The service change that took place yesterday was in the works for nearly a year. That's the time it took to get guidance from our Board (once we knew how much money we needed to save), develop three alternative scenarios, present them to the public and gather feedback, go through the Board decision process, then fully schedule the final service plan, train drivers, produce signage and information materials and start the new service.
It is near the tail end of that process, after we have fully scheduled the service plan, that we reach out to cities and the county to talk about where we want to locate new bus stops. Each jurisdiction has a separate bureaucracy for dealing with such requests, with their own criteria and timelines.
What we submit are requests based on what we feel is the best place for riders to catch a particular bus. This year, our route shuffling was designed to eliminate loops and deviations - in other words, make the routes as direct as possible to save time and money. Most requests are granted, but not always; sometimes we are given alternatives to consider, and sometimes flatly denied.
Sometimes the process goes beyond the time frame in which we need to produce Bus Plus, maps and other public information.
Just last week, we were granted permission to put two new temporary stops on Marine Drive outside the Warm Beach Senior Community near Stanwood. The timing on that decision was close! We are still awaiting decisions from the City of Lynnwood on stop requests for Routes 112 and 196 near the Lynnwood Transit Center. Obviously, the new service has already started, so the omission of those stops is glaring. We are forwarding comments from our customers to the city, but it is their decision to make. The service still works without those stops, but it may not be as convenient for some customers.
We can add stops at any time during the year, not just at a service change. With the vast number of changes that took place this week, there are bound to be some tweaks here or there. Most tweaking will happen when we publish new schedules on Oct. 1, but if stop requests are granted before then, we could make some changes sooner.
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The new 112 definitely needs closer stop pair near the Transit Centre. It is already inconvenient not to have 112 at Lynnwood TC. It is even worse to walk a few more blocks as opposed to the "200th" as it appears on the Bus Plus. I sincerely hope that 112 will be amended to stop at Lynnwood TC. It only takes 2 or 3 minutes for the extra trip yet can significant boost the ridership.
ReplyDeleteUntil you get a stop for the 196 between 44th and 48th both ways, you should run it into the transit center, it is a useless route now, with no access to or from lynnwood tc or fred meyers, and no way for us to get to 196th area by barnes and noble from the tc, now that the 120 is gone too.
ReplyDeleteAt least the 112 has stops somewhat close and it would definitely take more than 2-3 minutes to get in and out, try 6-10 minutes especially during busy times.
We are looking at both those routes and how riders are impacted around the Lynnwood Transit Center. We have had this new service network for three days now, so we want to see how things play out a little longer to see if there are inherent problems with the routing, schedule or if some things just get worked out. We are monitoring this closely, here and at other key points around our network. Thanks.
ReplyDeletehet martin why do less than 40% of your employees actually drive a bus?
ReplyDeleteMr Munguia. I had made a suggestion of having the 196 utilize 40th/44th Ave 48th aves and 200th sts as possible alternatives w/o using the LTC to swerve some time. Also the possibility of reopening the lane @ the LTC for the 112 and even the 120 that the express buses USED to use to enter onto the I-5 NB onramp but instead of entering the freeway it can connect to 44th Ave. utilizing a TPS for vehicles entering the NB onramp. I know of the delta that allows NB 44th ave traffic to enter NB I5 onramp and am unsure of the width of the lane but i dont believe that could cause too much of an impact to revise. You can make a 112 stop in the footprint of the old express bus routes stop. This may need assistance from the City of Lynnwood but I am sure many of us would be happy to oblige.
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