I’ve been at my new job for almost two weeks now. Things are going well – it’s always fun to work with smart people on new technology projects, and I’ve been very blessed throughout my career to be in that situation often.
But as always, getting to and from work is its own adventure. I still live out in the Fairwood area and this new job is downtown near the Convention Center. My last job was also a tough commute – to downtown Bellevue – but my early work schedule (6am-3pm) allowed me to avoid the traffic (mostly). For this job, I have little interest in getting into work that early – most people aren’t in by 9 – but I had a plan.
First of all, I do get reimbursed for monthly travel expenses, but not enough to cover the monthly rates at nearby garages. So my plan was to put a chunk of money on my Orca card every month and take the bus to and from the South Renton Park & Ride, but also drive in on days when having my car at the end of the day was necessary (like if I needed to go to DL and hang with Darryl and Carl – which might happen tomorrow night). I calculated out how many days a month I’d be able to drive in, pay for daily parking, and still get reimbursed. It was more than enough, about 7-8 times.
The plan was set. The first Monday rolls around and I arrive at the South Renton Park & Ride at about 8:20am. The whole damn lot was full. Not good. So I drive to the light rail station in Tukwila and get one of the last parking spots in the spillover lot at around 8:40am. I ride the light rail in.
So even after that, I’m still thinking I can get in via light rail every day. The ride from my house to the Tukwila light rail stop is a little longer. But I really like being able to read a book or work on my laptop while I commute. So Tuesday morning, I arrive at the light rail station at about 8:35am. No luck. Every spot is taken. I stewed in my car for a few minutes, checked traffic conditions on my phone, and decided to just drive in. I realized at that point that I had two options: either become more of an early bird, or just cough up the few extra bucks a month it would cost me for a monthly parking pass. I chose the latter.
As much as I enjoy being able to ride into work, I just had little interest in having to worry about whether or not there’d be a parking spot at a transit point every day. Car commutes are stressful, but I do like to know with certainty how I’m getting to Point B when I walk out the door. It was a bit of a rude awakening that my transit options weren’t as convenient as I’d hoped they be.
One of the most insane features of the late monorail project was it made no provision for parking.
One of the more inane features of light rail is there are only a couple hundred parking spaces for the tens of thousands of commuters expected to ride light rail from Northgate.
Some years ago, I attended a public hearing at WSDOT on a scheme to charge commuters $6 a day to park in Park And Ride lots they had already paid for with their taxes. To minimize attendance, the hearing was held in mid-afternoon on a workday at a suburban location. It almost worked; I was the only attendee who wasn’t a WSDOT official, poliician, or consultant shilling for the plan. Rest assured I made up for the thousands of angry commuters who couldn’t attend because they were tied up at their jobs trying to make a living.
Parking is the bane of cities and motorists alike. It’s not sufficient to tell people to “get out of their cars.” Bicycles, buses, or walking doesn’t work for everyone, especially in blustery winter weather that makes some people (and fauna) sick just by going outdoors. Here’s the reality: Commuter mass transit just doesn’t work without adequate parking!
Planners, take heed!
A story in the Republican Times today says the county council is considering a plan to impose a new $20 annual car registration fee to raise money to avoid bus service cutbacks. I support this. Even though I no longer commute, and therefore hardly ever ride the buses, 20 bucks a year per vehicle is a small price to pay to maintain our bus service. Whether this fee shows up on a ballot depends on whether the council can muster enough votes to get a supermajority.
why not just raise the bus fares?
why should car owners pay for bus riders? seems kinda back asswards to me.
@3
They’ve actually raised the bus fares quite a few times over the past few years.
why should car owners pay for bus riders?
Because the more people that can take buses, the less cars there are clogging up the roads. In other words, more bus transit helps car owners too – so each should pay for the service.
Oh Hell if KC hasn’t heard the people of this state on car tabs, they will again. Raise the bus fees if the riders want more buses on the road.
I like the presumption, in the comments of a post on park and rides no less, that there’s an inherent difference between car owners and bus riders. As a car owner and a bus rider (and one whose work pays for my commute, so the car tabs come out of my pocket and the Orca Card doesn’t) I’m happy to pay the extra.
How about opening the market to competition, or at least contract out the services? There are place that have jitney services that pick up passengers at home and take them to the train on the East Coast. There are other places in the world where neighborhood circulators are used to pick people up close to their homes and later connect with an express service or BRT.
