Countdown to Metro changes: More route info now online

nicholas September 6, 2012 (12:49 pm)

the stop at andover + delridge has the 50 posted now, so i think this map may be the older version.

WSB September 6, 2012 (1:18 pm)

this is what’s on the Metro site right now and was pointed out to us by Jeff Switzer when I specifically asked him about the Route 50 map … I’ll ask him to doublecheck, though. – TR

NeoYogi September 6, 2012 (1:27 pm)

Ummmmm…I know the 56 is going away but I was told (by Metro) that the 56X was continuing during rush hour but can’t find ANY indication of that through trip planner. It’s giving me the #55 as my only option. YIKES!!!!!! Has anyone else had any luck?…FORGET IT. Found it. Not in Trip Planner though. Whew. :)

sam-c September 6, 2012 (1:29 pm)

that is too bad, was really looking forward to a convenient bus to the junction from the north delridge area and vicinity- I thought that was part of route for 50 that they trotted out when they asked for comments and feedback. .. we’ll just keep taking the car i guess.

WSB September 6, 2012 (1:47 pm)

Sam – I doublechecked the Trip Planner and as pointed out by the previous commenter, it too mentions a Delridge/Andover stop. So I have taken down the map – which was a direct link off the new section of the King County website – and sent in the question. Added a photo we had just taken anyway, one of the new bus-stop signs we’ve seen all over West Seattle (though not all have been replaced yet – on Beach Drive, where we took this photo, the stops on the east side were replaced, but not on the water side) – TR

Diane September 6, 2012 (1:59 pm)

just tried trip planner from Admiral District to 3rd/Pike, on 9/30 at 6am; it gave me 128 with transfer to 120, hour and a half to get downtown is fastest way listed???

Where does your trip start? admiral district
Where does your trip end? 3rd and pike
When is your trip? 9/30/12
Leave my starting point 6am
What is the farthest you want to walk? ½ mile
Which is the most important? Fastest Way

This is what it gave me:

Itinerary #1
Walk S from ADMIRAL DISTRICT to
Depart California Ave Sw & Sw Admiral Way At 06:07 AM On Route MT 128 SOUTHCENTER
Arrive Sw Roxbury St & 15th Ave Sw BAY 3 At 06:31 AM
Transfer to
Depart 15th Ave Sw & Sw Roxbury St BAY 2 At 07:08 AM On Route MT 120 DOWNTOWN SEATTLE
Arrive 3rd Ave & Union St At 07:33 AM

vraxvalhalla September 6, 2012 (2:07 pm)

So, the “free zone” in downtown will be going away. What will the enforcement mechanism be for our homeless residents who will no doubt expect to be able to still ride for free? Or will the paying public have to subsidize their rides with our fares?

Thistle September 6, 2012 (2:10 pm)

Diane – Just tried the same thing and got the same result – even changed time and distances a bit – I am really, really, really, really, keeping the fingers crossed that this is just an issue with the trip planner (at the very least it should show a 55 or 128 going to the Junction to connect with a Rapid Ride.. that has got to be quicker). I attended the community meetings and was specifically told that the 56 would run during commuter hours Monday through Friday (also showed up on early maps). The loss of direct bus routes from Admiral to Downtown is bad enough on the weekend but if this is what the work commute will look like, oh boy, I honestly will have to give notice to the landlord and move.

metrognome September 6, 2012 (2:14 pm)

y’all shouldn’t be using Trip Planner for post-service change trips yet as that data won’t be available for a week or so:

” Printed rider alert brochures will be distributed in coming weeks, and Metro’s online trip planner will be updated mid-September so riders can map out which routes work best for them.”
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from the Sept 5 press release, which contradicts what Jeff said in the quote in the story…

WSB September 6, 2012 (2:22 pm)

