Home › Forums › Open Discussion › I hate the new bus only lane on 99 South – made my commute 20-30 minutes longer!
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August 6, 2012 at 8:08 pm #604281
DrivenInsanceMemberI am sick of all the traffic revisions/changes to our roads that provide no incentive to carpoolers. Why not have them as HOV/Carpool/Bus lanes? A petition was started to do just that.
Seattle City Council: Turn all Seattle “bus only” lanes into carpool lanes. – Sign the Petition
Please join this campaign: https://www.change.org/petitions/seattle-city-council-turn-all-seattle-bus-only-lanes-into-carpool-lanes?share_id=qXgqkmgPKi&utm_campaign=mailto_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
The recent conversion of vehicular lanes on heavily trafficked arterials such as Highway 99, 15th Avenue, and others from standard lanes to bus-only restricted lanes has exacerbated traffic problems, increased congestion along alternative routes, and surely increased idle pollution as a direct result. Changing our city’s bus-only lanes into more flexible bus/carpool/HOV lanes will incentivize drivers to reduce energy consumption and will lighten congestion in high-traffic areas – especially where bus-only lanes receive light use and where Seattle has provided no other incentive for individuals for whom riding a bus is not an option. A strategy whereby our city prioritizes bus ridership may sound appealing when spun as a catalyst for sustainable behavior, but our recent changes ignore the reality of Seattle traffic at the expense of our citizens’ sanity and our local economy. Join us in making your voice heard!
August 6, 2012 at 8:50 pm #765972
dyn99ParticipantI make that drive every single weekday…at peak time, and it didn’t make anybody’s commute 20-30 minutes longer.
What it did, was push the bottleneck back to around the south end of the Aurora bridge rather than mid-Queen Anne hill. But the traffic flow actually moves faster through Queen Anne than it did before, as less vehicles are merging into two lanes near the Denny exit.
It’s not that I don’t agree that roads should be open to all taxpayers. But let’s not lie about what it actually did to the commute. Lying doesn’t help make your case.
August 6, 2012 at 9:03 pm #765973
KBearParticipantActually, what it did was create a private lane for those special drivers to whom the laws that govern you and me do not apply. They get to drive in the new bus lanes on Alaska Street, too.
August 6, 2012 at 9:21 pm #765974
BostonmanMemberI drove 99 south this morning from just North of the zoo and didn’t notice any additional time to get through the Battery street tunnel.
August 6, 2012 at 9:23 pm #765975
TanDLParticipantI love the new lanes on Alaska St. It’s so much fun driving West from Trader Joe’s, weaving back and forth like a drunken sailor trying to find the proper lane, staying out of the bus lanes, unless you happen to need to turn right and then it’s a fight with the buses who are trying to leave their stops and a bottleneck until the buses can move ahead. Really, such a joy that I must thank the brilliant road engineers who thought of it all.
If they are trying to drive us aways from Alaska you’d think they would just close it make it a nice park.
August 6, 2012 at 9:34 pm #765976
SmytheMemberReactionary drivers like the OP shouldn’t be behind the wheel within city limits. There really should be more restrictions to getting a drivers license in this country.
August 6, 2012 at 9:39 pm #765977
DrivenInsanceMemberLast Thursday at 4:30 it took me 24 minutes to get from the bridge to the battery street tunnel. Traffic started moving again once you were out of the tunnel. Maybe Seafair made it worse, but not too much as I have been stopped on 99 for minutes at a time in that stretch and it has only been a bus only for about a month. When I leave West Seattle I see very few people carpooling and wonder what would happen if there was an incentive to do so.
August 6, 2012 at 10:17 pm #765978
JustSarahParticipantI honestly don’t understand this post. OP, your subject line states that you don’t like the bus-only lane on 99 south. I assumed you must be talking about a section of 99 south that I don’t often drive–e.g., north of downtown–as I don’t recall any bus-only lanes on 99 south between downtown and West Seattle. But in post #7 in this thread, you talk about how long it took to get from the West Seattle Bridge to the Battery Street Tunnel. So, you’re actually referring to the bus-only lane on 99 north, right? Please clarify, as I bet I’m not the only confused one.