Sometimes looking at what works is not in the plans of the planners.
@5
I’m glad youre happy to pay the extra…I’m not.
a good portion of the people riding busses are derelict losers who dont own cars anyway, so they arent going to clog the roads.
Sorry Lee, I dont buy the argument that people who HAVE to drive to work should pay the bus fare for those who CHOOSE to ride the bus.
Lee, there’s a couple of private park-and-ride lots at the Rainier Beach light rail station, on the east side of MLK. Don’t know what the rates are, but it’s worth an inquiry.
I do have to chuckle at all the comments, even here, that presume that the only way to get to a light rail station is to drive and park. Metro transit has tweaked up its bus routes to serve nearly all the Link stations. That always-full parking lot at Tukwila Link station? Right under where the trains stop is a huge island served by a half-dozen or so Metro and Sound Transit bus routes.
And the Northgate Link station will be fed by a couple dozen bus routes from both Snohomish and King counties. Yes, buses and bicycles and walking don’t work for everybody, but have you complainers ever thought about the cost, both social and financial, of providing parking lots at most rail stations? How many more homes and businesses would Sound Transit have to tear down to provide a 350-square-foot parking spots for your precious automobile in Columbia City?
The issue did come up, and the neighborhoods spoke with one voice: don’t turn our neighborhoods into suburban parking lots for car commuters.
@7
a good portion of the people riding busses are derelict losers who dont own cars anyway, so they arent going to clog the roads.
That’s complete bullshit. Even in Washington DC, only 20% of bus riders are carless, and we have far greater car ownership here and less poverty. The vast majority of bus riders are people who own cars, but choose not to use them.
Sorry Lee, I dont buy the argument that people who HAVE to drive to work should pay the bus fare for those who CHOOSE to ride the bus.
People who ride the bus pay the taxes to go towards road repair – even the roads that Metro buses don’t go on. You’re not paying for the fares, you’re paying for the existence of a bus system that benefits you directly (by reducing car traffic).
Want to keep making an ass of yourself?
Dance, monkey, dance!
@8
Lee, there’s a couple of private park-and-ride lots at the Rainier Beach light rail station, on the east side of MLK. Don’t know what the rates are, but it’s worth an inquiry.
Thanks, that might be worthwhile to check out. It’s definitely conceivable that I’ll tire of driving all the way in after a while.
I do have to chuckle at all the comments, even here, that presume that the only way to get to a light rail station is to drive and park. Metro transit has tweaked up its bus routes to serve nearly all the Link stations. That always-full parking lot at Tukwila Link station? Right under where the trains stop is a huge island served by a half-dozen or so Metro and Sound Transit bus routes.
I don’t live along a Metro bus route, so I have to drive somewhere and I haven’t found any place closer than the South Renton P&R where I can park my car all day and get downtown. Ideally, I’d love for there to be a P&R right in Fairwood. The buses that go in and out of the Tukwila light rail station don’t help much if they don’t come from a P&R.
And the Northgate Link station will be fed by a couple dozen bus routes from both Snohomish and King counties. Yes, buses and bicycles and walking don’t work for everybody, but have you complainers ever thought about the cost, both social and financial, of providing parking lots at most rail stations?
First of all, in the urban areas, it’s not as much of a big deal that there’s no parking. Some people complain about that (and I think they’re right that there’s less of a “social cost” than people say), but that’s not the main issue.
I’d like to see an analysis of how much more ridership there’d be on Link if there was merely increased parking in Tukwila. I’m not likely the only person who’s chosen not to take it because there isn’t enough parking to guarantee a spot.
Lee,
the only person making an ass out of themselves is you.
I will give you credit though, at least you were able to branch out and write about something other than smoking pot. kudos.
you wanna ride the bus and not pay the high gas and parking prices? fine, then pay your fair share. pay up like a man and ride that bus.
some of us have jobs that require us to be mobile. I dont ask you to pay for my gas or parking, then dont ask me to pay for your fucking bus fare.
pay up sucka…and I shot your monkey.
@11
some of us have jobs that require us to be mobile. I dont ask you to pay for my gas or parking, then dont ask me to pay for your fucking bus fare.
