Over the past week on the Seattle Transit Blog, Seattle City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen, Mike O’Brien, Sally Bagshaw, and Tim Burgess wrote about their bus commutes and how Proposition 1 will help solve many of the problems they route faces on a daily basis.
You can read their posts on the Seattle Transit Blog, or read them all after the jump.
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
On Wednesday morning, I took the 54 to get to City Hall. I wanted to see how folks were switching to transit and adapting from their normal commute during the closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Riding the 54 was also important because I wanted to write about how the route will change both with RapidRide and with the improvements to the route if Seattle’s Prop 1 passes.
The 54 is one of Metro’s workhorse routes. It goes from White Center along Roxbury to the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal then along California Ave SW to the Alaska Junction. It then heads down the hill on Avalon and onto the West Seattle Bridge and into downtown via 4th Avenue. Along with the 120 bus that runs on Delridge, the 54 carries most of West Seattle’s daily bus passengers.
Next fall, most of the 54 will be converted into Metro’s RapidRide C line. Today the route runs at about 15 minute intervals during the peak commute hours. RapidRide will bring more frequent bus service throughout the day, but it won’t make a difference if those buses are stuck in traffic. That’s where Prop 1 comes in.
Prop 1 will build on improvements already funded through Bridging the Gap, including more queue jumps that allow buses to get a head start at busy intersections and bus only lanes through stretches of the route where buses typically get backed up. Bus bulbs will be added to allow buses to more quickly load passengers and get moving again without having to merge in and out of traffic.
If Prop 1 passes, the combined SDOT investments in this corridor will reduce the time it takes to get downtown by 16% and will provide a level of reliability that makes it dramatically easier to plan your commute. More after the jump.
Starting at the Junction, I had to wait about 10 minutes at the California and Alaska as the 54 was running late. While I was waiting, County Councilmember Joe McDermott came walking up to catch the shuttle to the water taxi. It would’ve been nice to have real time arrival information at the bus stop, so we would’ve known whether we had time to get out of the cold and get a cup of coffee.
It was about 6:45 a.m., still dark and very windy, which made me appreciate the fact that Prop 1 will pay for improved bus stops – better shelters, improved lighting, security cameras and real time arrival information provided with the GPS-equipped buses now coming on line.
As we started heading down Avalon, traffic was getting heavier but we were able to use the bus only lane. As we merged into the bus only lane leading to the West Seattle Bridge I could see the advantage of a bus-only lane. It was not only faster but prevented the bus from having to make a dangerous merge as it got onto the West Seattle Bridge. On the West Seattle Bridge, the bus only lane allowed us to zoom past traffic. We definitely need more of these through the corridor.
But then traffic hit gridlock as we exit onto 4th Ave S. There are no bus only lanes or queue jumps here, so we moved slowly through SODO (to a moving at a snail’s pace at some intersections) and even more so as we got closer to downtown and merged onto Third Avenue.
All in all though, not a bad ride. But, it was late and it wasn’t fast either – 42 minutes from the Junction if you include the 10 minute wait for the 54. I can’t help but wonder how many people don’t ride the bus because it’s not as dependable as it could be: late arrivals, stuck in traffic (especially on the parts of the route without any transit improvements).
RapidRide service will definitely make it better, but I know we can make this route and others across the city more reliable and speedier with passage of Prop 1.
In West Seattle, Delridge is also a high priority and will see improvement if Prop 1 passes. In addition to the bus corridor improvements, Delridge will also get new pavement. California and Admiral will get lots of new pedestrian safety improvements and we’ll have money to tackle some of the challenges on 35th Ave SW and other areas where it feels unsafe to walk or ride a bike.
Please turn in your ballots and vote with me for Prop. 1. We’ll get safer streets and faster transit with Prop 1.
Councilmember Mike O’Brien
I want to share my recent experience as I rode Metro’s Route 5 north to the Greenwood neighborhood and how this corridor would be different if Prop 1 passes. I ride transit throughout the city, but I frequent routes 5, 44 and 358 the most because they all serve my neighborhood. Route 5 stands to benefit significantly if Proposition 1 passes next week. The route connects the major job centers and transit hubs of Downtown and Northgate, the neighborhood business districts of Phinney Ridge and Greenwood, Shoreline Community College, and significant residential populations along the route.
