126 Replies to "Metro bus changes, weekday #4: Thursday reports, updates"

• West Seattle since 1979 October 4, 2012 (7:15 am)

  RR C is standing room only at 35th and Avalon northbound just now. They weren’t packed in like sardines though.

• West Seattle since 1979 October 4, 2012 (7:22 am)

  Also plenty of seats on the 21 local that gets to 35th and Avalon about 7:17 or so.

• Ken October 4, 2012 (7:25 am)

  I am interested in learning how one makes a pdf file that locks and crashes both firefox with the acrobat BHO and the standalone adobe reader X. Acrobat pro 8 finds missing font and throws a drawing error and only displays about a third of the original docx.

  Just curious since I may have a need in the future for a pdf that self destructs. :)

• Kat October 4, 2012 (7:34 am)

  Route 120 was packed at 7:00. May as well walk further to Line C and ride it all the way to Ballard. On line D downtown now and it’s full. What used to be a 1 hour door to door White Center to Ballard is now 30 minutes longer. Bring back the 133!

• Jack Loblaw October 4, 2012 (7:49 am)

  7:40 RRC packed to the gills at Alaska Junction NB stop

• CandrewB October 4, 2012 (7:51 am)

  Plenty of room on the Water Taxi this morning.

• Huindekmi October 4, 2012 (7:52 am)

  Seemed like a lot more car traffic on the bridge than usual. I’d like to see ridership numbers from Metro, but it seems like they’ve succeeded in getting fewer people riding mass transit and more into single vehicle commutes.

• Sunny October 4, 2012 (8:04 am)

  7:50 RR from the junction-everyone got picked up at every stop and no one is standing. Hopefully things are looking up. I have been taking the 57 home from DT and the time tables are approx 15 min off. These need to be adjusted to reflect more than just a 12min commute home to Admiral.

  • WSB October 4, 2012 (8:06 am)

    Comment from SudsyMaggie, who was having trouble adding this here so she mailed it:
    .
    “RR C left Fauntleroy ~0730, we just got on the W. Seattle bridge (approx 7:55) – we were full at Les Schwab, pass all stopped afterwards. Slow getting over the bridge and onto 99.

    Cheers!

    @SudsyMaggie”

• Brent October 4, 2012 (8:17 am)

  Keep riding, keep reporting, and keep asking for what you want and need, without insults.

  Metro has a contingency fund built into each pick, to add at least some hours to the most overcrowded routes.

  I suspect Line C is most likely to take advantage of this contingency, if it can rally the rest of the city to its side (which is more likely to happen if people don’t see slams at Metro here, lest they think the rhetoric from western West Seattle is perpetually overheated and embellished).

  Patience. Good behavior. Facts. And most of all, persistence at filling up the buses. More peak-of-peak capacity could be yours. The vast majority of you are doing exactly what you need to do to make it happen.

• Laura October 4, 2012 (8:20 am)

  RR C passed by Avalon and Yancy without stopping at about 8:10. Looked pack. A 116 took pity on us and stopped to pick us all up.

• Rich October 4, 2012 (8:26 am)

  We could have had the benefits of RR without this fiasco. With the already-existing 54, 55 routes, their broader coverage, and their more comfortable buses:
  .
  More bus lanes. Some in-lane bus bulbs. Responsive stop lights.
  .
  Pay at the stop and enter/exit using both doors.
  .
  Install wi-fi.
  .
  Add arrival time boards at the bus stops.
  .
  Operate some 54, 55 as express routes with fewer stops (at the current RR stops).
  .
  My guess is that RR is just a massive cost and service cut measure in disguise. But I’m still not sure where the cost cuts come in, because I haven’t heard about major driver layoffs?

• Dancingeek October 4, 2012 (8:31 am)

  A full route 120 passed by my stop again today forcing me to wait for the next one. That’s three out of four days this week it has happened. It never happened in the two months prior to the service change (~7am at Delridge and Edmunds).

• Kayleigh October 4, 2012 (8:34 am)

  Waited 20 minutes at 2nd and Columbia for the RRC back to WSEA. Rode home with a smattering of people about 815am. It was rapid. But this is the reverse commute. Still dismayed about the regular peak commute crowds.

• WSAH October 4, 2012 (8:37 am)

  Can’t say enough good things about 116. C riders from Morgan Junction and Fauntleroy/Alaska, seriously consider taking 116 instead.

• Reggie October 4, 2012 (8:41 am)

  It’s 8:40am on the c-line heade to westwood, buses are supposed to be every 10 minutes before 8:30am yet I’ve been here since 8:15am with no shows. Is the schedule wrong?

  It’s been like this ALL WEEK!

• Barry2012 October 4, 2012 (8:41 am)

  Waited 20 minutes today on Fauntleroy and Myrtle at 7:30. Bus wasnt too full though and made every stop….

• MTSR October 4, 2012 (8:43 am)

  Good planning Metro. Yesterday at 6pm at the RR stop at Westwood, the bus was so long delaying an eastbound #21 that the #21 drove over both sections of the newly installed median at the crosswalk – after having blocked the crosswalk for several minutes. Then an eastbound car, obviously tired of waiting, crossed the left turn passing lane and entered the westbound traffic lane passing all the waiting cars and the RR bus (picture it going eastbound with the median on the passenger side!).
  If the RR bus would have pulled forward 10 more feet (or better yet, if Metro had done it’s due diligence and judged the distance from the stop to the median and left enough room for passing traffic) the waiting cars could have passed (granted it means passing in the left turn lane) but passing none the less.
  It seems dangers abound with our new and improved RR!

• Kg October 4, 2012 (8:43 am)

  8:40 rr at alaska and fauntleroy is empty. Early bus was overloaded. Thank you for adding another bus!

• Chris W. October 4, 2012 (8:48 am)

  Left house at 7:10am, stopped VERY QUICKLY at Hotwire for coffee, missed C line in Alaska Junction by 1 light. Waited for next C line over 20 mins. Packed. I got on, but stood in back hanging from stanchion over my head (I’m 5’6″). C line made one stop after Junction, but skipped all others. 15-20 people were left waiting at 35th & Avalon. Got downtown at 8:15. Missed all connections (40, 62, 28, 26, 5) and walked down to SLUT. Missed that. Next one was in 15 mins, walked to SLU. Total time: 1 hour, 30 mins.

