Comments on: Bus Displacement

By: john

john — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:25:41 +0000

minorities are NOT underrepresented in our public transportation.
It has been proven that the article is full of misinformation. why defend her?

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:59:46 +0000

john, she was contrasting the route 42 to Link. It’s a legitimate thing to ask. To NOT ask if minorities are underrepresented on Link is racist.

By: john

john — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:24:50 +0000

I absolutely cannot believe Seattle Weekly’s editors let this article ever go to print! It is so misinformed, and blatantly racist, that I am beyond myself. Anyone in the Seattle metro area can ride the new light rail for themselves and see that not anyone race prefers it as transportation- like the metro area itself, riders on the light rail are multi ethnic.
I should mention that i sent the author, Nina Shapiro- a few pictures of my first ride on the train, on the monday after it opened.
Had i known at the time that I would have to come out in defense of Seattle’s multiple non white ethnic groups, I would have gone out of my way to show color. regardless- I sent her quite a few random shots, all showing nothing but non white people.
It is sick that it has come down to this. Racism is alive and well.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:13:28 +0000

What is poor routing the Metro “feeder” service or running Link down MLK. In the first case I’m inclined to agree, not sure what could be done given the service hours availible. In the second case given the physical reality of an up and running Link line I don’t see the point of continuing to debate this. Griping about Central link routing isn’t going to move the line. I’d suggest anyone who doesn’t like the current routing put their efforts toward something more positive like better feeder service, denser pedestrian-oriented zoning for station areas, or encouraging private all-day pay parking near stations.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:24:42 +0000

I was one of the first transportation experts to say this is poor routing.

By: Elbar

Elbar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:50:26 +0000

I was also confused about this. I am a senior with a Reduced Fare Permit with a Metro annual sticker/pass attached, which expires at the end of January. When I asked staff in Metro info booth at Westlakei was told I did not need to purchase a separate ticket to ride Link, just show my RFP with the Metro sticker attached. Haven’t tried it yet, so I hope it works. When Metro sticker expires was told I can get a Senior Orca card instead of Metro sticker.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:56:36 +0000

A comment and 2 questions:
1. Folks may be taking the bus vs rail because they figured out as I did that the off peak price for bus is $1.75 vs $2.00 for rail. The only way around this is to wait for and stop a bus and get a transfer and then get on the rail. Something I did the first day but would not do on a regular basis. By the time the bus comes, I might as well get on it.

2. Are there any plans to provide feeder rides to the light rail?
I have asked a number of Metro employees and no one knows of such a thing.

Rationale: The existing Metro bus plan is NOT an adequate “feeder” system. The bus routes go South-North mostly parallel to the rail. In the case of the 39, by the time it crosses over MLK, it has made most of it’s stop and go stops, and travels quite quickly to downtown. (There might be minutes savings on the rail but not when you count transfer time.) The changes posted for Sept 2009 and Feb 2010 are no better in terms of feeder.

Rationale: Many households with small children, elderly and others will find it difficult and impractical to walk more than 1/4 mile (1/2/ mile +) to get to the light rail stations. Limited parking has been dealt with in other blogs, but why not have short van routes East-West from Seward Park, south Beacon Hill, Hillman City, etc.? Heh, it would be great if everyone would walk and get fit, but that ain’t gonna happen, plus it is not practical for everyone.

Rationale: Many of us WANT to use light rail and totally support public transportation. The whole Rainier Valley has dealt with this construction mess for years. However in reality there are only 3 stops and not all of us live next door.

3. How many of you would use a private van service to the rail, for something like a $1-2 fee (on top of Metro fee)?

By: Martin H. Duke

Martin H. Duke — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:54:49 +0000

Casey,

I’ve been covering this from day one, so that no news to me. That’s why I said “effectively”.

By: Casey

Casey — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:27:01 +0000

Correction to your post: Yes the 42X will be deleted, and the 48, south of MT. Baker. But the 42 will still run. But it will use the routing to terminate where the Columbia City 48 does. And remember the 8 will run all the way to Rainier Beach in Sept for most hours of the day, until 11 or 11:30pm i believe. Also, the 106 will change to operate between Link Rail and Rainier/Henderson on Henderson St, as will the 8, 9X, 107. So more options to get betwwen Rainier Beach and the Train. And the 107, will have new routing in Rainier View and Skyway, and will serve Rainier Beach Station. All 42X commuters can use the train and connect to the 107 @ Rainier Beach Station.