But you do ask people to pay for the roads, so you’re expecting the exact same thing – you expect some people who don’t use those roads to pay for them so that you can drive on them for your job. That’s no different than you paying taxes to ensure that there’s an affordable and adequate bus system. You’re not paying “fares”, you’re paying for the overhead of running such a system.
Not to mention that you – as someone who has to drive on the roads for work – benefits greatly by having the bus system there to reduce the amount of cars on the road.
Dance, monkey, dance!
bus fares and access fares make up only 23% of the budget.
I would say its time for you bus riders to nut up and start paying.
you get your kid to start smoking weed yet?
BTW, bus services and facilities take up almost 70% of the budget costs at metro.
yep..time to raise fares.
Only a conservative could possibly believe that getting rid of public transportation gives people more choices.
who said anything about getting rid of public transportation?
@3, etc Why should motorists pay to subsidize public transit? That’s easy.
Think of that bus you see in front of you in a manner other than fuming about it. If it’s one of those big articulated things, and it’s the rush hour, it’s carrying about 75 people.
Now think of what it would be like if instead of that one bus bus there were 75 more cars sharing that already-congested freeway with you.* Now think of how much it would cost otherwise to expand the roadway (and maintain it after that) to accommodate that many more cars. All of a sudden that bus starts to look like a real bargain.
(*This is not even taking into account that most of those 75 cars will be driven by other people who are incompetent, inattentive and determined to show you and everyone else what hot stuff they are. We might as well toss in a few more sets of loud exhaust pipes and thundering stereos while we’re at it. Oh, the joy of the open road…)
@7 When was the last time you rode a bus? Maybe to ski classes when you were in junior high?
Your attempt at cuteness has only revealed your ignorance.
What about the route 102? It goes straight from the Fairwood area straight to downtown.
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/to.....02_0_.html
@17
Dude,
I dont fume about the bus in front of me, as you say.
Car owners and drivers are ALREADY subsidizing bus riders, and now the powers that be want car owners and drivers to pony up even more cash. Why not ding the people that use the buses a little bit more – after all, THEY are the ones benefiting the most.
its really that simple.
@19
NICE!
Perhaps Lee is one of those “do as I say, not as I do” liberals.
Maybe Lee thinks he is too good for the bus.
LMFAO…lets see ya dance now Lee…
I live in Seattle and work on the eastside. Probably not the best of arrangements, but our house is paid for and at nearly 62 I’m a little too close to the end of my career to indulge in any frivolous job hopping. I’m sort of in the same boat as Lee, except I can drive a couple miles to the Ravenna P&R and always find a space. Even then, I’m trying to make that a fallback for when I sleep too late to just catch a bus across NE 65th St. Commuting on 520 is about as much fun as an emergency appendectomy without anesthetic, and when the DOT figures out how to make their toll system work, it’s also going to be considerably more expensive. In addition, there are going to be all sorts of disruptions due to construction–right now all traffic to Bellevue Way, north or south, is going to one offramp with a signal at the end, and a lot of confused drivers are doing all sorts of fun things.
As the bridge replacement project has ramped up, the DOT, Sound Transit and Metro have been promising that we’d have expanded bus service to get us through all this. Now it looks like it’s going to be the other way around.
There is nothing wrong with taking public transportation to and from work. It when the government forces you to have to heavily subsidize it through taxes to make it work that people react to.
I wonder if Lee took the bus this morning..
@26
He’s bending over backwards thinking up reason why he can’t take public transportation, and he has a guilty conscience about it, and that’s why he’s trying to justify it to us.
I did some research and found the perfect route for him. The 102. It goes straight from Fairwood to Seattle. I’m sure he’ll come to us with some excuse why it doesn’t work for him, like there isn’t one at the time he needs to leave, etc.
But my gut tells me (and my gut is never wrong), that you’re right. Lee is one of those “do as I say, not as a do” liberals.
I will give him this, though. He is very good at thinking up excuses.
@27
Where do I park? I don’t live along the bus route, so I have to go somewhere and park for the day. So where do I go? That’s one of the two buses I took from the South Renton P&R (the 101 is the other). The reason I had to drive in was because the lot was full.
I actually thought about parking in a retail parking lot for the day and taking that bus, but I wasn’t sure how long I could get away with that.
