOU ARE A GODSEND this is a real public service. I was a lucky one — was stuck at home for FIVE DAYS and was able to pay a towncar service to get me to Sea-Tac AND catch my flight. However, along the way I talked with many people and learned much. Thanks to the blog, I can follow it from the east coast for a few days, where they are prepared for snow. In talking to a guy in the emergency preparedness business at Sea-Tac, he raised an excellent point. Why doesnt the City of Seattle have a contract with private parties for emergency situations? No cost to the City, until the emergency…. but at that time, the contractor is paid to bail out the city and serve the people… in this case PLOW the streets. It shouldnt have taken 7 days to get that scraper to WS. I say we need to replae the mayor at the next election and demand that such contingency plans be in place to assure emergency preparedness. Someone else said on this blog — image the year(s) when the viaduct is being replaced… and we have an emergency in WS, such as SNOWGATE. We will all be stuck for a much longer period.
Things to think about as we await Santa’s visit.. hopefully his sled is loaded with salt, and warmer winds blow him into town.

Pablo December 24, 2008 (7:30 pm)

le sigh…Well, at least it’ll be nice when Metro is back on a schedule, restricted or not. It’s the not knowing that winds up driving me insane.

JimmyG December 24, 2008 (7:48 pm)

Just a small point of order, Metro is NOT a city run service, it is run by King County.

And since most of the transportation issues have been in the city of Seattle, over which Metro has NO control I think Metro has a valid beef with the city and how they have let everyone down, to include Metro and their customers. My guess is that behind the scenes Metro is mightily pissed off at how poorly Seattle DOT has responded to these storm systems but won’t say so publicly.

Metro can only get us to and from when the roads are kept in proper order. And the city failed to do so.

(And no I don’t work for Metro.)

Eric B December 24, 2008 (8:12 pm)

It is such a shame. Metro had the best opportunity to show people that thy could leave their car at home and take the bus. There were so many first-time riders these days. Instead they drove people away from the buses with shoddy, unpredictable, unfriendly service. Why don’t they have chains for ALL buses? Is it so expensive to stockpile them just in case? I understand the city not having more snowplows – they are expensive and rarely used. But Metro should be able to operate. Why not put extra buses on the road instead of taking them off? This has been a major step backwards for getting people to use and support public transport.

austin December 24, 2008 (8:15 pm)

Heh you used my photo. ;)

fiz December 24, 2008 (11:11 pm)

I really wanted to post a smartalek remark. Not going to happen tonight – may you live the blessings of this season and the love of good friends.

Merry Christmas! Hallelujah!

Tracey December 24, 2008 (11:18 pm)

JimmyG is spot on. Would it be too much to ask for Christmas that after this people might finally see (and vote for a change) that busses should be a support to a viable public transportation system, not its backbone? Busses are subject to the same driving conditions as any other street vehicle. And in this city, with busses constituting the only transit available, when the streets are impassible, the people go nowhere. A snowstorm like this may only happen here once a decade, but it does happen…we need a working mass transit system, and we needed it last year.

Rick December 24, 2008 (11:34 pm)

We need some of those Palin “mavericks”. Leave ’em alone, they’ll figure it out on their own!

Diane December 25, 2008 (10:17 am)

well “metro gets you no where” has failed me again
~
I lost an entire week of income, trying desperately to get to work on buses; city & metro totally failed me/us all week
~
I couldn’t even get my paycheck for earlier work; still waiting for check in the mail that was sent Monday from Wallingford; so I don’t even have paycheck/money to buy food if I hike out to a store
~
I posted an ad on the forum last night, “xmas orphan”, and very kind woman offered an invite to xmas dinner today; it’s not walking distance, 4 mile straight shot down California (I’m near Admiral; she’s at end of Cal/Thistle); first I was very surprised there is not a dedicated route to go all the way down Cal, ever; it requires a transfer; so I searched trip planner for routes to get me there and back today
~
then this am, I check the metro ice & snow page; guess what; “metro gets you no where” canceled the only bus going down California to Thistle
~
but they still have it listed in the trip planner; so if I had trusted the trip planner, and not checked the adverse weather page, I would have been stuck out there
~
when will this saga ever end?

Edith December 25, 2008 (5:35 pm)

Metro’s Trip Planner reflects the latest published schedules and is not updated to reflect emergency changes or snow routes. Always check the Adverse Weather page!

Sorry, comment time is over.