MG, Metro announced yesterday that the data is available NOW, which is the only reason I published this. Spokesperson Switzer’s exact quote in e-mail, when I asked him yesterday afternoon about the Route 50 map: “The Metro trip planner is live today, so riders can enter origin and destination information for dates after Sept. 29 and see what routes will serve them. Route maps and schedules will be available in hard copy in a few weeks, and on the Web the day before the service change. Map for Route 50 is online now. Click through the tabs on the right side. http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/scvchange.html ”
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I am waiting to hear back about the Route 50 map, which I had linked to (before replacing it with the photo of the new-style sign, after the map was called into question) DIRECTLY from the updated section of the Metro website to which they are pointing people for info on this – TR

Anne September 6, 2012 (2:18 pm)

Diane-you mean according to Metro you catch your bus in Admiral-then have to travel all the way South to Roxbury then go back North to get downtown?? That is CRAZY!!! Hopefully that is a mistake?!

Rita September 6, 2012 (2:21 pm)

9/30 is a Sunday, try to do it for 10/1.

Sue September 6, 2012 (2:23 pm)

Actually, metrognome, when I did the trip planner for 10/1, it did give me Rapid Ride schedules. And the 54X did not exist in the scenarios it showed.

Sue September 6, 2012 (2:24 pm)

So, looking at the trip planner I can now confirm what I assumed all along – my “rapid” trip will now take me 10-15 min. longer each way than it did taking the 54X (which stopped right near my house … and a huge reason why I moved here). Walking to rapid ride, or taking the 116/118/119 to transfer, or taking the 116/118/119 outright, all add to my commute. Not happy about an extra 20-30 min. added to my commute daily.

Lisa September 6, 2012 (2:31 pm)

Tried the trip planner from Arbor Heights and this is what I got for a trip to 3rd & Union:

35th Ave Sw & Sw Roxbury St

At 09:51 AM

DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

Arrive

35th Ave Sw & Sw Morgan St

At 09:59 AM

Walk 0.1 mile W to

Depart

Sw Morgan St & 36th Ave Sw

At 10:28 AM

On Route MT 128 SOUTHCENTER

Arrive

Sw Roxbury St & 15th Ave Sw BAY 3

At 10:47 AM

Transfer to

Depart

15th Ave Sw & Sw Roxbury St BAY 2

At 11:01 AM

On Route MT 120 DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

Arrive

3rd Ave & Union St

jujumysweet September 6, 2012 (2:40 pm)

It still doesn’t tell me what I want to know…I guess we’re all going to have to learn the hard-ways….(:

chas redmond September 6, 2012 (2:48 pm)

Trip Planner has NEVER been accurate nor has it EVER provided the best instructions. Why folks consider using it still is truly beyond me – it has been broken for going on the entire nearly 10 years I’ve lived here. When something doesn’t work and one continues to try and use it – what’s that called?

Terry September 6, 2012 (2:54 pm)

I have tried and tried on the Metro website to find out what the difference is between a “stop” and a “station”. Does the C Line not stop at “stops” but only stations? I can’t find an FAQ page or where to put in a question. Very confusing!

nan September 6, 2012 (2:56 pm)

Does anyone know if the C line will be able to do night stops? I really count on those after dark.

me September 6, 2012 (3:03 pm)

I would HIGHLY suggest that those Gatewood residents that are unlucky enough to get caught up in the Seattle Schools irresponsible assignment plan and are assigned to West Seattle High School, check the new routing. It looks like our kids are going to have to catch a 5:30am bus to arrive at school before 7:45am.

chas redmond September 6, 2012 (3:08 pm)

Stops don’t have realtime arrival information or ORCA readers; stations have realtime information displays and ORCA readers.

Lisa September 6, 2012 (3:24 pm)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RapidRide

Rapid Ride C Line is replacing the 54 and 54 express, and eliminating the 21 local.

metrognome September 6, 2012 (4:18 pm)

TR — sorry for the confusion; I was trusting the press release from yesterday as it goes thru a vetting process.
.
One of the tricks to the Trip Planner when you get an oddball response it to vary either your start or arrive time by 5 or ten minutes. The planner is very literal in how much time it adds for walking, for example. Even when you vary your trip time slightly, you often get the trip you want by adding the fudge factor. Otherwise, call and talk to a human; that’s what they are there for.
.
And for those of you complaining about the Trip Planner, remember it’s all about money to upgrade; call your KC councilmember and make your needs known.
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here’s a map of the RapidRide C Line that shows stops and stations; note that RR does not stop st non-RR stops along its route.

