TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Thursday watch

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

7:02 AM: Good morning! We’ve just checked around and no incidents are reported in/from West Seattle.

NOTE: Today is the last full day of school before a two-week winter break for most local students (Seattle Public Schools and those who follow its calendar are out an hour early tomorrow, then off until the day after New Year’s Day).

7:32 AM: SDOT reports a crash at 26th/Barton.

8:48 AM: As noted in comments, Metro has had Routes 56/57 trouble today.

4:56 PM: … and Route 55 cancellations headed back the other way.

Laura December 14, 2017 (7:57 am)

The 3rd 57 is a no show. With no alert. Thanks for continuing to suck, metro.

Laura December 14, 2017 (8:19 am)

Just got an email 30 minutes after the 57 no show. Right after the alert about TWO 56s in a row canceled. Metro whined to me a few weeks ago about them hiring a bunch of drivers so why is this happening? People, PLEASE, write to Dow and Joe and complain.

Olivist December 14, 2017 (8:29 am)

3 metro cancellations this AM. All W. seattle.

Email city council. Complain to metro. Nothing seems to work!

newnative December 14, 2017 (8:32 am)

I just got three metro alerts for: 2 56’s, 1 57 no show and the third is saying the 57 is running 30 minutes late.

newnative December 14, 2017 (8:49 am)

I got a correction from Metro, the late 57 is a now cancelled and the next 56 is 30 minutes late

NH December 14, 2017 (8:33 am)

2 56’s and at least one 57 no shows with alerts. I guess Admiral is just out of luck. Upzoning our neighborhood yet this is the bus service? How is that going to work? Density is fine, but not without an accompanying increase in service.

Robert December 14, 2017 (8:51 am)

It’s cute that the city thinks that with density, more people will commute via transit and not with cars.

riiiiiiiiiight. Has anyone at Metro ever commuted on Metro?

Meg December 14, 2017 (9:59 am)

I managed to get up early to try and catch the 7:32 am 56 bus because I had a very important meeting to get to. I was doubtful and hopeful it would show up. After 7:32 came and went a 37 bus showed up about 10 minutes late. Knowing the problems we’ve had with the 56 runs I got on it even though I knew it would get me to work late because it’s a slower run. While on the 37 I get a text that tells me not only is the 7:32 bus cancelled but so is the 7:49. Metro is my main way of commuting but I can no longer count on it. It’s really a shame.

MM December 14, 2017 (11:19 am)

This is unacceptable. Here is the reply I received from Metro about two minutes ago:

Re: Case # 00122317

Thank you for contacting Metro Transit to report the no-show operation of your trip. I regret the circumstances that made it necessary for you to contact us, and I apologize for any inconvenience you and your fellow riders may have experienced. Your use of public transportation is very much appreciated.

I assure you that Metro Transit strives to provide timely and safe service to its ridership. Of course, there may be situations throughout the course of the day in which traffic conditions, adverse weather, mechanical problems, accidents, or even the lack of a readily available operator may result in a delayed or cancelled trip. We also recognized that these problems may, in-turn, result in an overloaded bus for the following trip on the same route. This was one of those instances.

Staff researched the problem and found that your intended trip was running (late or cancelled) due to there being no operator.

Although the problem with your intended trip was unavoidable, staff documented the delay in service and routed a report to the appropriate supervisor for review and action.

Again, thank you for contacting Metro Transit’s Customer Information Office. Please feel free to contact this office if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Alicia,
Customer Information Specialist
King County Metro Transit

newnative December 14, 2017 (3:37 pm)

“Staff researched the problem and found that your intended trip was running (late or cancelled) due to there being no operator.”

I guess!

newnative December 14, 2017 (11:19 am)

Well, after bragging here that my bus (#57) almost always shows up, now it’s packed. I leave 1 1/2 hour early because the 57 is reliable and usually misses the worst traffic. Getting back home after work is a whole other story. It’s a crap shoot and I no longer get alerts when those express buses are cancelled.

Yes, I email Metro, no I don’t get replies.

East Coast Cynic December 14, 2017 (12:11 pm)

Specifically, email our honorable district council person Lisa Herbold about these problems of no show operators, specifically for the 56/57.

sam-c December 14, 2017 (2:57 pm)

Lisa Herbold is City, and Metro is King County. Contact Dow, not Lisa.

(no excuse for so many missed buses- that is ridiculous )
- WSB December 14, 2017 (3:08 pm)
  
  Important point, but it’s good to include the city in this case because it’s been allotting a lot of money to Metro service, dating back to …
  http://murray.seattle.gov/mayor-executive-council-celebrate-transit-announce-bus-service-agreement/
  
  and so they have some pressure to bring, too.