• Chris W. October 4, 2012 (8:48 am)

  Oh, and tomorrow I’m going to a conference at Bell Harbor… looks like a good day to try the Water Taxi.

• michael October 4, 2012 (8:52 am)

  the water taxi is great for anyone that can get to it from where i live that wouldn’t work any better as we don’t have a shuttle to it from morgan jct. without taking an over stuffed bus to connect to it. so it is nice for those that can get to it.

• coyoteandthecat October 4, 2012 (8:54 am)

  Eliminating the stop at 7-11 on the South side of the Junction is really stupid..

• sam-c October 4, 2012 (8:55 am)

  speaking of all the drivers on the road….
  I always thought that people were joking when they complained about women putting on make up when they were driving, but o my goodness, I saw it myself this morning. A woman driving down 21st to drop off kids at Pathfinder… CURLING her eyelashes while she was driving.
  sorry, I’m so in shock I couldn’t keep it to myself.

• Arbor Heights Ears October 4, 2012 (8:55 am)

  It is now such a challenge to get from Arbor Heights to Georgetown or the valley. It seems like the the new systems are oriented to folks who work downtown. Trying to get to a industrial job is now a longer travel time with farther to walk. I wonder how the commute is to Boeing or further down the valley?

• michael October 4, 2012 (8:59 am)

  to me it seems that metro has been looking for away to get out of the transit thing and are working hard to do it. maybe i’m wrong yet it is what it seems like to me.

• michael October 4, 2012 (9:10 am)

  brent
  what you are saying sounds good yet metro doesn’t seem to care much about the riders and or how they treat us from what i’ve seen. after the driver had me removed from the bus becasuse he couldn’t read his run card and was going to blow off a whole section of the new west bound rrc line as he stated it was still a rt 54 run which it isn’t at all. once he saw he was busted he kicked me off the bus at 35th and avalon at 12:30 am with seattle pd removing me so no metro needs to address these types of things. until metro does we as riders will be dealing with drivers speeding at more than double the posted speed coming off the viaduct and metro not addressing that too as if you sit across from the driver you can see the drivers speed and durring non peak or rush times drivers are driving 40 plus in a posted 25 mile an hour speed zone. metro has told me they were going to put people on the buses to check on this yet so far nothing has changed.

• S October 4, 2012 (9:11 am)

  9am C line from Junction packed like sardines. Couldn’t close door because people were too close to the door…but there isnt anywhere else to stand. Now at Avalon intersection and they told people at curb that we’re full and to wait for the 21.

• Pat October 4, 2012 (9:13 am)

  If there’s anything I’ve learned about living in Seattle, is that the only thing to get public employees to respond is a fear for their jobs. westseattleblog.com is great at getting the city to respond (see the “Hum” stories), but nothing works better than direct correspondence.

  Send feedback to the Mayor:
  http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/citizen_response.htm

  Send feedback directly to the Metro:
  http://metro.kingcounty.gov/cs/FeedbackBusRide.html

• Jamo October 4, 2012 (9:15 am)

  9:01 Rapid Ride C overcrowded leaving the junction. All other stops on downtown route skipped many left to wait (50+).

• Jamo October 4, 2012 (9:16 am)

  9:01 Rapid Ride C overcrowded leaving the junction. All other stops on downtown route skipped many, many left to wait.

• Crazytopher October 4, 2012 (9:19 am)

  RRC passed by Avalon and Yancy without stopping at about 8:10 yesterday as well. It rarely sucks being the last stop, but it’s staring to.

• westside October 4, 2012 (9:21 am)

  Went to the stop at Alaska and Fauntleroy at 8:47. Reader board said 10 min, then 3 min, then 6 min, then stuck on 1 minute for much longer than a minute. A packed C line passed by without stopping at about 9:00 leaving 10 of us standing there. Going to need to trade in my Orca card for something a little more reliable.

• WSratsinacage October 4, 2012 (9:27 am)

  emailed Jessie Jones yesterday about people getting kicked off “Rapid” Ride for asking a question of, or trying to help, the drivers. Not response yet..

• Chris W. October 4, 2012 (9:28 am)

  Wait a minute! All the way through last week, the Metro Changes summary showed the 128 heading north on California ALL THE WAY to Secreast dock. But now that I checked the times to get to the water taxi tomorrow, I see it still shows terminating in Admiral Junction. Good gawd. No water taxi ease of use for me, then. I’ll have to take that off the table as a morning option.

• Don October 4, 2012 (9:30 am)

  I live on Charlestown Street and ride the bus into downtown daily. I used to be able to get downtown in about 30 minutes and it now realistically takes 1 hour plus and the buses are full. Granted, I generally go to work later in the morning so this has an impact on the availability of buses. I can see that if you live Alaska Junction to White Center this bus change is an inconvenience in the worst case but if you live north including Alki this is an inconvenience in the best case. I found that if I walk to the Alaska Junction (takes 20 minutes) it actually shortens my commute time and I also plan on walking home as it seems to be a waste of time waiting for a connector bus going north. Due to the current nice weather this is an inconvenience but when the monsoons start this will cause me to change from taking the bus to driving downtown. Taking a bicyle is not an option for everyone especially for those of us with disabilities.

• Chris W. October 4, 2012 (9:31 am)

  I’m considering taking the C line SOUTH to Fauntleroy ferry & grabbing the 118/119 etc from there. Does anyone have any experience doing that? Looks like about an hour still, but maybe a better shot of actually getting on a bus.

• Gina October 4, 2012 (9:33 am)

  About a 30 minute walk to water taxi from California and Admiral. About the same to the Junction. Water Taxi won out for me this morning.

• pooped October 4, 2012 (9:33 am)

  What bus do the people take who live on the South side of the Admiral way hill (the side without the view) take to downtown? This is the area east of the bridge over the gully. Or a bus for people who work on the AW view side?

  What was the route # that turned East by WS high school went South along the crest on the East side of WS hill above the industrial area and then into the Junction? I couldn’t find it.

• Yikes October 4, 2012 (9:40 am)

  When is the mayor up for re election?