anonyme September 6, 2012 (4:24 pm)

I did a search similar to Lisa’s and got the same results. To travel downtown off-peak weekdays will now require me to take 3 buses with a travel time (if the bus is on schedule – HA) of one hour and 32 minutes ONE WAY. This is more than DOUBLE the current travel time. Getting back will be even more difficult. The craziest detail of all is having to travel from Arbor Heights all the way to Morgan, transfer, then go all the way backward to White Center, then transfer again. No wonder they’ve been so secretive; this is far worse than I’d imagined.

sam-c September 6, 2012 (4:32 pm)

for the trip planner- funny if you plan trip from Delridge/Andover to California/ Alaska, (on 10/8/12) it tells you to take route 50 – you click on the link for route # 50 in Itinerary # 1- it’s hard to tell the route with the stops it lists, so you click the map on the route info page and the map that WSB had before comes up showing no stop near Delridge / Andover
lol

AndrewN September 6, 2012 (4:42 pm)

@Lisa, check the Metro service change page. The 21 local will still exist as a direct connection from Roxbury to downtown (i.e., it is not eliminated). It will even be more frequent than the existing route. (It will not, however, travel through Arbor Heights, due to low ridership. Either a tranfer from the 22 or a walk will be required during non-commute hours.)

@Terry, RapidRide buses stop at both “stops” and “stations.” The difference is the level of ammenities at the stop. See this post for more info:
http://rapidride.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/a-bus-stop-by-any-other-name/

@me, It’s faster to walk from Gatewood to West Seattle HS than the time you mentioned (<1 hour). There should actually be more transit options now, with the extension of the 128 to the north. I'd double-check that 2+ hour estimate if I were you.

mightymo September 6, 2012 (4:49 pm)

I’m really hoping they adjust which five rush hour 55s they run each day. The bus that hits Charleston and California around 8:25 is usually fairly full at that hour, but the last bus to that stop in the morning comes at 8:06 now. I’m just lucky I can walk to the Alaska Junction, but I feel bad for folks who live a few blocks further north and have a longer walk. The 128 schedule doesn’t seem to be synced up at all with the Rapid Ride stops as I thought it would be.

coffee September 6, 2012 (4:53 pm)

My personal opinion is this is a ginormous waste of money. These dumb rapid ride stops that have gone out into the street are causing horrible messes with the traffic flow. DUMB DUMB DUMB.

MSW September 6, 2012 (5:17 pm)

I agree with coffee. Another waste of tax payers money and Rapid Ride will end up as Rapid back up with the buses one behind the other on the West Seattle Bridge and 99.

breezygirl September 6, 2012 (5:26 pm)

Does anyone know if the rapid ride buses will accept cash or will I finally have to get an orca card?

Steve September 6, 2012 (6:41 pm)

Trip Planner is a joke! It’s routing me from Alki Point to Burien in order to reach downtown Seattle!!

me September 6, 2012 (6:46 pm)

@Andrew
Walking over 4 miles to school for a 9th grader is not an option, especially when you live within a half mile of Chief Sealth. In SSD’s infinite wisdom, the assigned HS for Gatewood area students is WSHs. The mode of transportation for them is Metro. Chief Sealth has been over assigned with “International” students so the neighborhood students are forced to go to WSHS. Using the Metro trip planner and the arrival time of 7:45am, the below is what comes up

Depart
35th Ave Sw & Sw Elmgrove St At 05:24 AM
On Route MT 21 DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

Arrive
Sw Spokane St & Chelan Ave Sw At 05:36 AM
Walk 0.2 mile S to

Depart
Delridge Way Sw & Sw Andover St At 06:12 AM
On Route MT 120 BURIEN TC
Arrive
15th Ave Sw & Sw Roxbury St BAY 1 At 06:27 AM

Depart
Sw Roxbury St & 15th Ave Sw BAY 4 At 06:40 AM
On Route MT 128 ADMIRAL DISTRICT

