(Image: City of Seattle)
Seattle is shaping a plan to permanently share its public transit stops with the fleet of corporate shuttles that serve companies around the city and the Eastside.
The Seattle City Council’s transportation committee Tuesday will hear an update on efforts that will make a “Shuttle Zones” pilot program in place since 2017 a permanent part of the city’s transit strategy while establishing a new fee structure and application process. The city would also collect more data from employers about ridership and more.
The use of corporate shuttles serving single employers has grown significantly in the last decade as large employers like Microsoft and Amazon were boosted by state law and found the systems to be a useful benefit for their workers seeking to avoid driving to work but looking for an often more efficient, nicer ride than public transit. CHS reported here in 2016 on Microsoft’s introduction of larger and more frequent buses on its routes serving Capitol Hill.
According to the briefing to be presented to the council committee Tuesday, the permanent program would continue a pilot started in 2016 that opens many of the city’s bus stops used by King County Metro to be used as pickup and dropoff spaces by the corporate shuttles. The updated program would include a fee structure that would double the shuttle vehicle permit to $600 a year and require companies pay $5,000 per location per year for each stop on their routes.
The shuttles would continue to be able to use 3- and 30-minute load zones “if they fit” but a new administrative fee of $305 per hour would be required to establish the curbs as “Shuttle Zones.”
According to the presentation, officials say the five-year-old pilot produced “no major impacts to transit or roadway operations” and categorize the effort as “a successful pilot operation with no negative feedback.”
The application process would likely exclude “stops with highest potential for conflicts” including RapidRide stations, stops along dedicated bus lanes, and Seattle’s “busiest stops.”
Following this week’s briefing, the council is slated to pick up legislation enabling the permanent program next month along with other changes in rules at the Seattle Department of Transportation. According to the presentation, the goal is to roll out the updated program in early 2023.
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Sounds like a simple way to cause CFO’s of Msft/Google/etc. to de-invest from non-car transport; and just have more cars, more traffic, more pollution on our roads.
We need to be NOT punishing companies who are investing in non-car transport.
Punishing? In this context, non-car transport is just business shuttles, large private vehicles wanting large public areas for their businesses, many of which have large parking garages with lots of private assigned parking for their employees. Personally, I like the use of the already allocated bus zones but am not in favor of the very limited curbside 3-30 min areas for shuttle zones. Our public roads and limited parking are already choked with the entitled above businesses shuttles, hardly asking too much for them to pony up these meager fees to use prime public allocations. ever try and have family and friends drive into the city core and easily find an area to park?
We’re talking about private companies getting access to public resources that ordinary drivers aren’t permitted to use. Even under the proposed fee structure, the city is subsidizing, not penalizing, these companies.
With my employer’s offices being at 5% capacity, this sounds like a great way to encourage them to shut down or scale back their shuttle services in favor of more WFH investment.
Mercer is full of company shuttles, Amazon, Microsoft, Expedia… where do you get that 5% figure?
How nice for those working in tech who are going back into the office. Now if only the city could figure out a way to get bus service back at their stops for the rest of us, too.
The city has encouraged residents to go carless for years, even reducing parking requirements. Now those who have done it are stuck. Even before the recent workforce shortage, Metro was planning cuts to services; the Seattle Transit Blog noted in 2020 that the city was aiming to slash service on every line in the city. (and yes, I am still bitter about the loss of the #47).
I realize this might be a little off-topic but I feel like the reason these stops are available for private use is that they are shortchanging the rest of the community using transit.
I have to agree with your view point and concerns.
Misguided attempt to get people to use Light Rail over bus lines. The Light Rail system will be wonderful in 30 years when it covers the city, for now it’s a money pit pulling $$ from bus lines people actually used to use.