Home › Forums › Open Discussion › What would get you to ride transit?
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January 22, 2011 at 2:07 am #597699
JulieMemberTake the survey; SDOT wants to know for the Transit Master Plan:
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/transitmasterplan/survey.htm
January 22, 2011 at 11:42 am #714652
miwsParticipantHoppin’ the bus to the top of the page! :-)
January 22, 2011 at 2:23 pm #714653
anonymeParticipantThey’re kidding, right? I would do almost anything to get OFF of Metro, especially after my five hour round trip to Greenlake on Tuesday, following my three hour round trip to work (near Delridge) on Monday. It has not been my impression, having been a rider for more than 25 years, that Metro gives a flying fish what riders think.
January 22, 2011 at 4:13 pm #714654
austinMemberIf it really took a person that long to get to those places I’d wager they didn’t know what they were doing. The bus isn’t that difficult.
January 22, 2011 at 4:50 pm #714655
anonymeParticipantI’ve been riding the bus – exclusively, no driving – for 25 years and know EXACTLY what I’m doing, thank you very much. The folks who don’t know what they’re doing are employed at Metro…or is that you, Austin?
January 22, 2011 at 4:57 pm #714656
SmittyParticipantFree lap dances?
January 22, 2011 at 5:23 pm #714657
JoBParticipantJanuary 22, 2011 at 5:24 pm #714658
JoBParticipantAustin…
the problem with transit projections
is that they are estimated based on best possible conditions…
Seattle road planning assures that those rarely happen.
January 22, 2011 at 5:29 pm #714659
austinMemberIf it takes a person five hours to get to greenlake and back they don’t know what they’re doing, regardless of how long they’ve been using the bus, unless they spent three hours not riding the bus in between. Show me a route that takes remotely that long and I’ll concede the point, I won’t even make smug pretend-assumptions about your employer. Road closures, messed up routes, sorry, no. It only takes that long if you walk. And even if something exceptional happens once in a great while it’s obviously the exception rather than the rule and not a reason to eschew public transit entirely. I ride the bus daily and get around quickly and without complaint.
January 22, 2011 at 5:36 pm #714660
DPMemberMetro provides the following official guidance for customers who are concerned about long travel and wait times:
January 22, 2011 at 5:53 pm #714661
DPMemberAttention: Smitty
Here’s what you do . . .
Step 1) Go to the White Center transit hub and catch a rush-hour 120 NB that’s running late.
Step 2) Sit down in the bench section at the front of the bus. This is where the seats face out toward the aisle.
Step 3) Wait until the bus hits maximum capacity (generally around SW Brandon) and there are many people standing in the aisles.
Step 4) Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming bus stop where there’s no one waiting, and at the last possible moment, pull the cord and yell “Driver! Stop!!!!”
You’ll get your lap dance all right.
If you’re lucky, you’ll even get a desireable partner.
January 22, 2011 at 5:57 pm #714662
JoBParticipantAustin…
psst…
you might want to rethink this
“It only takes that long if you walk.”
in light of the 8+ hour commutes from downtown in the last major snowstorm…
January 22, 2011 at 5:59 pm #714663
anonymeParticipantAustin: WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Metro frequently takes longer than walking. The construction has buses taking re-routes of re-routes – on Tuesday all the way down to the 1st Ave S. bridge (which was open for 20 minutes, traffic backed up for miles) then all the way back north down Marginal to the W. Seattle bridge, then back on regular route to Barton – where passengers, after having then been on the bus for an hour and twenty minutes, were dumped unceremoniously and told to catch the next bus on the same route – an additional 25 minute wait on top of the remaining travel time. The time also included a 14 minute stop on 1st Ave while a technician fixed the fare box. Nobody made any kind of announcement that this would happen, nor an apology for the delay. Total time for this QUARTER of the trip (two buses out to Greenlake, two back) TWO HOURS from downtown to Arbor Heights. If your mindset weren’t so arrongantly clear already, I would expect you to concede your point, but I won’t hold my breath. You weren’t there and you don’t know what you’re talking about.
January 22, 2011 at 6:11 pm #714664
Monosyllabic GirlMemberWhat would it take? How about a way for me to get from my home in West Seattle to my job, at the other end of, wait for it…West Seattle in under an hour. Until then, it’s 10 minutes in the car I’m going to keep using.