  • WSB October 4, 2012 (9:43 am)

    Again, Metro is a COUNTY service. The mayor runs the CITY. Certainly he has the power to advocate TO the county on behalf of his constituents, so feel free to contact him.

• Bruce Nourish October 4, 2012 (9:50 am)

  @Chris Not sure what map you were looking at, but the 128 was never slated to go all the way to Seacrest; there’s nowhere to turn it around anywhere there anyway. The primary connection to the Water Taxi was and remains the 77x water taxi DART shuttles.

• Brent October 4, 2012 (9:57 am)

  A point on buses passing by: Could you mention how long it took until the next bus came?

  As long as Metro can’t run 300-seat trains through West Seattle or Delridge, there will continue to be some buses that are actually full, and hopefully there will be another bus right behind it, as Metro learns the new demand patterns.

  Of course, the bus may only appear full from the driver’s seat. It helps if people move to the back and make way for more people to get on at the front. (Yes, this is a problem everywhere, and riders still crowd the front.) If you see a non-full bus that doesn’t stop, please call Customer Service. If the driver is doing something wrong, his/her supervisor will go over the problem with him/her.

• Bill Bacon October 4, 2012 (9:59 am)

  Well, I thought the SDOT and Metro wanted to encourage bicyclists in Seattle. With the elimination of the #22 and #55, there are less bike racks to go around. I had to wait for three busses before I could get one with one empty bike slot at the very back of the rack where the bikes are hard and dangerous to load. Did I make it to my dental appointment at the U/W on time? No. So much for RapidRide. More like SquelchedRide.

  Finally, what can be done to discourage smoking at the bus stops. I didn’t see any signs regarding same. Who wants to stand around and breathe other peoples’ nasty smoke?

• Brent October 4, 2012 (10:04 am)

  The Mayor oversees SDOT. SDOT can be a positive player in increasing capacity and frequency on bus routes, by adding more signal priority, adding more bus or HOV lanes, removing parking from the public right-of-way on some arterial lanes, and spending car tab money to add more service. (FWIW, I think using car tab money to add more service temporarily is a wasteful use of that money, compared to spending it on infrastructure improvements.)

  Also, since people keep bringing up car tabs, RapidRide was funded primarily by a rather large federal grant (to purchase most of the new buses), with the Metro sales tax passed in 2008 being the other major source.

• Mike Lindblom October 4, 2012 (10:12 am)

  I left Alaska Junction at 8:30 on a C Line that eventually filled to >100 people and skipped six people at Avalon/Yancy. At 8:20, there was a spare bus (Metro has three available for overflows) parked next to Azuma Sushi, where I saw the driver wake from her nap and call the operations base. This would have been an ideal time for Metro to send her onto the route, but I don’t know yet what time they actually did so.
  Anyway, City Councilman Tom Rasmussen was on the same full bus and says Metro needs to get more capacity.
  One fixable problem is that Metro reduces the frequency at 8:30 a.m. even though it’s common for commutes to last until 9:30 a.m. and then in evenings until 7 p.m.
  More @mikelindblom on Twitter.

  • WSB October 4, 2012 (10:15 am)

    Thanks, Mike! http://twitter.com/mikelindblom is visible via the Web even if you don’t have a Twitter account (though we highly encourage it, even if you don’t use it much – we’re at http://twitter.com/westseattleblog and, for story links only, http://twitter.com/westseattlenews )
    .
    TR

• Dancingeek October 4, 2012 (10:27 am)

  Brent: For the 120 on the low end it was a perfectly reasonable 2 minutes (because the first coach was running late). On the high end it was a more frustrating 12 minutes. The basic pattern I’ve been seeing is the 10 minute lead-times for the 120 turning into 20 minute lead-times with a pair of coaches being a couple minutes apart. The first coach will be completely full and the second coach will have people standing.

• donofAdmiral October 4, 2012 (10:38 am)

  Seems a lot of folks are fed up with this change and we all hope it gets worked out soon. How many have just stopped taking “rapid” transit and are back to driving? Seemed at 7 this morning there was more traffic than usual, but that is just my subjective opinion. Would be interesting to see how many have switched to driving….would be an interesting poll…..

  And, thanks to the WSB for this great forum. Don’t see this anywhere else in seattle with such detail and persistance.

• Brent October 4, 2012 (10:55 am)

  Does anyone here ride the new 131 (which is practically an express now once it gets past the Arrowhead Gardnens loop)?

• Brent October 4, 2012 (10:58 am)

  “And, thanks to the WSB for this great forum. Don’t see this anywhere else in seattle with such detail and persistance.”

  +1!

• maryws October 4, 2012 (11:04 am)

  has anyone been taking the 22 to DT from WS in the am and back home in the late afternoon? is it still running? reliable?

  thx

• Grundle October 4, 2012 (11:15 am)

  I am thinking that somehow the problems West Seattle are experiencing are more pronounced than in other parts of the city. This hasn’t been covered at all by the Seattle Times.

• WSPixie October 4, 2012 (11:34 am)

  Seems that we in the Admiral/Alki area have been left to our own devices as far as transportation goes. Especially if you do not work a traditional 9-5, M-F shift. Starting November, The Water Taxi will only be running at peak hours. The 56 now only runs during peak hours. The 54 has been canceled all together. The only option I see now is the #50 which now requires that I have to transfer to another bus (making it over an hour commute) just to make it the 10 miles over the bridge to the waterfront. Rapid Ride does nothing for this area that has had some of the biggest cuts via Metro.

• Eddie Westerman October 4, 2012 (11:40 am)

  We have one son and one exchange student departing from our Fauntleroy home for the Roosevelt district to attend school. Before “RAPID” ride, they could take: 133 for a non-stop ride from WS to the University. They rode that with students who attend UW but live in WS. That bus is gone. They could ride the 54X. That bus is gone. They could catch a 54. That bus is gone. They could take the 116 from the ferry dock (which passed them by yesterday morning but now they know they have to fight people getting off the ferry for a seat). What used to be a commute where they got on a bus at 7:55 and arrived at school in time to buy a waffle on University Ave and still take a leisurely walk up to 66th is now an 80-minute nightmare going — because they don’t know if the bus they have to catch downtown is full or not (they were late to school this week because they could not get on their bus downtown even though they arrived on time to catch it). Coming home, it is taking up to two hours easily whether they depart at 2:30 when school is out or in the thick of rush hours. Our son will be driving beginning in January. How sad that we will add another car to the road and a less experienced driver to the rush hour coming and going over the bridge.

