(Added image: Our inbox screen, filled with less than half-hour’s worth of Metro alerts since we published this story)
One week has passed since we first reported December 6th that Metro had taken 126 of its 1,500 buses out of service because of a steering “defect” discovered by drivers. (We reported the specific buses involved in this followup.) Metro was working with the manufacturer, New Flyer, to fix the defect. We asked Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer how many have been returned to service so far: “We returned 3 affected New Flyer coaches to service using 3 new steering columns that were delivered by bus manufacturer New Flyer. We’re working closely with New Flyer on replacement parts and don’t yet have a timeline available.” In the meantime, trip cancellations, and in some cases temporary route suspensions, continue; the north West Seattle routes such as 56 and 57 have been particularly hard-hit. We asked Switzer why those routes and not some others with low ridership, for example, the 22. Here’s his explanation:
Routes 56 and 57 operate out of Central Base, where bus availability is temporarily limited; route 22 operates from South Base, which has more available buses. Routes 56 and 57 do have higher ridership than Route 22, but the majority of Route 56 and 57 riders have reasonable service alternatives. Route 56 riders are served by Route 50 and Route 128 connections to the C Line, or Route 775 to the West Seattle Water Taxi. Route 57 riders are served by Route 128 and the C Line, but there is a service gap in the Genesee Hill area south of SW Admiral Way and west of California Avenue Southwest. According to our ridership data, that route segment serves an average of 6-7 weekday riders. Route 22 is a lower ridership route, but also has limited service alternatives. The route provides unique connections to Chief Sealth High School and Southwest Community Center, and serves an equity priority community.
Metro says it’s currently operating 96 percent of its schedule, up from 90% shortly after the problem was disclosed.
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