Arrive
California Ave Sw & Sw Stevens St At 07:12 AM

RG September 6, 2012 (7:28 pm)

According to trip planner I’ll need to tack on an extra 30 to 45 minutes to my commute. I have never been able to get trip planner to work so will have to wait until closer to the start date of this “improved” plan.
.
I feel bad for my elderly neighbor; her body won’t be able to withstand all the boarding and unboarding and walking to stops and stations. She is used to taking one bus downtown and one bus back.

dapuffin September 6, 2012 (7:45 pm)

Does anybody know how to transfer from a RapidRide C to a RapidRide D? When I called Metro a couple of weeks ago, they seemed to indicate that the C turns into the D, but now I’m not so sure…

WSB September 6, 2012 (7:55 pm)

DP – Yes, I have been in several meetings in which the Metro rep stated unequivocally that the C line becomes the D line, so theoretically you can ride all the way to Ballard or wherever the end point is …

Irishlady September 6, 2012 (7:56 pm)

@me if you adjust how far they can walk, 3/4 of a mile, Arrive by 7:55 you get the following. You just need to play with the settings a little.

Depart 35th Ave Sw & Sw Barton St At 06:51 AM On Route ST 560 BELLEVUE EXPRESS
Arrive 15th Ave Sw & Sw Roxbury St BAY 1 At 06:56 AM
Transfer to
Depart Sw Roxbury St & 15th Ave Sw BAY 4 At 07:10 AM On Route MT 128 ADMIRAL DISTRICT
Arrive California Ave Sw & Sw Stevens St At 07:42 AM
Walk S to CALIFORNIA AVE SW & SW STEVENS ST

jujumysweet September 6, 2012 (8:16 pm)

Its called Rapid decline..

karen September 6, 2012 (8:30 pm)

ok…the rapid ride is not going to be rapid…bus service was just fine for me in West Seattle…where do i catch the rapid ride downtown to get back home?? 2nd and columbia???3rd??help

Courtney September 6, 2012 (8:42 pm)

I was able to pull trip information from Google maps without any problem. All of the information seems to be up to date on there. I did confirm after playing around with the Metro trip planner that the information from Google maps was in fact correct.

metrognome September 6, 2012 (9:05 pm)

karen — correction; see map; looks like fewer places than the 54. Apparently, the only place it will stop in central downtown is 3rd/Pike, which sucks. It will stop at 2/Columbia.
.
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/maps/routes/rapidride/c-673.html

West Seattle Since 1979 September 6, 2012 (9:17 pm)

@karen: Looks like you would catch the Rapid Ride C downtown going to West Seattle at the same places you’d catch the 54, 55 and 21X now- 3rd & Virginia, 3rd & Pike, 3rd & Seneca, and 2nd & Columbia.

Woodsman September 6, 2012 (9:19 pm)

Bag the Bus. Ride a bike. Its good for you and also will be quicker getting to and from your destination!

nicholas September 6, 2012 (9:23 pm)

since there has been a lot of complaining i thought i’d hop on and voice say that i am very pleased with the service changes. i was only conveniently served by two lines before (with very similar routes) and am now served by a 3rd route that takes me to locations that were previously difficult to ride transit to and from. just thought it was worth posting something positive about the change.

Lisa September 6, 2012 (9:38 pm)

@ Andrew the 21 local is eliminated altogether it is being replaced by the #22 which only runs since an hour and does not all the stops along Marine View Drive and 35th Ave SW. Also the # 22 will not be a directed commute to downtown Seattle so again transferring 2-3 times.

I called Metro today and the customer service guy said I could catch the bus at Barton and didn’t see the problem of not having service in our neighborhood. I spoke to another customer service rep and made a formal complaint.

As Tracy suggested I will be calling King County Council in the morning to voice my complaint and I sincerely hope that everyone calls to complain maybe we can get some actual improvements made.

NorDel September 6, 2012 (9:43 pm)

I’m with Nicholas on this one.