• Jill October 4, 2012 (11:59 am)

  As I post there are 54 comments, and I’m tempted to not post in memorial to my former 54 route. I took 54 through downtown to the 5 up to Fremont & frequently up the Phinney corridor. It was great that I didn’t have to transfer downtown, and I settled in to a book or knitting. Now, like many others, I experience a commute that’s 15-30 mins longer. Coming home it might be easier to just stay on the 5 as it changes to a 21 and walk down the hill from 35th.

  This “so frequent you don’t need a schedule” claim I think is kind of BS. Maybe kinks just need to get worked out. But buses being full a separate issue, if I need to be downtown at a certain time to transfer, I now have to arrive at my stop 15 mins. before the latest time I can get downtown to make sure I get on to make the transfer. It would help if RapidRide were on One Bus Away, but it wasn’t Sun. or Mon. when I took the bus last.

  Bummer about the “fewer bike racks” observation, too, if that is indeed true.

• missaudreyhorne October 4, 2012 (12:01 pm)

  I’m with you WSPixie. I’m in Admiral and they’ve pretty much cut us off from Downtown during off peak hours. It took me an hour and a half to get downtown on Saturday (basically an hour to get to the WS Bridge, which is a 5 minute drive from my house). And I don’t have the luxury of driving instead, no car.
  .
  Oh, and it used to be that in the evening when you took the 54, there was a 55 shuttle waiting to take you up to Admiral when you got to the junction. Now, apparently, the 128 comes early and leaves right as your C line pulls up to the junction and then you either have to wait 10-30 minutes for a 50 or just walk home. This is what happened to my husband after a 14 hour workday this week. I realize we’re able to walk, but sometimes it is dark and cold and you’re tired and you just want to get home without it taking hours.
  .
  I sense rent and property values will increase near stops early on in the C line soon because people will be desperate for a seat on a bus.

• miws October 4, 2012 (12:31 pm)

  maryws, the 22 is now a shuttle, that runs between The Junction, and Arbor Heights, via Westwood Village.

  .

  It no longer serves Downtown.

  .

  Mike

• Last53BusRider October 4, 2012 (12:32 pm)

  WSPixie, I agree the off-peak changes are a drag. A trip from Alki to downtown is now double the time it used to be – even when transfers are quick. And coming back from downtown on a Sunday will be a real pain. I probably will end walking down to Beach Drive from the Junction, or even 35th and Avalon, if I end up on a 21. It is probably time for me to think about moving.

  At least the off-peak trips are not contending with the crowding and reliability issues of the rush-hour commute. That’s what seems to be the overriding concern right now.

• Kirsty October 4, 2012 (12:38 pm)

  We west Seattle commuters haven’t enjoyed so much confusing, experimental bus riding, jam-packed scary rides, and unexpected cross-town walks since the snow storm of ’06!

  Went back to hide-and-ride today. Was able to get on a mostly-full RR-C at 7:25 today (The sign said it was 10 minutes away, but it came 3 minutes later?) Saw a metro supervisor truck watching the commute from near Luna Park Cafe.

• Paul Nuchims October 4, 2012 (12:40 pm)

  Item 1: Many of the riders of the old 54 express stood for over 40 minutes at Columbia and 2nd yesterday waiting for a C bus. There was a Metro worker with a clip board jotting down times. A bus did not arrive until 4 o’clock, we all missed the 4:20 Fauntleroy ferry to Port Orchard.

  Item 2: As to my ride to downtown today took even longer. We waited 20 minutes again for the C bus. I arrived at work at 9:45 pm. The bus driver had to let passengers off at unscheduled spots to avoid letting additional people on the bus. She complained bitterly that she couldn’t see the back doors to safely close them because of the crowding.

  The ‘cry from the ferry crowd’ continues: “Bring back the 116” as we used to get to downtown by 9:05 am.

• Paul Nuchims October 4, 2012 (12:41 pm)

  Item 1: Many of the riders of the old 54 express stood for over 40 minutes at Columbia and 2nd yesterday waiting for a C bus. There was a Metro worker with a clip board jotting down times. A bus did not arrive until 4 o’clock, we all missed the 4:20 Fauntleroy ferry to Port Orchard.

  Item 2: As to my ride to downtown today took even longer. We waited 20 minutes again for the C bus. I arrived at work at 9:45 am. (Correction from pm to am!) The bus driver had to let passengers off at unscheduled spots to avoid letting additional people on the bus. She complained bitterly that she couldn’t see the back doors to safely close them because of the crowding.

  The ‘cry from the ferry crowd’ continues: “Bring back the 116” as we used to get to downtown by 9:05 am.

• jedifarfy October 4, 2012 (12:46 pm)

  The 120s not on the hour seem to be better. I changed to one 10-15 minutes later and it helped a lot. The ride HOME, though, is horrible. I wish there was another bus I could take home.

• Wanda October 4, 2012 (12:58 pm)

  This was the worst day yet for Rapid Ride. The 8:30 bus from the Junction was SRO before it got there and then about 30 people boarded. I would guess there were close to 70 people standing. I don’t understand why the 55’s last run is at 8:12 and RR is 8:30–far before what use to be peak travel times. There are two big apartment buildings going up in The Junction and will be completed soon. What are we suppose to do then? METRO better get its act together AND FAST.

• Chris W October 4, 2012 (1:41 pm)

  Tip from a neighbor: From my starting point at Dakota and California, I can take 128 to Morgan Junction and transfer to 118/119 downtown. Also considering walking to 35th and Avalon to the 22 on days I miss the 55.

