Stranded Buses on Broadway - Originally uploaded by mvbseattle

One thing is certain -- Seattle's next mayor (next results drop: 4:30 PM!) won't have the same old King County Metro snow plan to drag him down. Metro officials have unveiled two more components of an Emergency Service Route Network designed to show people that they did something keep buses moving this winter if our snowy, icy weather trends continue.

• The first is Metro's new emergency routes.

  Route 90 - Download PDF

  
  
  Here's what Seattle Transit Blog had to say about the plan:
  
  

  The 70 routes are basically a core set of Metro’s most important routes, minus some that are obviously impassable in severe weather.  However, there are interesting tidbits for armchair planners, like a new Route 90 that serves as Capitol Hill/First Hill/Downtown Circulator, and a modified Route 39 that is truncated to run between Seward Park and the two nearest light rail stations.

• The second component is a new alerts system that will post route updates on the Metro homepage and send updates on your bus routes to your e-mail or phone. You can sign up for the service here.

These initiatives plus the city's revamped snow plowing strategy -- check out which streets get cleared, which don't -- address a lot of the issues and ideas raised here when we went through a CHS groupthink on Metro's snow problems while the failures were still fresh in mind.

And, if all of this doesn't work, there's always checking in with your friends and sharing information.

FEB182209 37
Originally uploaded by timothygarcia

UPDATE:
According to the County Auditor's office, Metro needs a software upgrade. Today's big items identified for potential savings according to the auditor's briefing:

• Metro could save $16 to $23 million per year by implementing scheduling tools -- ie, improved scheduling software
• Included in this is an up to $19 million savings by improving the 'efficiency' of how bus wait times are handled. The auditor's reports says that 29% of a Metro bus round-trip is wait time and posits that software could better plan factors like driver breaks to reduce wait time.
• Also included is a potential $3.7 million savings from using the scheduling software to determine ways to optimize bus use across the entire Metro system. An example of the potential improvement are the empty buses that return to route bases empty. The auditor's report suggests a better planned system could better deploy those buses so that a bus might serve another route instead of returning back to route bases before being deployed again.
• Additional recommendations included using software to determine driver route assignments, replacing the electric trolley fleet with cheaper-to-operate hybrid buses and cutting back the discount programs offered to riders.

The auditor's report will be split into multiple sessions -- the next is planned for September 15th.

Additional coverage from the Seattle Times here: "In other areas, the report says millions more dollars might be collected by offering riders fewer discounts, and by creating fare-income goals. Fares cover only one-fifth of operating costs currently. On the other hand, higher fares limit ridership."

Original Report:
We'll learn more about cuts coming for the Metro transit system to cover its forecasted $213 million deficit after a 'Transit Performance Audit' is presented at this morning's session of the King County Council's Government Oversight and Accountability Committee. You can watch the session live here.

Council committee to hear of opportunities for cost efficiencies in Metro Transit operations

Briefing on Transit Performance Audit before Government Accountability and Oversight Committee

The King County Auditor’s office will begin presenting the findings of its performance audit of Metro Transit, which faces a projected $213 million deficit, THIS MORNING to the Metropolitan King County Council’s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee: 

9:30 a.m.

Council chambers

10th floor, King County Courthouse

Third and James Streets

The Transit Performance Audit looked for cost-saving opportunities and efficiencies in the areas of financial and capital planning, bus and trolley service, staffing, paratransit, data and technology, and vehicle maintenance.

The first report from the Auditor will focus on service development and efforts to increase the efficiency of the transit system. It will also include analysis of capital and financial planning, trolley replacement costs, and fares.

The audit is bullet point #8 in King County Executive Kurt Triplett's 9-point 'Metro budget action plan.'

Action 8 – Implementing operating efficiencies from the forthcoming transit performance audit recommendations. There is a Metro performance audit currently underway that is likely to identify operating efficiencies that the auditor and Metro staff believe will help the agency achieve some of the efficiencies indicated, particularly in how service is planned and scheduled. To the extent Metro can achieve these efficiencies over the next few years, these savings are likely to offset or “buy back” a portion of the anticipated service reductions. However it is premature to assign a dollar savings to these efficiencies today.

You can read more about what Triplett's office is considering to keep Metro running here: Metro cuts coming: Budget shortfall, cutbacks detailed at public hearing

In a special public hearing at City Hall, the City Council's transportation subcommittee met on Wednesday to discuss the 2010-2011 King County Metro budget, and the plan for overcoming a $700 million revenue shortfall.

In front of a chamber full of transit riders, drivers and concerned citizens, King County Executive Kurt Triplett and King County Metro General Manger Kevin Desmond presented their proposal: a four-year plan to offset the projected $546 million deficit including service cuts, fare increases, and improvement program deferrals. Despite an increase in ridership for the last three years, Desmond stressed the significance of 12-13% drop in sales tax collection which is a main revenue source for Metro.

Alongside Desmond and Triplett were two other panelists: Rob Johnson and John Scholes of Transportation choices and the Downtown Seattle Association respectively. Johnson informed the public in attendance that transit cuts were not a King County exclusive issue, citing that 90% of public transit systems...

Station Symbols
Originally uploaded by brennenbirch

The final extension to Sea-Tac in the first link in Seattle's light rail system will be open by 'the end of the year,' Sound Transit says. Even without the last rail miles completed, Seattlest shows us how to get to the airport via light rail from Capitol Hill:

Instead of mimicking Seattle’s big-time media outlet, which spent the new light rail’s first in-service day counting parking slots in Tukwila and heads on trains, we decided to give the new line a practical test. Our goal: to get from Capitol Hill to SeaTac (and back).

