Metro service change tomorrow: How RapidRide will be ‘adjusted’

| Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo of RapidRide bus in The Triangle shortly after C Line debut last fall)
Tomorrow is “service change” day for Metro – one of several each year. When we published the West Seattle changes earlier this week, commenters wondered what Metro meant by saying “the RapidRide C and D Line schedules will be adjusted.” Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer promised to find out – and here’s the followup information he has just shared:

RapidRide C and D lines: A new southbound weekday trip to Westwood Village leaving Bay 3 at the Alaska Junction at 5:12 a.m. will be added. Also, in an effort to balance passenger loads, the RapidRide C and D line schedules will be adjusted during the morning peak period.

What does this mean?

1) We’re adding an early morning trip to help connect with service to the airport.

2) The other changes are to actual trip times northbound from West Seattle to downtown. The net number of trips is identical (except for the partial added early morning trip), while having more buses run during the period where ridership data showed more need.

This has the effect of allowing 11 trips instead of 10 between 7:45 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. (when passenger loads were higher) and 12 trips instead of 13 between 4:59 a.m. and 6:59 a.m. (when passenger loads were lower).

Another way of looking at it, after June 8, C Line weekday buses to downtown Seattle are scheduled:

· about every 8-12 minutes from 5:30-9:24 a.m.

· about every 15 minutes starting at 9:24 a.m. (15-minute service previously started at 8:39 a.m.)

Updated schedules will be posted online later Friday, and riders can view the adjusted trip times to be ready for Monday. Though the RapidRide C/D line service is interconnected, D Line morning trips are staying roughly the same as they were since February.

Since launching, we continue to closely monitor operations and watch for opportunities to better serve passengers within our budget.

We appreciate everyone’s continued support and ridership, and ask for patience as riders and drivers transition to the adjusted trip schedule.

Reminder that Sound Transit also makes its periodic service changes tomorrow – including a major change to Route 560.

Big G June 7, 2013 (3:25 pm)

What they mean by “. . . help connect. . .” is you now have to take 2 buses for what will most likely be an hour plus ride to the airport if you live in West Seattle.

jno June 7, 2013 (3:43 pm)

21 minutes from Westwood to Sea-Tac. And I’d rather transfer at Westwood than have to go to SODO.

CMP June 7, 2013 (3:47 pm)

I plan on taking RRC to Westwood Village on Monday morning to connect to the 560 for a ride to Seatac so wish me luck! I’ll time how long it takes too. The one thing that annoys me about Metro is all of the different “Bays” at WWV for the various buses, but none are clearly marked on any maps. I’m worried that the RRC will drop me off on Barton and then I’ll have to hike all the way across the shopping center to catch the 560. I’m anticipating the worst case scenario since that’s how this city/county seems to roll!

BrassyMomma June 7, 2013 (4:50 pm)

Because of the Ballard traffic and bridge openings during summer, it delays the C line coming through the city and over to us. While going to Ballard in one swoop is great, coming back is an unnecessary frustration point.

Maybe if the lines where split and the C looped in downtown during peak traffic hours, leaving the D to be a transfer, it would help getting the afternoon commuters some relief.

miws June 7, 2013 (5:50 pm)

CMP, I don’t know if you ran your upcoming trip through Metro’s Trip Planner; http://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/cgi-bin/itin_page.pl?resptype=U but it indeed appears that the 560 would leave from the southbound stop on 25th, across from the Driver’s Licensing office, “Bay 4”. I catch the 60 & 125 at that stop all the time, but don’t pay attention to the “Bay” numbers.

Would the Route 22 work for you? It looks like it would be about as rapid as Rapid Ride, and appears to stop right at Bay 4, instead of on Barton, which necessitates the walk across half the Mall.

Mike

Whining Crybaby June 7, 2013 (7:06 pm)

This is so horrible I feel tempted to buy a car. Oh, I can’t afford a car. Nevermind.

CJS June 7, 2013 (8:32 pm)

Is the loss of the 560 from the Junction really a big loss? Whenever I fly, it’s usually very early morning, and the timing on the 560 has never worked for me to get to the airport. I remember one ridiculous routing the Metro Trip Planner gave me for an early morning Saturday flight:

– Leave the Junction at 11:45pm on the 50(?)
– Get off at SODO Station and get on Link
– Get off Link at Tukwila Station (because apparently that’s the last Link run of the night, and it doesn’t go to the airport? No idea)
– Transfer to some bus at Tukwila Station
– Ride that bus to FEDERAL WAY
– Pick up Rapid Ride A from Federal Way back to some station near the airport, arriving at 4:15am

That’s right, a four and a half hour bus/train/bus/bus ride so that I could get on a plane leaving at 5:45am.

frequent bus rider June 7, 2013 (9:39 pm)

The 60 schedule shows it stopping at “25th Ave SW & SW Henderson St”. The 560 schedule shows it will be stopping at 25th & Barton. If the 560 isn’t using the same bay as the C Line and the 22, it should be really close.