• Kathy October 4, 2012 (2:09 pm)

  Non-peak riders from Alki and North Admiral area who have to transfer at the Alaska Junction can at least use their bus wait time to hang out in a more pleasant neighborhood than downtown. I think the Junction shops might get more of our business because of this. At night (where the 50 only runs once an hour) you can hit the late happy hour and get something to take the edge off while you wait. Just remember we lost an hour of late service, the last 50 is scheduled to leave the Junction at 11:48 pm. To get downtown (if you want tunnel stops) during non-peak hours I suggest sticking with the uncrowded 50 bus until you get to the SODO busway where you can finish the trip on either the Link or a bus, whichever comes first. It’s about 30 minutes to SODO and no more than 5-10 minutes into town after that. Remember, prior to the service change we were overserved compared to many neighborhoods, many non-peak buses were running practically empty.

• Jen October 4, 2012 (2:14 pm)

  Back to having problems with the early 120. The 6:55a scheduled 120 at Delridge/Brandon stopped (7 minutes late), but only had room for one of the four of us waiting. Three of us didn’t get on. The scheduled 7:05a stopped, and there was room, but it was late as well. Seemed to be heavier traffic on the bridge/99 (could just be that it was later in the morning), so we all got into downtown much later than usual. I encourage all busers to report these problems to metro either via phone or online (or both!) to make sure they hear of these problems and understand how many people are affected.

• JR66 October 4, 2012 (2:16 pm)

  Not to mention the buses can’t pull over to load/unload. Traffic held up at Morgan junction yesterday for 3 lights. My commute from DT to WS in my car is faster than driving down Calf. Ave.
  Thanks Metro for making me a forever car driver!

• Jamo October 4, 2012 (2:33 pm)

  On the RR C, 3rd and Spring…already tight standing room only. Doors won’t shut so full.

  • WSB October 4, 2012 (2:46 pm)

    Just added an update from Metro to the story above this thread.

• Grundle October 4, 2012 (3:00 pm)

  I will vote no on every Metro transit ballot measure from here on. I promise.

• Tanej October 4, 2012 (3:01 pm)

  Wednesday evening commute looked like riders were taking ANYTHING to get to West Seattle – the 55 at 5.30/5.40 was PACKED! But I think I was on one of those RR “extra” busses this morning at 35th & Avalon. It came only 4 minutes after a packed “C” bus passed us by without stopping; still had seats available after the Avalon & Yancy stop. Appears to be some progress.

• G October 4, 2012 (3:12 pm)

  Came from the airport early afternoon, boarded a C line bus, and by the time it got on the viaduct it was packed, with many standing. People grumbling about the change in service. Transferred at the Junction and the 128 driver swore at me because I wasn’t fast enough getting on the bus at the Junction.

  Welcome home. For all the knocking LA, I never once witnessed this kind of rudeness from a public service official, or from anyone in the service business period. Seattle is not the city is used to be, and I grew up here.

• Kathy October 4, 2012 (3:27 pm)

  From the airport (I assume you took the Link) you can get off at SODO station, there is a new bus stop on the northwest corner of Lander and Sodo Busway just across the busway from the Link station. From there you can take the new 50 route to the Junction, you don’t have to go downtown. It’s supposed to come every half hour up to 9pm.

• Kathy October 4, 2012 (3:36 pm)

  Love the fact that the new bus signs finally have stop numbers large enough to see so I can call One Bus Away for arrival times.

• G October 4, 2012 (3:45 pm)

  Thanks, Kathy, good to know :)

• Deb October 4, 2012 (4:10 pm)

  On Tuesday, I too was on the C-line bus (#6047) that was “ahead of schedule”. Unfortunately, the driver failed to use the traffic-status sign on 35th Ave SW that noted that it was 19 minutes to SR 99; otherwise he might have used those 6 minutes a bit more wisely.
  I stayed on this bus as it became the ‘D’ line to lower Queen Anne, and was really surprised to see that there are no formal Rapid Ride improvements in this area. There is lots of sidewalk construction with poor signage, and you get to guess where the RR bus will stop based on what sort of features are coming out of the sidewalk (gee – is that a footing for an Orca Card reader?) At least the West Seattle RR shelters are in place.

• West Seattleite October 4, 2012 (4:40 pm)

  Thank you, Kathy, for letting us know where the bus stop is at SODO Station for the RETURN to West Seattle on the 50. I did a dry run to SODO on Monday via the 50, and forgot to look where the ‘return to West Seattle’ bus stop was. Thanks, again.

• michael October 4, 2012 (5:04 pm)

  i find it really sad that my wife and i now have to take a taxi home from safeway or gfc at the jefferson sq area that used to be served by the 54 or the 22 yet now nothing going south on california ave stops there. i was talking to some of the employees at the qfc today and told them that my wife and i might end up having to go all the way to the admiral safeway as we can get a bus there and back which is totally wrong that metro has cut off a big chunk of west seattle from going to buy food at stores i like to shop at. just asking if others have been looking at going shoping at a brand new store just because metro has cut us off from the stores at jefferson sq. the only nice thing now is the taxi can now stop in front of qfc with no worry of a bus coming the 560 stops a block south and has no shelter at the stop so it never really has anyone waiting for it and it only runs a few times a day too

• Ajax October 4, 2012 (5:10 pm)

  I think I have some form of survivor’s guilt reading these comments, as I work from home now after many years of communting to downtown and SODO on the 56, 55, and 22 buses. How are the residents of all these apartment units under construction and in planning going to get downtown, or are they all going to be employed by WS small businesses? I’m not as growth-adverse as some, but this is shaping up to result in major gridlock. I also wonder how the pending new sports arena in SODO will affect WS commuters (in conjunction with the tunnel and Viaduct tear down)?

• michael October 4, 2012 (5:16 pm)

  g
  metro is changing yet not in a good way it to me seems they’ve forgotten whom they are here for. if nobody rides the bus then they don’t have a job. it is sad thAT THESE DRIVERS THAT ARE PAID WELL FOR DOING THERE JOB. IN FACT I’VE HEARD DRIVERS TALKING ABOUT WORKING ON PAID HOLIDAYS AND FOR WORKING AN 8 HOUR DAY MAKING $600.00 for just the one day. how are we the working poor to feel when the bus driver is rude and nasty and just act like they hate there jobs then why are they working for the public as there job is no different than the people that do service work in lots of different jobs all across this state. so i’m not sure how many of the riders knew what kind of money the bus driver gets not counting the perks they get all year long as well. i’m not saying this to cause any problems yet until metro remembers it is a service company and if there is no service maybe it needs to go away and needs to be replaced with management that understands what service really is. yet i guess i am living in the land of rose colored glasses.