The route:

• The 10 bus to Westlake (4 min.),
• A light rail ride from Westlake Center to Tukwila (34 min.)
• A shuttle bus from the Tukwila station to the airport (9 min.)

Not bad. Of course, Seattlest left out our biggest travel downfall -- packing (8 hours). Fortunately, there's still brand new Neighborlogs Seattle network sponsor STITA Taxi when we're late.

For more on taking light rail to the airport, see No airport express for light rail from earlier this year.

Metro gets another quarter from you -- starting yesterday. Here's the PDF announcement. Sorry to any CHS readers caught unawares and left scrambling for change on the bus. I'm not a passholder but occasionally use the bus when I'm out chasing news. Using cash usually means a discount, btw. I can't remember the last time a driver wanted to wait for me to fumble another dollar bill into the slot. Still, the increase means many of us will have to cut back elsewhere. I calculate the hike will cost me and my CHS business another 75 cents per week seriously eating into my profit margin.

We recently posted about the possibility that Broadway will have a streetcar by 2012. When Scott from Central District News shared the scoop with us, he also included some interesting thoughts about the future of transit on Capitol Hill. Not long after 2020, the Hill is going to be the public transit capital of the city.

Capitol Hill will be connected to three major rail projects

• University Link
• East Link
• Seattle streetcar

Here's how Scott says they all might fit together:

Once the new Sound Transit additions are finished in 2020 or whenever, there will be two lines running.  The cool thing is that the new route to the eastside doesn't just go to downtown Seattle.  They keep going all the way north to Lynnwood.  That basically doubles the light rail service that you'll see on the hill:

Route 1: Lynwood to Federal Way - every 7 minutes peak, 10 minutes off-peak*

Route 2: Microsoft to Lynwood (via I-90) - every 7 minutes peak, 10 minutes off-peak

What that means for you...

Unless the Central District takes it away from us! Just kidding, Central District News -- we can share.

CDN reports on the repercussions being felt from the passage of Prop 1 on Election Day.

...if things go as planned, preliminary engineering work could start as soon as February 2009 and the system could go into service sometime between 2012 and 2016 depending on the availability of funding.

The street car is intended to fill the gap caused when First Hill lost their light rail station due to the risk and cost of constructing a facility deep underground at Broadway & Madison.  The streetcar's route would connect the International District light rail station with the forthcoming underground station on Capitol Hill at Broadway & Denny.  As originally conceived, the tracks would be run east on Jackson to 12th, then north on Broadway to Denny Way.

But, CDN notes, the plan is still ripe for modification. There's hope for a route that would also pass through a portion of the Central District -- meanwhile, some are advocating...

Lots of you will be taking the #10 this morning -- it's a good route that takes you directly to Volunteer Park. But it's also probably going to be crowded and as the main route to the park, will likely face delays with all the activity in the area. Better than parking. But also consider another solution -- the humble Route 43.

The #10 route

Below you'll find a link to the Google map for taking the 43 from downtown to the eastern borders of Capitol Hill. From there, it's a brisk stroll to the park. Shouldn't take you more than 10, maybe 12 minutes. Good warm-up for marching.

The 43 route

Here's the roundup of police activity from a rainy Veterans Day. If you noticed some police activity involved with the 49 bus, explanation is below.

Central District News East Precinct Scanner - Capitol Hill - Tues. 11/11/2008 - Full Report

10:00AM - Broadway & E. Pine - Warrant Arrest - Caller says there's a man with a no-bail felony escape warrant on the property. Database says he may be armed. You can recognize him from his blonde mohawk

1:15PM - 14th & E. Madison - Suspicious Circumstance - A man is standing by Bank of America, watching customers using the ATM machine. One asked him to back off and he refused. Black male, 16, 5'4", red dice earrings (awesome!), yellow jacket, baggy jeans

2:02PM - 400 Broadway E - Assault - One in custody for assault, unknown circumstance

3:31PM - 115 Broadway E. - Fight - 3 males in a physical fight across from Dick's. Update: Police are detaining a group of suspected assailants near Broadway & John, including a white female who a 2nd caller...

• Capitol Hill renter gets caught in bureaucratic mess, lives in apartment without electricity for months.
• The Bam Bam Bandit was hanging 'round Capitol Hill.
• How light rail impacts bus service. CDN looks at changes coming to bus service in the Central District.
• Where to score soap made by a third-generation soapmaker on Capitol Hill.
• I am a first-generation neighborhood blogger.
• If you've missed it, WaMu ex-prez's Capitol Hill house is for sale. Things I've learned from the ongoing coverage:
  o House is located at 1642 Federal Ave. E. and abuts the cemetery which is spooky if you've seen Poltergeist
  o If you somebody notable at all, don't allow gargantuan portrait to be visible in real estate listing
  o Everybody loves hydrangeas
  o Jean Enersen used to live there

A few things transit, a few things food.

• More opportunities to catch a bus on Capitol Hill, pretty much everywhere in Seattle.
• The best breakfast on Capitol Hill?
• The best sandwich?
• The start of the great CHS Cobblestone Survey of 2008
• Thursday night, Sound Transit is hosting a walking tour of the area where light rail station construction is slated to begin this winter.
• There will be a grassy park on Broadway this Friday. Want to help by sitting in it?
  

Neighbor Uncle Vinny wants to help you figure out Capitol Hill's bus routes. So, he shared this localized Capitol Hill bus map last week.

Uncle Vinny's Capitol Hill Bus Map

Now, graphic design blog oddmart has created another way to visualize the Hill's public transit routes with what they call the Capitol Hill Octopus map.

oddmart's Capitol Hill Octopus Map

We'll find a place to add a link to this post in the site navigation so they'll be just a click away whenever you need.