@18
Now think of what it would be like if instead of that one bus bus there were 75 more cars sharing that already-congested freeway with you.* Now think of how much it would cost otherwise to expand the roadway (and maintain it after that) to accommodate that many more cars. All of a sudden that bus starts to look like a real bargain.
Well said. It’s logic far too tricky for our trolls to understand.
So many posts from the wingnuts, all saying that they think all transit options (other than cars) should be financed entirely by fares.
Which is simply another way of saying:
“Okay, now that we’ve used city, county, state, and federal tax money to build roads and other infrastructure to support our cars, it’s time to forget all that and insist that any other (future) transit options be paid entirely by the those that directly use it. In other words, I’ve got mine, now the rest of you can go to hell”.
I used to commute by bus from Lynnwood to downtown Seattle, using Community Transit. I would use the bus now to commute from Everett to Bellevue if it didn’t involve multiple transfers and fares which make it un-economical in terms of time and money.
When Sound Transit opens up a commuter train or light rail option between Everett and Bellevue, I would gladly take it – although I would still probably have to drive in to work a couple times a week due to job requirements.
Lee,
Consider “hide and ride” – park somewhere along or near a bus line. Park and Rides aren’t the only game in town. Lots of people forego official park and ride lots for other sites along bus lines that are equally (or more) secure and convenient to them. Best of both worlds.
“I can’t find a place to park”
That’s te biggest limp dick excuse I have heard. Really lee? You can’t find a single parking spot? You are full of shit.
Somehow everyone else manages to find one accept you…..lmfao.
Ride a bike to the bus stop, obviously. Also, consider an electric assist bike.
@31 Couldn’t you take the Sounder between Everett and downtown Seattle and make one transfer to one of the many tunnel bus routes that go to the eastside?
Let’s come to grips with one thing…unless you’re fortunate enough to have your home and place of employment both adjacent to the same express bus route, the Sounder or the light rail line, assuming ideal traffic conditions you can probably get there faster by driving. However, how often is any major transportation corridor in the Puget Sound region blessed by “ideal” traffic any more?
It takes me longer to get to work and back on the bus, but at least I don’t have to do the Goddamn driving.
I don’t believe Lee. I think he lives within walking distance of the route 102, but is too lazy to walk to the bus stop.
@37
he could also show up 15 mins earlier at the park n ride to get a spot…..
Lee’s excuse is such horse shit that I am actually embarrassing for him.
*embarrassed
@37
Wanna throw some money on that?
@38
My excuse is that I’d rather drive than do some of the things I’d have to do to keep taking the bus. I’m so ashamed!
Dance, monkeys, dance!
@32
That was actually my first consideration (and I may go back to it if the traffic jams getting into downtown continue to be as bad as the one this morning). Thanks.
@40
in other words, Lee is the typical “do as I say, not as I do” progressive.
how surprising…not.
@42
What? How so? Have you ever heard me say anything about what other people should do regarding commuting? If so, point it out, hotshot. Otherwise, take your strawmen and STFU.
Lee, you must be the only person in Fairwood who cant find a parking spot….lmfao…
@44
I can find a parking spot just fine. I just don’t want to pay the $200 or so it costs after they tow my car.
Dance, monkey, dance!
Lee, without giving away your address, can you at least tell us how far it is between your house and the nearest route 102 bus stop?
Lee,
On your way to the light rail stop, you did pass a station on the commuter rail. Did you try parking there?
@31
Try Route 532?
Lee @11,
Nativity Lutheran Church
17707 140th Ave SE
This is served by Route 102 and has 49 spaces available for commuter parking.
@46
Probably a mile.
@47
Commuter rail doesn’t go to the convention center area.
@49
I wasn’t aware of that, thanks! Is that information on the Metro website? I don’t see it on the route map or anywhere else.
@50
While it may not go to the Convention Center, it does go where you can conveniently transfer to a bus in the tunnel that will take you to Convention Center. I could imagine a trip from Tukwila to Convention Center at about 30 minutes with the transfer (12 minutes on Sounder, 8 minutes to walk/transfer/get coffee and 9 minutes through the tunnel).
Yes, it is from the King County Metro website. The page lists the park-and-rides by area.
There’s no way to build enough parking, ever, at park and ride lots. This is called a “last mile” problem.
Is there a bike rack? Or can you perhaps get a ride?