• T October 4, 2012 (5:17 pm)

  Line C in the afternoon: there were ZERO buses between 3:45 and 4:15 from 3rd & Pine to WS, on both 10/3 and 10/4 (in 30 minutes, there should have been 3!). It’s faster to take the 21 to 35th and Avalon, and then the 50 to the WS Junction, then it is to wait for a RR line C! I thought RR was supposed to be an improvement…

• michael October 4, 2012 (5:23 pm)

  jr
  i can’t drive due to the fact i had a brain injury 21 years ago that left me with epilepsy yet i’m truely starting to think of buying a beater to drive to and from work yet i’ll be like one of the people south of the border driving well you got it no insurance as i have no drivers lol and i lost 25% of my vision that day back in aug of 1991. so how would people feel having a brain injury, blind person with epilepsy driving on the same roads they are going across the ws bridge and into downtown. yet it is what i feel like metro is pushing me towards doing.

• Hawkbit October 4, 2012 (5:25 pm)

  Waited 25+ minutes starting at 8:30am today. Dropped my daughter off at Gatewood and waited at Myrtle/Fauntleroy. In the 25 minutes I waited, I watched three C line buses travel south, all within two minutes of each other. In fact, two of them were travelling together. When I finally got on the bus, it filled up just after Alaska.

  Did not try to take bus home, got a ride. It’s very obvious that there are more cars on the road.

• michael October 4, 2012 (5:28 pm)

  chris
  the 22 doesn’t go that way anymore. so hope you don’t go there and hope to catch it. just one more of metros beter ideas.

  • WSB October 4, 2012 (5:31 pm)

    Just added to the story above: We’ve heard back from Councilmember McDermott, about what he’s been hearing/seeing/doing regarding the rollout concerns.

• babs October 4, 2012 (6:06 pm)

  Caught a RR to West Seattle at around 4:40pm from 3rd and Seneca. Standing room, pretty squished at Second and Columbia but I don’t think we left anyone behind. Was a little surprised to see a security guard getting on at 35th & Avalon to randomly check Orca passes on a bus still packed to the gills. What I’m not understanding, is the RR is opening all doors downtown and people are getting in the back but there are no Orca card readers yet at the downtown stops. I was under the impression we still needed to board at the front if getting on downtown. Color me confused.

• West Seattle since 1979 October 4, 2012 (6:21 pm)

  Grundle, the only thing about voting no on Metro funding is that they’ll then cut service even more.

• Richard October 4, 2012 (6:44 pm)

  You’re always allowed to board RR via the back doors if you have a valid paper transfer. If you have an ORCA card, you’re required to tap your card before you board, which means there must be either an operational card reader at the stop, or a loader (transit employee) with a portable card reader stationed at the back door. In theory you could tap your card at a stop somewhere on the RR route that has a reader, and then board at a different stop a few blocks away that doesn’t have one.

• Jeff October 4, 2012 (6:58 pm)

  LAME METRO!
  My self, kids and driver in front of us were just about hit by an oncoming bus trying to get around the bus blocking the entire lane on Fauntleroy and California.
  A metro bus coming our way in the middle lane almost hit us.
  Thanks for wasting tax payers money only to cause even more traffic congestion. Your bus stops pushed out into the street have only caused dangerous situations. No- people are not going to sit behind the bus and wait.
  People get stuck in the middle of an intersection since the bus now blocks the entire lane.
  Who is the ass who thought of this brilliant idea?
  Thanks for taking down Arbor heights sheltered bust stops.
  Thanks for taking away bus rides for people that rely on the buses. Especially young kids.
  Thanks for making them walk far away to catch a bus.
  You already pushed the envelope by putting yield signs on the rear of the bus- this allows bus drivers to pull out in front of you. Like it or not.
  We the people have no say in anything.
  ENOUGH! We are done with being kicked to the gutter and having our hard earned money wasted as those with ties on see fit.
  LAME !!
  Get real or “We the People” are taking action.

  Peace

• Sarah M. October 4, 2012 (7:05 pm)

  At 2nd & Columbia nearly 30 minutes by 6:55 p.m. With no Cs, then one very packed came. Since I’m a little unsteady but hate to ask anyone to give up a seat,I didn’t get on. Less than 5 minutes later, along fame another C, this one with at least one seat (that I can see) more than the people still waiting for a ride.

  From 2nd & Columbia, is the 21 the best alternative, then a transfer to 50 or C at 35th & Avalon to get to the Junction?

• Jeff October 4, 2012 (7:34 pm)

  The government must be involved with Metro now.
  It used to work just fine. Now it’s a broken wasteful, insufficient pain in the a** machine. Just like Congress : )

  Peace

• Angela October 4, 2012 (7:55 pm)

  My main wish is that they would allow the One Bus Away sight to track the RR buses. They either stay a constant 8 min (arriving every 15 min til…) or a constant 5 min (arriving every 10 min til…). This makes it very difficult to plan. If you are trying to get anywhere during the 15 min time period and you arrive JUST as the bus is leaving, you have to wait at least 15 more minutes (usually longer according to the above posters). But if you know the bus will be there in 3 mins, you can adjust your timing to meet that bus.
  Today I was trying to get home to my sick kid, I saw the bus go to the 3rd & Pike stop as I was on the other side of the street. As soon as the light changed, I ran, but missed the bus by a 1/4 block. I could have left work earlier had I known. I decided to take the 21, which was 10 mins late. As the bus drivers changed shifts at the Safeco stop I heard them talk about how the 21s are always late. What would have normally taken me 35-45 mins to get home took me 1 hour 10 mins. When your child is sick and you have to pick them up, an hour can feel like an eternity. PLEASE LET US TRACK OUR RR!!

• Cecelia October 4, 2012 (7:57 pm)

  My husband takes the 125 from downtown. He got on around 5:20-5:30 and said that the bus was at least 15 min past due. Also that he was lucky to get on because the last stop people were left at the stop as the bus was full.