By: ST Guy

ST Guy — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:44:07 +0000

Most daily riders buy a monthly pass valued at the total cost of their daily trips, so no extra charge for transferring to a more expensive ride. People sometimes forget that in addition to the e-purse capacity of the ORCA (covers fares on a ride by ride basis) you can also put a Flex-Pass or Puget Pass on the card; the ORCA will then function exactly like your old white plastic cards that you buy and throw away every month (or year)

By: ST Guy

ST Guy — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:40:08 +0000

“…pay $5 just to be able to get a transfer.” That’s completely bogus. As has been pointed out, ORCA cards are now being distributed FREE, and it’s a permanent card! You don’t have to buy it every month! It can be reloaded, maybe not an infinite number of times, but many many times.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:42:35 +0000

I think you bring up a valid point, all of the local agencies and ORCA could do a better job presenting information, particularly for people who may be more comfortable with languages other than English. The Sound Transit TVMs need to support a number of languages as well. At the very least I’d say Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese, though Korean, Somali, and Russian wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
The language used to explain ORCA and the other fare and payment systems is particularly confusing even to native English speaking transit wonks. ORCA and the other fare and payment systems need to be explained in simple and clear language.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:05:09 +0000

I really hope that the ORCA PR campaign uses some variant of the phrase “I’d tap that.”

By: heinousbitca

heinousbitca — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:29:12 +0000

oh-so-true.

i am kind of amazed that ever-so-white Nina claims that us brown folks aren’t riding the light rail. we *are* (and so are the white folks, too…), it’s just that if you take your random samples in the white, er, i mean right places, you can game the numbers to show what you want.

there were no seats to be had, and some standees, on two of the four light rail trips i took this week. while i didn’t count people on the basis of race (and make snap judgments about if that girl was half Korean or not), it looked not entirely unlike the quilt of people you expect to see in the Rainier Valley.

then again while we’re at it there were significantly more people on all four of these trains than the city’s print media would have you believe.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:15:41 +0000

A couple of additions & corrections:
ST table at Tukwila was cash only.
Parking lot at Tukwila was a bit less than full (not half full as I wrote)
Saw 3 motorized wheelchairs over the course of the day – the rest of the riders seemed a pretty diverse cross section of the Seattle population

The hunting in the front car coming down from Tukwila seemed much better than 2 weeks ago, thought the rear car on the train I went south on fish-tailed a bit between about the KCMetro South Base and where the railway turns to head uphill to Tukwila Sta as had happened on 18 July.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:32:06 +0000

I did the same thing on Saturday – left Westlake about 1225 and rode all the way to Tukwila. Sparsely populated all the way; perhaps 2 dozen or so in each of the cars on the 2 car train as we left the ID mostly empty by the time we left Othello. There were clearly a few first time riders and others “checking it out” on a regular Saturday. Spent about 20 Minutes wandering around the Tukwila station taking pictures. Four TVMs all working, 2 ST staff plus security/ST Polizei there. One of the staff members had a card table set up for cash and VISA/MC sales and was doing an ok business. Parking lot was a bit less than half full, and perhaps 50 people got on the train I got off before it left northward. After that train and another left, I boarded a train that had about 50 people in each card and which departed around 1325. I rode north getting of at each station to photograph the art and some of the station details all the while keeping an eye on the number of people and being blasted by the noise from the US Navy’s aerobats. A dozen total or so people got off the 3 trains I saw at RB, and a dozen or more detrained at Othello off each of the 4 trains I saw arrive and leave there. I tapped out there and walked the neighborhood a bit – lots of business doing briskly at 1400 Saturday and the school buses were available to take folks over to the hydro pits. Columbia City was very quiet as was Mt Baker; 2 or 3 off and on each train I saw. The northward train I joined at Mt Baker appeared to have few or no seats left; a few boarded at BH, lots got off at Stadium and the ID as did I to have lunch at the Uwajimaya food court.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:05:21 +0000

Thanks for bringing up the Caucasian term. A friend visiting from Russia here once was incredulous that all Americans of European descent are referred to as Caucasian. He pointed out that in Moscow, Causasians (i.e., people from the Caucasus) are a heavily discriminated-against minority

By: It's like the 70's never ended...

It's like the 70's never ended... — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:50:31 +0000

The only thing more shocking than finding out that they still publish “The Weekly” is learning that they still publish “The Daily”.

But then again, if you are going to print an error, it’s best to print it in a publication that no one reads.

By: anonymouse

anonymouse — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:34:29 +0000

In Switzerland there is also an annual all-of-Switzerland pass. Lets you ride any bus, train, or tram in the country, and includes the more transit-like cable cars and such. Costs something like $3000 per year, but if you travel a lot, it’s worth it. I can imagine something like this (and with a similar price) being valid in, say, all the cities on the Cascade Corridor between Vancouver and Eugene, and on the Amtrak trains between them, for about the $3000 price.

By: Taurus

Taurus — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:03:37 +0000

I should have mentioned that this train I was on left Westlake at about 4:30 in the afternoon. The trip from Westlake to Tukwila took 36 minutes.