NH December 14, 2017 (12:23 pm)

Don’t know if this can help, but Seattle Times is asking for metro feedback. Maybe if enough of us affected wrote in, we might get a real response:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/whats-your-experience-riding-king-county-metro-buses-let-us-know/

Laura December 14, 2017 (12:29 pm)

Everybody email Dow Constantine and Joe McDermott!! I’ve gotten responses from McDermott’s office. Let them know how we feel!!

Laura December 14, 2017 (1:54 pm)

FWIW, I emailed both Dow and Joe at about 12:45 and got a response from one of Dow Constantine’s Communication Specialists that they were forwarding my email to Metro.

WSB December 14, 2017 (12:46 pm)

Just a reminder that we had this followup a few weeks ago.
https://westseattleblog.com/2017/11/uptick-in-cancellations-expected-to-end-soon-metro-says/

Checking with Metro today to see if there was some quirk about today or if they are going through another training ycle. – TR

Laura December 14, 2017 (1:58 pm)

Argh!! This one infuriates me because it is so NOT true: “We notify customers of canceled trips when they are on routes with a low number of commute trips, so riders can adjust as needed.” Sending an alert 30 minutes AFTER the 57 is supposed to show up that the 57 didn’t show up is beyond useless.

NW December 14, 2017 (2:27 pm)

I wonder with unaffordable housing long commutes in order to afford housing for these partime employees feds this scenario sometimes with operators not being able to do a route covering other routes for drivers company I work for has a real hard time getting partime labor in the current Seattle market.

workdowntown December 14, 2017 (2:53 pm)

Related to traffic woes: The new configuration on Columbia street downtown is a nightmare. 4 lanes down to 2. And busses turning off both 3rd and 2nd have a tough time navigating, tying up traffic even worse. I need to find an alternate route.

WSB December 14, 2017 (4:56 pm)

I have not yet received the full reply from Metro but also just pointed out to them that there have been alerts for Route 55 cancellations headed back the other way.

NH December 14, 2017 (5:08 pm)

3 so far! Unbelievable.
Sue H December 14, 2017 (5:34 pm)

And 2 of them back to back. The first one is my regular bus and they sent the text at the exact time that the prior bus was leaving my stop so that was pretty useless.
Eric1 December 14, 2017 (5:47 pm)

Hmm. makes me wonder if there is an income algorithm in their bus cancellation program. They always claim to not cancel two buses in a row and try to spread out the pain. Having 6 buses cancelled in one day defies logic. I guess they figure some neighborhoods are rich enough to Uber home and don’t need buses.

.

I know that bus route planning takes into account income. Time to ask if cancellations do the same.

flimflam December 14, 2017 (5:37 pm)

the Times article on metro was saying, in essence, that “late” depends on what you consider “late” to mean – its like the article was written by defense lawyers.

Laura December 14, 2017 (7:36 pm)

Or by people who suck at running the bus.

Sam December 14, 2017 (6:05 pm)

Days like this are why I’ve pretty much quit riding Metro and just drive to work most days. At least when driving I can scope out traffic and routes and generally keep the commute time stable. Too many evenings that last 56 never showed (and with no alerts, of course), so I had to then get a C and a 50 to get to Alki end of Admiral, which takes quite a while.

WSB December 14, 2017 (6:47 pm)

I just got the Metro reply from spokesperson Jeff Switzer. No time to write a separate story so pasting it here:

“This morning we had driver shortage problems also because we had a batch of drivers who were out sick. Standby drivers were dispatched to cover all the trips that we could.

Regarding Route 55, we didn’t operate trips at 421pm or 512pm, but did operate the other nine scheduled afternoon trips on that route.
By the end of the evening commute, 6 total trips were canceled for no available operator systemwide.

We continue to hire, train and backfill to operate trips across the system, and our drivers continue to become more qualified and gain needed experience to flexibly cover more routes across the county. We apologize to riders for the inconvenience and continue to work each commute time to provide the service we have scheduled.”
- Laura December 14, 2017 (7:42 pm)
  
  What a bunch of BS, conveniently forgetting the 4:41 55 that didn’t run. AND, six buses systemwide and half of those the 55? I’ve been reading for years how they’re working toward training drivers to become qualified to drive more routes. I continue to not understand why routes with fewer runs aren’t prioritized for things like that so they don’t have to suffer no having a driver. Waiting an hour for a 57 because one was canceled or waiting another 7 or 10 minutes because another, more frequent route was canceled.

Sorry, comment time is over.