• Annette October 4, 2012 (8:18 pm)

  I waited for nrealy 30 minutes for a Rapid Ride bus at 3rd and Seneca around 4:55 pm this afternoon. It never came. I was relieved to see a 55 at around 5:25, so I hopped on it….along with a huge group of other West Seattlites! We were packed like sardines, but we made it to West Seattle in about the same amount of time as the Rapid Ride would have.

  For the first time in 10 yrs, I am considering giving up on the bus. Please fix this, folks!

• Mack October 4, 2012 (8:45 pm)

  I’m driving until Metro gets their act together. From the increased car traffic on the WSB, I am not alone.

• michael October 4, 2012 (8:56 pm)

  the other night when i was removed by seattle pd from the bus and then taken down because i walk with a cane and they told me to get down i told the seattle pd officer it would be hard to do can i stand and he said no and took me down. all this because the great driver of the c line got his ego crushed when he was proven wrong about the stop on avalon coming back from downtown. yes this is how metro deals with people that don’t just get on the bus and shut up and let them do as they will. the seattle pd officer then gave me a ride home afterwards yet it is no my vision of what metro should be doing to riders that were just trying to be helpful.

• gatewooder October 4, 2012 (9:06 pm)

  The sad thing is that all of this was predictable and could have turned out otherwise. Metro was arrogant, insincere and stupid all at the same time, a bad combination.

• Moose2 October 4, 2012 (9:28 pm)

  Angela – please ask for real time updates via the Metro feedback page at http://metro.kingcounty.gov/cs/FeedbackGeneral.html.

  They actually put effort into PREVENTING real time updates from showing up, so this is a zero cost fix. I find it appalling (as I’ve already commented) that they don’t make this one minor free fix to improve the customer experience. Unlike fixing the rest of the issues, this is so simple it can be done right now.

  We need to let Metro know that many of us rely on the real-time info on OneBusAway.

• genesseehillmike October 4, 2012 (9:59 pm)

  Continue to be amazed at how screwed up RR is and how little explanation or sense of urgency is coming from Metro. Don’t Metro, the politicians, and other media outlets get the messages that are posted here at WSB. All I’m hearing in response is crickets.

• BookGal October 4, 2012 (10:24 pm)

  After riding on an overcrowded (stuffed to the gills) RR C-Line bus from WS to downtown on Tuesday morning…and hearing the horror stories of buses passing RR stops…

  I decided to try a different route. The 116X still stops on Fauntleroy Way SW and is much closer to where I live. 116X bus (it was one of the short buses) arrived at 7:48 a.m., very few passengers (8?), and was downtown (at the old 54X stop at 3rd & Union) at 8:18 a.m. 30 minutes.
  As long as the 116X doesn’t get stuck waiting for a (super long) train in the morning – I’m taking it. (Although I really hope that the nice gentleman in the back of the bus could lower his voice – he speaks quite loudly … and talked most of the way to downtown).

  Time wise, the 116X actually doesn’t take much longer than the RR C-Line. It does take a sort of scenic ride to downtown – but I find that kind of relaxing.

  NONE of the 116X stops are listed in the new blue (116, 118, 119) schedule!! And the bus stop sign doesn’t seem in sync with what I found on Metro’s web site. Very confusing!

• BookGal October 4, 2012 (10:38 pm)

  One more comment about the RR C-Line buses.” Metro needs to understand that most of us need to know what time to expect the bus to arrive at the bus stop. The “refer to schedule” is meaningless if Metro does not post arrival times for each RR stop.
  Many of us need to catch connecting buses to our destinations (i.e. work, school, appointments, interviews, etc.), and we need to know arrival times to coordinate those connections.

• Theresa Harnett October 4, 2012 (11:32 pm)

  Good evening fellow West Seattle residents.

  Perhaps this won’t go anywhere or be of any success but there is no harm in trying. I have created a facebook page to gather support to see if there is any way Metro could reinstate the two cancelled 21 express trips. Please if you are interested in adding your interest, perhaps with some numbers we could at least talk with Metro?

  https://www.facebook.com/BringBackTheCancelledMetro21Buses

• DM October 5, 2012 (12:00 am)

  I know everyone is still frothing at the mouth about the delays, but I’m wondering if anyone else was charged 75 cents extra, during off peak hours early morning, on the 125 route. I have no idea why I was charged 3 dollars for a trip downtown from the Highland Park neighborhood. I did send an email to KCM, asking about it.

• themightyrabbit October 5, 2012 (12:03 am)

  I’m driving until Metro gets their act together. From the increased car traffic on the WSB, I am not alone.

  >>Me too. Loving the open road to Bellevue and back.

• michael October 5, 2012 (2:39 am)

  looking to see if anyone wants to carpool my hours are noon to 8:30 pm i work at harborview medical center. i can’t drive yet am will to share cost. i’m disabled and have a disabled parking pass if needed. until metro figures out that this new plan isn’t working

• michael October 5, 2012 (2:47 am)

  bookgal
  metro isn’t going to post times that way they don’t have to be accountable to us the riders as with them saying we have a bus every 15 minutes is plenty. i’m with you yet i really don’t see metro changing anything here soon. i feel they think if we are force feed this new crappy service long enough we will like it.

• michael October 5, 2012 (2:57 am)

  rich
  they started the rr at a bid for new runs so we wouldn’t hear as metro could of cut out drivers by posting less runs for drivers to bid on. just letting you know how that could of been. i just know that some of the drivers that got the bids for the new rr c run didn’t know the route and just wanted people out of the way that were trying to be helpful.

• michael October 5, 2012 (3:00 am)

  mack
  what hours do you work? if you are open to carpooling i’d be willing to join it if the hours work for both til metro figures this out too

• kc on the hill October 5, 2012 (6:19 am)

  monorail, a train that does not use the same road way as all the cars was a only couple of votes from realality
  no one would be stuck behind buses at curb bump outs. that thought is gone for ever land that was purchased is now going to be hi rise apartments. A ride downtown would be minutes away regardless of traffic conditions below. hmmmm not a bad idea now??

• Hmm...justsaying October 5, 2012 (6:58 am)

  Maybe the answer lies in a West Seattle streetcar along California from Admiral to Morgan with dedicated 10 minute headways to guarantee connections. Or, dare I say it, a LINK spur line to the Junction AND a street car.

