Metro announces West Seattle, White Center changes ahead

Metro‘s next “service revision” has some changes for West Seattle and White Center riders – including some trips being dropped entirely – and late tonight, the details came in. Read on for Metro’s full announcement of which routes will be affected:

King County Metro Transit is ready to roll out the first of its six RapidRide lines, along with other new bus routes, and schedule and routing adjustments. All are part of Metro’s fall service change that begins Saturday, Oct. 2.

Locally, revisions to Metro routes serving West Seattle include:

• Route 60 – On weekends, all trips will be extended from Georgetown to White Center, and service will be improved to a 30-minute frequency.
• Route 125 – The southbound trip from 5th Avenue and Pike Street at 6:13 p.m. will end in Shorewood instead of continuing to White Center.
• Routes 22, 23, 37, 53, 57, 113 & 125 – Select trips will be discontinued.

Metro is making some scheduling and routing changes this fall to save money, preserve bus service, and operate more efficiently. In some cases, you may notice differences in the schedule for your route, along with longer wait times for transfers or irregular spacing between bus trips. Unfortunately, due to reduced sales-tax revenue for transit, Metro also had to eliminate some trips on designated routes. These trip reductions were chosen to minimize the disruption for bus riders whenever possible.

Bus riders should check fall schedules for the routes they use most often to see what’s new. They can prepare by picking up a new orange timetable, Special Rider Alert brochure, or use the online Trip Planner for some advance research. Be sure to input a date of Oct. 2 or later, when using the Trip Planner.

Also on Oct. 2, the RapidRide “A Line” debuts to replace Route 174 between the Federal Way Transit Center and Tukwila International Boulevard Link light rail station. The A Line will provide 15-minute service most of the day, with 10-minute service during peak commute periods. On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 2 and 3, all trips will be free on the A Line.

Additional RapidRide lines debuting over the next three years will serve busy transit corridors in West Seattle, Ballard, Bellevue, Redmond, Shoreline, Burien, Tukwila, and Renton.

Metro updates its routes and scheduling three times a year to improve service and keep up with the changing needs of transit customers. Bus riders can find all the fall changes detailed in the Special Rider Alert brochure, which will soon be in Metro information racks and has been posted online. New orange timetables will soon be available on buses and in Metro displays. The information is also in the online Trip Planner at www.kingcounty.gov/tripplanner. Enter a travel date of Oct. 2 or later to find the updated service. …

For information about all the services Metro provides, visit Metro Online at www.kingcounty.gov/metro, or call Metro Customer Information at (206) 553-3000.

Kyle September 24, 2010 (1:26 am)

Although I am looking forward to the RapidRide services as they implement them, I call shenanigans on the “reduced sales-tax revenue for transit” bit. I read in the Times not long ago that they were thinking of freezing driver pay increase for cost-of-living adjustments, opting instead to pass the cost onto the passengers yet again. So prepare to see more route cuts and more fare increases. Meanwhile drivers get paid the third best income of other public transit systems in the entire nation. I say they should be thanking each and every passenger who gets on a Metro bus for the fact that the drivers even have jobs right now. Many of the rest of us don’t. And we’re the ones eating the costs, whether it’s budget mismanagement or paying employees too much, the gap’s ultimately passed down to we the riders.

polly September 24, 2010 (6:54 am)

i have been trying to save money by taking the bus regularly – gas, parking and auto maintenance. i will be so bummed out if my route changes or the times i need to take it are not available anymore.

anonyme September 24, 2010 (7:02 am)

The southbound 125 arrives in White Center before continuing to Shorewood, so I don’t understand the correction.

Metro increased elderly and disabled fares by 100% less than a year ago, and now they’re increasing these fares again. Way to go, Metro. Attack the most vulnerable.

adrienne September 24, 2010 (7:56 am)

I’ve been riding the bus for over half my life, and while I agree the recent rapid fare increases over the last few years have hit hard, it’s still cheaper than driving most of the time.

And I have to say that maybe instead of being bitter and just bitching, Kyle could apply at Metro if he’s so hard up for a job and pissed about it. If they’d take him what I’m sure he’d quickly find out is that the drivers deserve every penny they make. They put up with sh$% on a regular basis from all walks of life, drive through some of the most congested urban roads in America, and provide a service that a good number of people couldn’t do without.
My father drove a bus for thirty years and supported a family of four on it. Oh, wait! That “best income of other public transit systems in the entire nation” still didn’t support our family above the poverty line. My mom also had to work full time. Also, in the time he drove he was maced once and assaulted on numerous occasions. At least we were lucky and he lived to retirement. The driver that went off the Aurora Bridge a few years before he retired wasn’t so lucky.

And yes, I know not every driver is a shiney example of an employee of Metro. Every job has those. You could always do something about that and report drivers who are routinley snarkey and mean or otherwise not fulfilling their job requirements.

Fact is, times are tough and everyone’s hurting. You can be pissed and blame everyone and bitch and moan, or you can just buck up and deal.

sam September 24, 2010 (8:41 am)

I don’t get it-
‘125 – Select trips will be discontinued.’

rt 125 service was already pretty dismal compared to other routes. why not cut some of the 120 routes?

there are already about (3) 120’s for every (1) 125 that goes by….
what happened to Mayor McGinn’s campaign promise to increase bus service ? lol
(yes I know that the City of Seattle doesn’t have control over the King County metro bus service)

Jiggers September 24, 2010 (8:55 am)

More congestion in West Seattle? Yaaaaaaaaaay! The 22 route was worthless anyways. Cut it cut them all i say. Buy A car people.

GenHill September 24, 2010 (9:59 am)

The 22 is very important for, for example, students going to Chief Sealth and Denny. Just saying.