The Phinney Ridge/Greenwood/Broadview corridor is called out in the city’s Transit Master Plan (TMP) for speed and reliability investments which Prop 1 would fund. So, what exactly does that mean? It means investing in a series of infrastructure investments along a transit corridor to make the bus service operate much more efficiently. Here is a undown of some of the investments slated for this corridor:
- Bus Bulbs:Bus bulbs are a brilliant low cost/high return investment. There are 35 locations identified in the TMP where bus bulbs would be installed along Route 5. The benefit of bus bulbs is easily illustrated.Anyone who rides the bus is familiar with this experience. When the bus pulls out of traffic to pick up or drop off a passenger, it only takes a few seconds, but often the bus is trapped by passing traffic, forcing the bus to wait up to 30 seconds or more before there is an opening to re-enter the travel lane. This happened on my trip north, but could be a thing of the past if Prop 1 passes. Bus bulbs extend the sidewalk or passenger platform out to the travel lane, allowing buses to quickly drop or pick up passengers while remaining in the travel lane. Then the bus can be on its way without waiting for traffic to clear.On average, each bus bulb can save up to 8 seconds for a bus. With 18 bulbs in one direction, that’s 2.5 minutes off of each trip, every day, indefinitely into the future. These minutes alone add up to a regular commuter, but they also bring significant savings to the system. Route 5 makes about 75 trips in each direction on a weekday. The minutes saved add up to over 1,600 service hours for this route. Those 1,600 service hours saved can be re-deployed to add more service to the system every single year, without us having to pay for additional service hours year after year.Aside from providing a travel time benefit, when bus bulbs are paired with crosswalks, they serve to narrow the crossing distance of arterials, making it safer for pedestrians.
- Transit Signal Priority. The TMP calls out 14 traffic lights to be modified for transit priority in this corridor. Buses are given priority at a light when an approaching bus signals to the traffic light, causing the light to stay green if it is currently green until the bus passes, or switching to green earlier if the light is red. It is estimated that these changes will save up to 10% of wait time at each signal. This means more time saved for bus riders, and more service hours for the system.
- Queue Jump Lanes. Four queue jump locations are identified in the TMP for this corridor. These are implemented at busy intersections and allow the bus to clear the intersection ahead of other vehicle traffic. Queue jumps can save up to 25% of travel time at these intersections. While riding the Route 5, at 85th and Greenwood, my bus missed a complete light cycle. A queue jump would have allowed the fifty of us riding the bus to get through that light swiftly and in advance of other vehicle traffic.
The beauty of these investments is that while any single one may make a rather modest savings in time, when combined, they start to add up to a real meaningful travel time savings for each rider. Metro estimated up to a 20% time savings on each corridor upgraded. Adding up the savings on the TMP corridors will result in a savings of thousands of service hours, which then can be re-deployed back into the system to improve service. Best of all, once we make these investments, we reap the benefits for years to come.
Please join me in voting yes on Prop 1 and encouraging your friends to do the same, so we all can enjoy the great transit service we all want for Seattle.
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
As Chair of the Parks and Seattle Center Committee, I regularly take the bus to community centers and Parks meetings. I want to experience for myself how long it takes to get to a neighborhood on the bus and see what the ride is like.
The problem with taking the bus from downtown Seattle, where I live and work, is that it’s relatively easy to get OUT of town after work, but substantially more difficult to get back INTO town after a late evening meeting. On a dark or rainy night, I admit this makes my decision to take the bus more challenging.
Monday evening I took the bus to Interlaken Park at the north end of Capitol Hill. Hopping on the Metro Route 12 at 5:06 p.m., I jumped off at the end of the route on 19th Avenue E and E Galer Street about 25 minutes later. (For you walkers and joggers, Interlaken Park is a 51.7-acre park, a densely wooded haven on the north end of Capitol Hill. It’s a gem.)
Route 12 is an electric trolley bus with frequent service to Capitol Hill – roughly every 10 minutes during commute hours, every 15 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes later in the evening.