Sue September 6, 2012 (9:47 pm)

Thanks for that map, metrognome – interesting, as trip planner told me I could get Rapid Ride coming home at 3rd and Seneca (where I currently get the 54X). So add even *more* time to my commute to have to get to a stop that’s farther away.
.
You know, I understand that Metro usually doesn’t release routes/maps until very soon before the “shakeup,” but with such major changes (many buses eliminated, new routes), you’d think they’d give us some definitive info with a lot more notice since many people apparently have major changes to make in their commutes.
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Nicholas, I’m glad that somebody is benefitting from this. I asked this question a while back, if anyone actually would benefit (since everyone I heard from was being inconvenienced) and nobody said yes. So (sincerely) I’m glad for you.

Yeah, "Rapid" September 6, 2012 (10:45 pm)

“Rapid” Ride my —. Right now, in the morning, I take the 22 at 7:10am from the Junction to 4th & Jackson. I get to work at about 7:45. One seat ride, and the walk is only a couple of blocks at either end.
After September 29, the 22 goes away. I’m going to either have to leave home earlier and walk farther to catch the 116 “Express” (another misnomer) at 7:00 on Fauntleroy & Alaska to get to work at about the same time. Still a one seat ride, though, but adding a good 15-20 minutes to my commute with the additional walking and earlier boarding time.
Or, I can walk to the Junction to catch the “Rapid” Ride C at 6:50, then get off at 2nd
& Seneca and walk quickly to get to work by 7:45, or attempt to catch some southbound bus on 3rd. Neither option is good; both add 20-25 minutes to my commute, not to mention more general aggravation.
My commute is long enough as it is, especially with how few miles I’m logging. This is just going to make it worse. I am NOT happy about these changes, and with winter coming, I’m REALLY not going to be happy. “Rapid” Ride is NO FASTER than the routes it replaces. What a crock.

jenn September 6, 2012 (11:02 pm)

Here is what I put into trip planner for my ride home from work:

Where does your trip start? 3rd and Pike
Where does your trip end? 61st and Alki
When? 10/1/12
Leave my starting point at 7:00 pm
Farthest you want to walk? one mile
Most important? fastest way

The response that I get on trip planner: Trip not possible

It’s hard to believe that at 7pm I will not be able to get home via metro.

DM September 6, 2012 (11:06 pm)

I commute to Mukilteo, early every morning. Though I would love to use public transportation, it would be a two and a half hour commute if I didn’t drive. As I drive north to work, I look to the south bound lanes on I5, and it’s always a parking lot…. Our region needs an extensive public rapid transit system, not unlike the system in the Bay Area in California…The rapid ride thing is a band-aid. Considering the rapid growth on our peninsula, it’s just going to get worse.

DaPuffin September 7, 2012 (6:36 am)

Thanks for the clarification, WSB. That helps a little. Still have to catch 21x (I think) from 35th/106th to the RR C/D to get to Lower Queen Anne. Since I commute outside of peak hours, I can only hope to make good connections between RR and bus, or it will be a very long commute indeed.

Lisa September 7, 2012 (6:59 am)

DaPuffin good luck because the 21 express will not run outside of 6am-9am timeframe, and only again between 3pm and 6pm. I was told if the bus stop sign or shelter has not been changed to a Rapid Ride one, Rapid Ride buses will no longer stop at that location. And remember the #22 will only be providing service to Arbor Heights once an hour and does not go to downtown Seattle you will need to transfer.

AndrewN September 7, 2012 (8:46 am)

@Lisa, Just to avoid any misinformation for other comment readers, I’ll clarify that the 21 local will still operate along 35th to downtown, just not south of Roxbury.

Lisa September 7, 2012 (9:47 am)

@Andrew – ok I did another search on the trip planner and these are the results, it still has me transferring 2 times and the trip will be 1 1/2 hours and that isn’t including the construction and re routes. There is no direct rout to downtown after 9am from Arbor Heights without walking to Barton or transferring 2-3 times. I have seen over the years Metro has these articulated buses during times of low ridership when they should have single buses during those times and service at once an hour and not every half hour. Will be driving alot more, thanks Metro!