• West Seattle since 1979 October 5, 2012 (7:19 am)

  I got a 55 at 35th and Avalon at about 7., and there were seats scattered throughout the bus. Unfortunately there is a problem on 99 and the traffic crawled until the Pioneer Square area.

  • WSB October 5, 2012 (7:30 am)

    Thanks. I just started the Friday story, to track experiences one more time: https://westseattleblog.com/2012/10/metro-bus-changes-weekday-5-the-first-week-ends

• WS mom October 5, 2012 (7:34 am)

  I’d like to hear from King County Executive Dow Constantine.

• Tuesday October 5, 2012 (7:48 am)

  Getting out of West Seattle works alright since we’re at the beginning of the route and there are always seats available, getting back from Downtown, however, is another story. At least two busses have passed without stopping downtown everyday. Increased wait times greatly. Increased wait times = greater transport unreliability. It would be very interesting to know how much the cost in lost wages/ productivity. Unfortunately, that is rarely taken into account.

• Dee October 5, 2012 (8:40 am)

  Highly disappointed that the 56 bus is no longer in service. I depend on this bus because I chose not to have a car. I work 2 jobs, 1 full time during the week & the 2nd some week days & most weekends. I used to ride the 56 bus on the weekends, but this is no longer an option for me. If I have to catch the bus at night, I would have to catch the Lightrail to Beacon Hill wait on the 50 to Alki Beach. Can you guess how long this trip takes to get for 3rd and Main to 61st and Alki?? An hour and thirty minutes!! It was only a 30 min ride on the 56 bus. This is ridiculous!!! If I rode the 21 bus I would have to walk home from underneath the West Seattle Bridge to 61st and Alki. The water taxi has extended hours during Sporting Events, BUT the Shuttle is not in service for the extended hours & after working an 11 hr shift, walking over a mile home is not an option.

• Dee October 5, 2012 (8:47 am)

  P.S. I would like to know why Metro thinks that residence of Alki do not need public transportation?

• Chuck October 5, 2012 (8:50 am)

  Ok – I heard some ridiculous news from a ORCA Supervisor when boarding downtown. Apparently the C line becomes the D line after leaving downtown, and then vice versa. This was not supposed to be the plan – the C and D lines were supposed to be independent of each other, and just work a circle route from the point of origin (West Seattle and Ballard respectively) to downtown.

  This is the same idiotic plan that was being used on the routes 21 and 22, as they would run through downtown and then turn into the 15 or 18 heading to Ballard (and vice versa)

  The problem is that anytime the bus gets stuck because the Ballard bridge goes up, or there is an accident or traffic halting event at either end of the grid, both districts feel the crunch.

  Can anyone confirm or deny this, and if it is true, all I can say is “Seriously!?!”

  I agree with previous posters that driving to work is not the solution, but until this problem is fixed, I am pretty much left without an option.

  Good job Metro!

• Chuck October 5, 2012 (8:52 am)

  How hard would it be to privatize the transit industry?

  Just thinking there might be money to be had at Metro’s stupidity…

• Dee October 5, 2012 (10:21 am)

  Another complaint.. What is it w/the driver’s not stopping at bus stops are on the schedule??? I had to yell at a driver this morning on the 37 6:09am bus from Alki beach to stop for a passenger. Yesterday, a different driver on the same bus, same time did not stop when the passenger asked him several times. When the driver finally stopped, it at least a mile the passenger had to walk back! Why are the driver’s not up to date on the routes they drive? Yet, they get pissed off at the passengers who have been riding the buses FOR YEARS to stop?

• Wanda October 5, 2012 (10:33 am)

  On Thursday, I rode the C line about 4:30, getting on at 3rd & Seneca—It was packed to the gills—The driver had to ask for assistance from riders for back door clearance because he couldn’t see it to know if he could safely close the doors. The driver announced that Metro had added that bus to help with the crowding. And then I noticed that the digital “next stop” sign said “Terminal” Yes, Metro can say they are adding more buses, but that is misleading. The driver said they added that one bus to do that one particular ride into WS—and this was before 5 and then it was going to head back to the terminal. So if a 4:30 is packed, can’t Metro figure out that when people get off work, there will be even more demand. The driver said he was going to call and ask permission to “deadhead” back into town and then pick up another load heading to WS. Also, I don’t understand why they can’t extend the timetable for the 55 serving North Admiral & California Avenue for morning riders. The last 55 to leave the Junction in the morning is 8:12. If they added at least one more route, they would alleviate some of the congestion on the C line and save more people in the Admiral District from having to transfer. Yes, it may get better in the next few weeks, but that’s because the new routes are getting people back in their cars—they may be stuck in traffic, but at least they’re not packed in like sardines.

• Lisa October 5, 2012 (12:41 pm)

  What is with the #21 bus driver telling all passengers to exit the bus @ Westwood Village?

• justme October 5, 2012 (9:22 pm)

  I drove my son to school in Seattle instead of taking the RR. I noticed in the 30-40 minutes it took to travel down Admiral to the Viaduct not one RR passed me in all that time. Where the heck are they? The bus lane was clear the whole way and not one RR passed me in 40 minutes?

• Sharon October 6, 2012 (12:09 am)

  The buses that stop on Barton across from Westwood at the bus stop block the whole street as the new cross walk and it’s cement median almost reach the side of the bus. I had the feeling that the driver didn’t realize it at all as the bus kept us waiting for several minutes with no apparent movement of people.

  I also don’t know why the drivers kick the passengers off at Westwood Village. I got on the 21 bus at the corner of Roxbury St and 35th Ave SW. and assumed (obviously wrongly) that I would be able to get off coming back at the same stop. Not so!! Is this the situation all the time or did I get a grumpy driver???? Back to the car for me!!

• Jim P. October 6, 2012 (12:13 am)

  Going to be *very* interesting when the rains come and or if we get any snow.

  Carry survival rations and maybe pack a tent…grin

• Lisa October 8, 2012 (11:48 am)

  @Sharon I called Metro this morning and spoke to a rather grumpy guy named Bill who said that drivers ask riders to get off the bus at Westwood Village because that is the end of the line for the #21. A #21 bus is suppose to leave Westwood Village every 15 minutes. You may end up going on another #21 bus and the not one you were on to complete your trip.

Sorry, comment time is over.