Route 12 was standing-room-only this evening. Two darling children dressed for Halloween crowded into one seat across from me with their mother; a young man in a strap t-shirt offered me his seat when I got on. I appreciated his kindness. More after the jump.
As we passed over I-5 on Madison Street I noticed that cars on both the north bound lanes and the south bound lanes were crawling along. When our bus crossed Boren Avenue. I saw that vehicles going both directions were at a dead stand still. Without dedicated bus lanes, buses were every bit as stuck in the traffic as cars.
As my bus strained to get up the hill behind start-and-stop traffic, I thought how much better we could make this route with additional funding from Proposition 1.
Among other smart investments – funds received from Proposition 1 will be used to improve transit signal priority on many routes which use Madison St, including the Route 12, resulting in faster service for thousands of passengers.
In some corridors, a bus-only lane during rush hour will increase both service reliability and speed,thereby making buses the easy choice for commuters. I’d certainly take the bus more frequently if I KNEW I could get where I was going faster than if I drove my car, searched for a place to park, paid for that place to park, and walked to my destination.
One of Metro’s goals is to improve productivity, meaning attracting more riders and filling up more buses. Imagine being able to walk to your stop, get real time information about arrival of your bus, and know with confidence that the next bus is less than five minutes away. Even if you had to do errands after work, being able to get around faster than you could in your car would be a real incentive to take the bus first.
We can move toward these goals if we vote YES for Proposition 1 and invest in our transit infrastructure. We know that fixing what is broken and finishing what we started makes plain sense. Letting our infrastructure deteriorate further is truly a wretched response that we’ll pay for later.
Please join me in supporting Proposition 1. It’s a wise investment for all of us including those cute trick-or-treaters on my bus.
Councilmember Tim Burgess
I took a different route to work Wednesday morning. Instead of the Metro #3 or #4, I hustled down to lower Queen Anne and hopped on the #8 bound for Capitol Hill.
I chose this route because the Queen Anne-to-Capitol Hill-to Rainier Valley route will receive significant improvements if the voters approve Proposition 1 next week.
I caught the 7:38a.m. trip at the corner of Queen Anne Avenue North and Mercer Street, just a minute after OneBusAway told me it would arrive. Of course, with Prop 1, instead of relying on a bus app (as great as it is), riders could just look to the real-time information signs that display when the next bus is coming.
Efficiency improvements from Prop 1 include transit priority traffic signals and curb bulbs at stops so buses can pick-up and drop-off without having to pull to the curb. Metro reports that the average speed of a bus in Seattle is between 6 and 8 miles per hour. The improvements will help increase these speeds to 10 to 12 miles per hour, a significant difference if you’re trying to get to work, home or school.
One of the first differences I noticed as we traveled east on Denny Way toward Capitol Hill was the age of my fellow riders; much younger than my regular transit experience to and from work. Most looked like students on their way to Seattle Central Community College or Seattle U. We had the usual collection of office workers, too.
What if this bus had a little device that would change the traffic signals for our benefit and turn them green to keep buses moving faster? That would help a lot along a congested street like Denny Way. Proposition 1 will make that investment, improving travel times for all riders. More after the jump.
After we got to the top of the hill I realized I needed to get off the bus (thank you, OneBusAway), since I wasn’t actually headed to Rainier Valley, so I could transfer to a downtown bus. I executed that move flawlessly. My transfer bus (Metro #49) arrived seven minutes later. While I waited, my mind took me back to the 1950s when my mom and I rode the bus from our Capitol Hill house to downtown. The stretch along Broadway was my favorite because it was so familiar, but the view toward downtown when we made the turn on Pine Street was the most exciting. At my young age, the big city looming before us represented drama, something new I dreamed about exploring by myself someday.
Transit services like Metro are so important for cities. They move large numbers of people comfortably and efficiently. They provide an excellent alternative to single occupancy vehicles and help protect our environment. They provide vital transportation services for thousands of people who can’t afford any other option. That’s why investing strategically, like Proposition 1 calls for, is so wise even in tough economic times.
A lot has been said about the regressive nature of vehicle license fee, but investing in transit and good transportation infrastructure is one of the best things we can do for our low-income neighbors. Better service, faster service, more efficient service, these are values that help everyone.