Walk N from 35TH AVE SW & SW ROXBURY ST to

Depart

35th Ave Sw & Sw Roxbury St

At 09:36 AM

On Route MT 21 DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

Arrive

35th Ave Sw & Sw Morgan St

At 09:44 AM

Walk 0.1 mile W to

Depart

Sw Morgan St & 36th Ave Sw

At 10:00 AM

On Route MT 128 SOUTHCENTER

Arrive

Sw Roxbury St & 15th Ave Sw BAY 3

At 10:19 AM

Transfer to

Depart

15th Ave Sw & Sw Roxbury St BAY 2

At 10:31 AM

On Route MT 120 DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

Arrive

3rd Ave & Union St

At 11:00 AM

Is Westwood Village station going to be a park and ride?

AndrewN September 7, 2012 (11:01 am)

@Lisa, that trip from the trip planner is not particularily good. It’s telling you to get on Metro route 21 to Downtown Seattle, then get transfer twice to get to downtown. I’d just board the 21 and stay on it to downtown.

Also, related to Arbor Heights, here’s the all-day map for West Seattle come the end of the month:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/~/media/transportation/kcdot/MetroTransit/HaveASay/201209P5/SystemMapSW_AllDay.ashx
During the midday, you’ll be able to get downtown with one transfer if you cannot walk to Barton/Roxbury. Take the 22 and transfer to the 21, 120, or RR C. The combined use of a map, schedules, and a brain are much better than the trip planner.

Other notes: there won’t be any major construction or reroutes once the 1 Ave offramp opens in two weeks. And, the 21 and 22 are articulated buses because they become the 15 and 18 to Ballard, where the extra capacity of a larger bus is needed.

Lisa September 7, 2012 (12:03 pm)

Sorry Andrew you still haven’t sold me on this service, and maybe Metro should look into updating the trip planner to give riders more efficient and more accurate information.

Sue September 7, 2012 (12:04 pm)

I notice that Metro changed the bus stop sign at Fauntleroy/Dawson to one of those spiffy new ones like in the photo above. However, since it shows the post 9/29 buses (116/118/119) only, anybody looking for the 54X in the next 3 weeks would have no idea that it actually still stops there. Maybe a temporary sign would’ve been nice? I understand they can’t change all the signs the day of the switchover, but some way of mentioning the current buses would be nice.

AndrewN September 7, 2012 (12:44 pm)

@Lisa, I’m not trying to sell you the changes. They are admittedly worse for Arbor Heights (and better for some other areas).
I’m just trying to tell you that the changes aren’t as bad as you make them out to be… only 1 transfer is needed to get downtown during the midday, not 2 or 3 as you said. And most of the 21 will not be eliminated.

anonyme September 7, 2012 (3:27 pm)

Andrew, you are wrong and Lisa is right. I did the same search to determine how to get to and from downtown and Arbor Heights. THREE buses and a travel time of one hour and 32 minutes, in contrast to the current ONE bus 40-45 minutes. The #21 will run only during peak hours, so it is also accurate to say that “most” of the 21 will be eliminated. And since the #22 runs only hourly, getting to Arbor Heights midday will be a nightmare.

Irishlady September 7, 2012 (11:19 pm)

@Yeah, “Rapid” do get off at 2nd and Seneca and just go into the tunnel and jump on any south bound bus or train. Get off at the 2nd stop and you are at the 5 th and Jackson. I do it everyday. All the south bound routes in the tunnel stop at the International Station. Of course on nice days you can walk…it is about a 15min walk and I am strolling. :)

AndrewN September 8, 2012 (11:34 am)

Anonyme & Lisa, It feels like I’m beating a dead horse. I’m beyond a doubt not wrong. Look up some of the changes. Go to Metro’s fall service update page:
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/scvchange.html

As you can see on that page, the 21 Local will still exist. It’s being truncated north of Arbor Heights. The 21 Express will serve Arbor Heights during peak periods.

It will be one transfer from Arbor Heights to downtown during the off-peak, unless you take some non-logical route. Think about it: the revised 22 goes from Arbor Heights to Westwood Village, where someone can transfer to the 21, 120, or RapidRide D. The 22 will operate once an hour; the 21, 120, and RapidRide D will be every 15 minutes during the midday. No frequent, but only ONE transfer.