Jiggers September 24, 2010 (10:33 am)

That’s basically all the 22 was in service for. The high school kids. I used to live in White Center for years. I loved catching the 22 and gretting into downtown the long way through the Junction on days when I wasn’t in any rush. I dreaded getting on the old No.136(Now the 120) because it picked up the slop going down Delridge. The problem was that the 22 cut its route real early, by 6pm. It sucked having to transfer to just get into the Junction from White Center after 6pm. That was over 7 years ago. The 54 is very busy after 7pm on getting back from downtown. There’s a lot of reasons for that now. 80% of the time its standing room only on after 7:30 pm. Gawd ______! I wished the monorail was built.

Bus Driver 13799 September 24, 2010 (10:51 am)

@adrienne I appreciate the comment you left in response to Kyle’s comment. Bus driving is tough. It’s exhausting since it’s ultimately an extreme attention game, and it’s paid more or less fairly. The pay is pretty basic considering the level of engagement, and the stress that comes with keeping 40-100 people safe while trying to navigate through a maze of threats.

Kyle – I feel your pain economically. I’m a part-time bus driver and trust me it’s no load of cake. I end up making about $1000 a month (and dental insurance). Granted if I stick it out things should eventually get better – non-workaholic bus drivers make somewhere between 30-50k *after* they’ve put in 5-7 years. Note that recent media “play” about bus driver earnings has not paid much attention to this *large* group of bus drivers.

But what I’d like to point out is that in his comment Kyle is reacting to a media / right-wing generated ruse. The Times articles he is referring to are based on truly bunk statistics publish by the Washington Policy Institute which is a right wing think tank that’s engaged in an ongoing attack on labor and on basically any Americans who aren’t part of the corporate elite.

The Times should be ashamed by the slant / outright fallacies embedded in their recent Metro articles. It definitely would seem that the Times is holding to its reputation of being big business/big-money friendly.

But Kyle – look deeper. Your comment is depressing because it shows that you fell hook line and sinker into the manipulative trap that’s out there. Government employees are not the enemy, Wall Street and the speculative privatization bastards who killed manufacturing and functional/rational intelligence in this country are who you should be mad at. The pain (in terms of long term poverty and an overall diminished level of public services) is far from over. I only hope that people will wake up and finally see beyond their plasma screens and their insular web experiences and recognize who it is that’s destroying this country (and the planet) with their greed.

Then again it’s a lot easier to mace a bum driving a bus than it is to assault someone up on a Lear jet. Look deeper Kyle, and Adrienne, thanks for a more realistic post.

I’m not associated with this group but check out the following link if you want more details.

http://pstransitoperators.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/are-bus-drivers-overpaid-1/

Lisa September 24, 2010 (11:38 am)

I lived in Seattle for years without a car and was able to get around on Buses(including in and out of west seattle)
It seems to be harder to get downtown and back now,but at least we have some.I think they will get better again….I hope so!
Also, I have had some wonderful helpful drivers here…….

Jim P. September 24, 2010 (11:43 am)

“Buy A car people.”

I’d love to, will you throw in the eye transplants so I can see enough to drive first?

Look around you, there’s more going on in the world than you apparently notice.

jedifarfy September 24, 2010 (12:04 pm)

The 22 is great for going to the stadiums. The 125 is great for going downtown. It’s fast and easy. Even if I had a car right now I wouldn’t drive to those places.

dwar September 24, 2010 (3:02 pm)

Another bait and switch by KC Metro. — Metro took big money from the State of Wa. to increase service in the Admiral/Alki route 56/57 corridor during construction of the viaduct and now after pocketing the money they claim poverty and are reducing the same service. Anothe reason to not trust our representatives.

AnnaMontana September 27, 2010 (4:06 pm)

Well that blows. The service on the 37 is limited, spotty and has long wait times already! Now it will be even worse. Just terrific. Thanks Metro!

Blue Collar Enviro September 29, 2010 (3:35 am)

The operators are awesome. Management, less so. A big part of the contract problem is that overtime is paid by the day, so there is no incentive to give the extra work to starving part-timers (who are a substantial portion of the operator force). Instead, senior full-timers get the extra work and end up driving over 50 hours a week. That is not merely expensive, but also unsafe. ATU and the county should put safety over the profit-margin of the top drivers.

Second, a true COLA would be a flat increase, not a percentage-based increase. The cost of living is still going up just as fast for those earning the least as those earning the most. While the price of yachts may be stagnating, rent, food, and bus fares are going up. Will ATU suggest a flat increase to help their starving part-timers make ends meet, or look out more for the 6-figure club?

Third, route cuts are missing opportunities for efficiency that don’t involve cutting runs. For example, the 101 ignores the opportunity to go to Rainier Beach Station instead of duplicate-heading downtown. Those who wish to get between the neighborhoods along the 101 and Rainier Valley have to ride all the way downtown then backtrack. Riders in the area of Auburn and Kent Stations have peak-hour routes to downtown Seattle, but no west-to-east local connectors to catch Sounder (which is especially annoying if one wanted to commute to Tacoma). It’s as if Metro management wants to keep the Sound Transit trains empty.

Fourth, Metro is still allowing paper transfers, which slow routes downs with the change fumbling, thereby lowering ridership and increasing the cost of each run, leading to runs being cut due to Metro’s simplistic approach of never improving routings but cutting runs.

Which leads me to fifth: Metro treats bus routes as having been written on clay tablets by command of a divine entity. When simple improvements like straightening out a route to stay on one street are suggested, just two aggrieved riders who would have to walk an extra block and submit a comment are enough to axe the improvement.

Again, the operators rock. Management needs to modernize or get out of the way. We can no longer afford unresponsive management.

Sorry, comment time is over.