January 22, 2011 at 6:19 pm #714665
anonymeParticipantMonosyllabic Girl – I also work and live in West Seattle. There is a small window of time in the morning where I can catch an express, make my west to east connection, and get to work in 40 minutes. The rest of the day it’s an hour to an hour and a half, either way. Difficult to justify. And this is if/when buses are relatively on time.
January 22, 2011 at 6:35 pm #714666
redblackParticipantthere are enough people on the peninsula – about 1/6 of the city – that i think metro could justify a route or two that never leave west seattle/white center, and that frequently cross transfer points to downtown.
the route 51? really? how many people does that route serve, the way it’s currently configured; and what is the cost per rider to maintain it? metro needs to reevaluate it and expand it.
furthermore, i don’t know of any routes that start or end in west seattle that terminate in ballard without primarily serving downtown. i’ve always found it strange that buses never go past seneca street on the viaduct.
January 22, 2011 at 6:51 pm #714667
JanSParticipantredblack, I’ve often wondered that myself. Why should I go downtown when I want to go to Beacon Hill, or Ballard, or Univ. Med. Center. It all seems counterproductive. Direct routes would be so much more convenient. I try to avoid downtown at all costs. I work at home here on the island, so a daily commute doesn’t apply to me ( bedroom to kitchen? lol), but wow..there’s a singular mindset at Metro..all roads lead to downtown :(
January 22, 2011 at 6:53 pm #714668
anonymeParticipantGood points, RB. A WS-only shuttle was suggested on another post recently. I discussed it with Joe Fitzgibbon while he was campaigning, and he liked the idea.
I’ve only taken the Route 51 a few times, but it’s usually pretty empty. That doesn’t mean it should be eliminated, as it is the sole route for the area. However, that route might be a good candidate for expansion into a shuttle route that circumnavigates WS, hitting retail centers and downtown connection points as you suggested.
January 22, 2011 at 6:56 pm #714669
Monosyllabic GirlMemberYep, the West-East/East-West commute is what is difficult and this is a problem across all areas outside the central downtown region. In my utopia, West Seattle would have the city’s first gondola lift or sky bucket system to get around. Fun times and a sweet view. I have yet to submit this idea to the city for them to pooh-pooh it.
January 22, 2011 at 7:05 pm #714670
anonymeParticipantWhat a sweet idea! An unobtrusive, noise and pollution free version of the monorail, running continuously. Hop on, hop off.
Some cities also have a door-to-destination system using vans. They had one called ‘Dial-a-Ride’ when I lived in Ann Arbor. It could sometimes take a while to reach your destination based on how many people called for rides, but was convenient if you’re someone who, for example, does grocery shopping via public transport.
January 22, 2011 at 7:22 pm #714671
redblackParticipantkc metro has done away with DART (dial-a-ride transit) vans? or are they only for people with mobility issues?
regarding the 51, it serves a ridiculously small area of the peninsula, kind of orbiting the charlestown cafe between admiral and alaska junctions. good for grocery-getting in north west seattle, i suppose.
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/cftemplates/show_map.cfm?BUS_ROUTE=051&DAY_NAV=WSU
January 22, 2011 at 8:28 pm #714672
JiggersMemberThere should be a state law requiring that Metro has to have a can of lysol on every bus. I swear that gorillas in the wild smell better than human beings do..(:
January 22, 2011 at 8:53 pm #714673
redblackParticipantJanuary 22, 2011 at 10:33 pm #714674
DianeParticipantI have been begging metro to expand the 51; first, make it go both directions; and extend hours past 7pm
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the 51 stops in front of my building on 37th, and I watch it go by every half hour, empty; I rarely use it, because there’s not a return route, and if I come back from downtown after 7pm, bus is no longer in service; it’s absurd
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I’ve requested at 2 recent Rapid Ride forums to expand the 51, so folks who live in Admiral and other 51 neighborhoods can use it to access major routes down on Alaska; everyone in the Triangle is worried about parking issues; one HUGE & easy solution, expand 51 so people can use it to get to 21, 22, 54, 55, Rapid Ride, instead of having to drive 2+ miles from our homes and park in that area to take buses
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I could also use 51 to catch 56/57, if it ran both ways
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so I’m also curious how much it’s costing to run nearly useless 1-way 51, and how much extra it would be to go both ways, expand hours, where it would actually be used and generate revenue; and solve parking problems for other routes
January 23, 2011 at 12:30 am #714675
maplesyrupParticipantIn my case Metro takes 3 times longer than driving and costs 4 times more.
Hard to justify that no matter how much the environmentalist in me wants to participate.
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