Bruce Nourish September 10, 2012 (11:57 am)

Not only is Andrew correct about the 21 still continuing to exist, it’s actually getting its frequency doubled to 15 minutes during the day. This is a significant improvement in service for 35th Ave.

Lisa September 11, 2012 (9:56 am)

@Andrew and Bruce – You know Anonyme and I were only going by the trip planner data Metro provided and hopefully it will be updated on Septemeber to reflect the changes and give riders more efficient and update information on the routes. One of my biggest beefs is that Arbor Heights will be without any evening service (not everyone has bankers hours), it leaves kids waiting along 35th Ave SW. afterschool with no transporttion (not all kids are yellow bus eligibile. I can deal with the 6am-9am 21 express service but during the dark(and we have many dark months here in Seattle), the snow and windy/rainy days and nights it will be a shear nightmare getting home. I really feel for my elderly neighbors, neighbors who do not have a car and living along the Arbor Heights Loop.

We they are setting Westwood Willage as a park and ride because I will be leaving my car there and avoid walking up the hill at night.

anonyme September 12, 2012 (7:02 pm)

Andrew, instead of being patronizing you might actually read what Lisa and I said. We are talking ONLY about service to Arbor Heights, and there WILL NO LONGER BE A 21 LOCAL SERVING ARBOR HEIGHTS. And we didn’t just make up the information we quoted here: it came directly from the Metro website that you so sarcastically suggested we reference. Don’t blame us if Metro is creating even more chaos by posting incorrect information on their website. Perhaps you could direct your keen observations THEIR way instead of sniping at those who will be adversely affected by these changes?

WSB September 13, 2012 (1:48 pm)

If you use 21, you got this as an alert today. Pending our next bus change reminder story, I am posting it in this thread for easy reference:

Metro is making service changes this month.
Starting Sept. 29, Route 21 will end at Westwood Village and will no longer serve Arbor Heights.
Alternatives are Route 21 Express, which will provide service during peak periods, and Route 22, which will serve 35th Ave SW between SW 106th and SW Roxbury streets.
There will be no evening service to Arbor Heights.
Route 21 peak-period, midday and Saturday service frequency will improve to every 15 minutes between Westwood Village and downtown Seattle. Most Route 21 trips will be connected to northbound Route 5 to Shoreline Community College via Phinney Ridge, Greenwood and Broadview.
One morning and one afternoon peak-period trip on Route 21 Express will be deleted.

Lisa September 12, 2012 (9:31 pm)

Thank you Anonyme, very well said and thanks too for having my back, much appreciated! I did find out there will not be a park and Ride at Westwood Village. I too did not appreciate the condescending tone of Andrew and Bruce either.

Jen September 19, 2012 (2:22 pm)

The trip planner (for dates 9/29 and later) also reflects that the northbound 125 does not continue to downtown Seattle on weekday mornings, instead telling riders to transfer to a 120 at Delridge & Oregon – a change which was discussed in the early proposals, but which was supposedly eliminated in the final proposals, and which is not reflected in the final changes currently on the Metro site. The website currently describes the 125 changes as: “Route 125 will operate to and from Westwood Village only and will no longer serve Shorewood and White Center. It will operate Monday through Saturday only and will no longer be connected to Route 11.”

However, on the return trip, the trip planner provides a direct route on a 125 southbound from downtown (with no transfer to or from a 120). The inconsistencies don’t make sense. I’m hoping it’s a glitch in the trip planner.

sam-c September 20, 2012 (9:03 am)

any follow up from Metro on why the Route 50 map (still) does not match the Metro trip planner and bus stop signs as to where Route 50 goes?

Jen September 20, 2012 (10:14 am)

My husband got through to someone at Metro on the phone yesterday who confirmed that the trip planner has some glitches in it with regard to the 9/29 changes for route 125. I don’t know if there are trip planner glitches on other routes or not. The Metro rep did not say when the errors might be fixed.