I’m one of the majority of 560 riders who commented in favor of the all-day terminus at Westwood, but I wasn’t counting on both the 560 stop being at the opposite end of the mall from the 60 stop *and* having the White Center transfer stop at 15th Ave SW & Roxbury removed.

I’m not a fan of scoliosis in routing, so I won’t miss the detour to 15th Ave SW (or the circuitous duplicative tail via the ferry dock). But a stop pair at Roxbury & 16th ought to be straightforward to set up. It is needed not only to provide a non-painful connection with the 60 but also to restore the only remaining transfer point between the 560 and the 128.

Other than that, I say Sound Transit got this one right. They even made sure to have connections for the early morning C-Line runs.

SudsyMaggie June 8, 2013 (2:52 am)

Holy crap, no more 560 from the ferry? Dang! A lot of us islanders use that bus to get to/from the airport.

CMP June 8, 2013 (6:26 am)

Thanks for the tips everyone! I did run this through the trip planner and was advised to take a bus downtown to use light rail…and I live along California right across from a now-former 560 stop! I figured it would recommend taking RRC to WWV which was the intent of all of this, right? I even emailed Metro/Sound Transit about it and got a completely unhelpful response.

CJS, that’s a pretty sweet trip planner you got! Metro has made a few wild recommendations like that to me when I needed to be at Seatac by 6:00ish so that’s when I just ask a friend or family member to drive me instead. 3+ hours on buses and standing around? No thanks!

miws June 8, 2013 (8:00 am)

After reading frequent bus rider’s comment, I realized I gave out some misinformation.

I believe the 22 indeed stops at the corner,at 25th & Barton and not across from the DMV at Henderson.

Sorry ’bout that.

Mike

Alia June 8, 2013 (8:37 am)

Hi.

I’m moving to West Seattle soon. Is there a bus that runs from West Seattle to Southcenter? Just asking here because the Metro bus web site seems to be down right now and not showing any schedule details. Thank you.

Big G June 8, 2013 (8:38 am)

21 minutes from Barton St to Seatac. Barton st is only 2 blocks from Roxbury which is where White Center begins. So. . . Barton is basically white center and ST/Metro is ignoring the other 5 miles of West Seattle.

Sure service from White Center to the airport and Bellevue is great! Service from West Seattle to those places involves transfers and hassles.

miws June 8, 2013 (10:12 am)

Hi Alia, Metro Route 128 goes to Southcenter;

http://metro.kingcounty.gov/schedules/128/map.html

It runs from the Admiral District of WS, along California Av serving the Alaska and Morgan Junctions, then up Morgan St to serve Highpoint, and on to South Seattle Community College (weekdays only), then along 16th to serve Highland Park, and White Center, before continuing on to serve other neighborhoods outside of WS, on its way to Southcenter.

Mike

jedifarfy June 8, 2013 (10:16 am)

Alia, the 128 runs to Southcenter. You can also take the 120 to Burien and the 140 to Southcenter. If you have a smartphone, I highly recommend downloading OneBusAway to track the buses. It doesn’t seem to be affected by the current issues Metro’s website is having. :)

Alia June 8, 2013 (12:12 pm)

Hi.

Thank you for the information, much appreciated.

Leaving WS June 8, 2013 (12:26 pm)

It occurs to me that before changing all these routes, the powers that be ought to actually RIDE those routes and TALK to the people who take these routes regularly to understand their needs and concerns. Oh, nevermind. That would make too much sense.

sardine June 8, 2013 (4:16 pm)

RapidRide makes me feel like I live in North Bend. Can we please be treated like we live in the city?

Beto June 8, 2013 (10:19 pm)

I lost all hope on Metro when they canceled the 21 routes to Arbor Heights, especially at night. I wish they could at least drop passengers off at Roxbury and 35th Ave. SW before heading to the Westwood Village. Why is it that Arbor Heights is ignored by city transit when they are building a trolley line on Broadway on Capitol Hill? They already have several bus lines running on Broadway, they will have a subway line in the coming years, on top of the trolley line! Why is that?

frequent bus rider June 9, 2013 (12:24 pm)

sardine,

Be careful what you ask for. Most city buses are SRO during rush hour.

57commuter June 10, 2013 (10:41 am)

I discovered that the final two stops (4th/Bell and 3rd Virginia) have been deleted from the 56/57 routes. Was that posted online? Did I miss it? Commute to SLU just got longer and it almost makes more sense to walk from the water taxi dock — until that commute option eventually gets axed.

Sorry, comment time is over.