August 6, 2012 at 10:21 pm #765979
amaliaParticipantIf you drive, you ARE traffic. I wish there were incentives for carpooling in West Sea (there certainly are for the cross-lake commuter), but there aren’t, and everyone alone in a car is part of the problem, so instead of complaining, create your own solution.
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Maybe you could be on a bus zooming along in the bus lane (dodging the cheaters and waiting for the self-centered drivers to let the bus back in after it stops – hey, can’t you read the YIELD sign on the back of the bus?).
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Maybe you could be on a bike, heading to a convenient busline that gets you a short bike ride from where you’re going.
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Shoot, maybe you could be on foot.
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Yup, it will take you longer, but the stress reduction alone will add years to your life (not to mention the exercise). And you can count the money you’re saving as you ride/walk/pedal. Lots of those alternative commuters out there once thought they couldn’t do it. Then they did it, and more join us all the time.
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PS I know the buses suck. I just listen to books on my iPod and those few times the bus is stuck in traffic, I try to remember the 5 hours I spent in my car during snowpocalypse.
August 6, 2012 at 10:28 pm #765980
DrivenInsanceMemberamalia: Alternatives to driving would be nice for those who can take the bus. Too bad our mass transit doesn’t work that well for everyone else – thus all the cars on the road – and let’s not forget businesses that need to transport any kind of good. Perhaps if there were more places in the city that can care for autistic teenagers afterschool, but when you have children with special needs and have to have two parents working – the bus system doesn’t work (and neither does biking). Perhaps we should all move from West Seattle and stop driving 99, and 15th, and Aurora, and the downtown arterials that have bus only lanes. I am sure there are many, many more that I haven’t had the pleasure to come across. Until then, it makes sense to encourage those who can’t take the bus to at least carpool.
August 6, 2012 at 10:29 pm #765981
DrivenInsanceMemberSarahScoot – the bridge was the Aurora Bridge, which just had a new bus lane added between it and the battery street tunnel and went from three lanes to two lanes around July 1st.
August 6, 2012 at 10:35 pm #765982
amaliaParticipantI don’t think the bus works all “that well” for anyone. Concessions are needed. If all the people who could reasonably make it work made an effort, the people who need to get special needs kids to school (and others who are similarly restricted) would also have a much easier commute. I never understood how single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) drivers fail to realize that buses, bikes, and carpoolers – and their sparse facilities – are doing them a big favor by keeping SOVs off the road.
August 6, 2012 at 10:40 pm #765983
dyn99ParticipantAll that would happen if your proposal became law is that every carpool lane in the city would be as clogged as the rest of the roads are, causing less people to ride transit, as transit would take even longer than it already does.
You’d have to have 3+ people in the vehicle to warrant doing this…2 wouldn’t be enough, as there are tons of cars driving in this city with 2 people in it that would clog up the carpool lane.
In reality, there are 2 ways out of our traffic mess:
1) Make it incredibly expensive to drive (i.e. the European plan) and build more transit
2) Tax everyone regardless of if they drive and build more transit
So taking out bus lanes to make it easier for 2 people to go places (making it harder for 50 people riding in a bus to go places) just isn’t going to help anything.
Now if we could just get McSchwinn to stop building bike lanes instead of fixing the roads we have…
August 6, 2012 at 10:42 pm #765984
WorldCitizenParticipantLight Rail.
August 6, 2012 at 10:55 pm #765985
DrivenInsanceMemberAnything that would get more cars off of the streets should be tried, either 2 or 3 persons. It is sad to see vanpools not being able to use the bus only lanes. I dread how the traffic will be once school is back in session as it is always worse when you add school traffic (and UW traffic) to the mix.
August 6, 2012 at 10:56 pm #765986
dyn99ParticipantI would vote for regional a $1/gallon tax on gas + .05/mile (annually) for every vehicle that weighs over 4000 lbs and .10/mile for any vehicle that weighs over 5000 lbs.
The funds should go 50% into repairing our crumbling roads and the other 50% toward transit funding in the immediate metro area only (Lynnwood to Tukwila).
That would motivate people to stop driving big SUVs that tear up our roads and either use transit or pony up for their use of roads.
There’s no reason a Prius owner should be paying the same amount to use the roads as someone who drives a Hummer.
August 7, 2012 at 1:36 am #765987
TanDLParticipantdyn99, does that include all the delivery trucks that stock W Seattle businesses? Because that’s going to drive up the costs of goods and services and W. Seattle small businesses already struggle to be competitive with big box stores.
August 7, 2012 at 2:33 am #765988
EdSaneParticipantI just ignore the signs. Same with hov lanes. A potential citation is merely a use tax in my mind.
August 7, 2012 at 3:09 am #765989
dyn99ParticipantYep…and it should drive up the cost of goods trucked in from a long way away…the further away it comes from, the more expensive it should be.
Big trucks tear up our roads. They should pay a much larger share of the bill than they do. This would affect big box stores at least as much as it would local shops, so it shouldn’t reduce the competitiveness of local shops.
August 7, 2012 at 3:34 am #765990
hammerheadParticipantHey what about us small businesses like me. I can not take a bus at all. I own housecleaning business. So I am already dealing with sitting in traffic and paying employees to sit. I can only imaging the big trucks and what the employers have to pay them to sit in traffic. We all tear up the roads.
I HATE the new bus lanes, it backs traffic up and god do you ever have to fight with the buses to take a right with out it being illegal.(not to mention if the bus WON”T let you in and the ass end of your car is hanging out then you have to worry about being hit from behind) I finally gave up, I just go in the right lane and if I get a traffic ticket fine.
I guess I should be thankful for all of my clients who do sit in that traffic to hire me. So I can’t complain to much. :)
August 7, 2012 at 3:46 am #765991
dyn99ParticipantBuy Nissan Leafs or other electric vehicles that don’t take any fuel. Advertise as a “green” cleaning service and you can charge more.
The increased revenues will more than offset the $400/mo car payment plus you wont ever have to pay for gas again!
August 7, 2012 at 3:57 am #765992
hammerheadParticipantreally dyn99? Sorry those cars do NOT hold 5 people and all of my equipment. Not to mention my rescue work. They certainly don’t hold 40 cat carriers either. So green cars or buses DO NOT work for everyone.
FYI in the long run those cars are not so eco friendly when you have to get rid of those batteries.
August 7, 2012 at 4:03 am #765993
dyn99ParticipantThen buy a nice bio diesel minibus and pay the tax.
Your choice. You could run 2 cars for your crew, both electric and still make it work.
150,000 miles with no gas and recyclable batteries? I’ll take that over 7500 gallons of gas any day.
Everyone has to make choices. Make yours. You want a big SUV that guzzles gas for your crew…go for it. Lots of people make little cars work. You can too. Stop complaining and put the energy into creating new and improved solutions.
August 7, 2012 at 4:36 am #765994
hammerheadParticipantI did have a diesel and it ran like crap on bio, not mention it actually costs more. Plus IN city driving it is NO more cost effective than gas. Also I need a vehicle that runs and is not breaking down or catching on fire.(especially if it is a used minibus) Buying 2 new cars yeah not going to work for my small business. That doesn’t make sense financially.
I am ok with how I run my business while not green nope, I guess I do what I can in other ways.
Like oh s/n 1000 cats a year to help reduce the kill rate in local shelters. So I guess that is how I can call it even.
You are right I do make my choices and I DO have a right to complain just like you can tell me get a diesel minibus..
At least I can say I am carpooling:)
August 7, 2012 at 6:01 am #765995
waterworldParticipantRather than lambaste one another for complaining about reality or for making “wrong” choices, maybe we could focus some energy on making it feasible for a very small businesses such as Pamela’s to be more sustainable or green. I know a guy in Santa Cruz who drives a Nissan Leaf to and from the businesses he owns and operates, but he has the advantages of living in a city with several accessible free charging stations, living in a home with solar panels that generate enough power for everything in his home as well as his electric cars, and, last but not least, a whole lot of start-up capital. For someone like Pamela (a/k/a Hammerhead) perhaps there ought to be substantial up-front subsidies for electric vehicles, whether in the form of grants or extremely low-interest financing, plenty of free charging stations, and other financial supports. Even though an electric vehicle may pay for itself in the long run and provide environmental benefits, the up-front cost still puts it out of reach to most small businesses.
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