Monday, August 6, 2012

Proposed February 2013 Service Changes

Community Transit is now taking comment on proposed changes that would take effect in February 2013. The changes continue to adjust the service network that was restructured in February 2012, plus there are additional commuter trips thanks to federal and state funding.

Details of the proposal are on the Community Transit website. In a nutshell, Route 112 will serve the Lynnwood Transit Center, Route 417 will move off 44th Ave W and travel on I-5 to 196th Street, and Route 885 will be eliminated, with all three of those trips converted to Route 880.

Thanks to a federal CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) grant, and a new state transit fund, Community Transit will add 30 commuter trips between south Snohomish County and downtown Seattle and UW. The trips have not yet been determined, but they will be placed where passenger demand is highest, some in the a.m., some in the p.m. While the agency had not anticipated adding service because of the slow economic recovery, there is no local money being spent for these trips. The CMAQ grant is for three years; it is hoped that in that time sales tax revenues will have rebounded enough so this service can be funded by local revenue.

Public comment on these changes is being taken through Sept. 7. The Board of Directors will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 3 p.m. Sept. 6 at 7100 Hardeson Rd in Everett.

11 comments:

  1. When will the federal money for the commuter trips run out? Also, are any local routes expected to get added trips?

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  2. The federal CMAQ grant is for three years, so it can fund these trips in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

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    1. Martin, is the City of Lynnwood allowing for any new stops on route 196?

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    2. When Route 196 was created in February, there were only two new stops that were requested - a pair of stops on 196th at 48th Avenue. All other stops on that route were already there serving other bus routes. At this time, the city has not approved those two new stops.

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  3. What about the route 196, will there ever be a stop within (close) walking distance of Fred Meyer and the transit center? could you not use the stops on 194th street?

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  4. I definitively think that the 196 should get stops at least at 48th Ave West and if the 112 served 48th Ave. West and 194th Streets, the streets that are currently only served by route 417 could be a much needed patch in service in the Fred Meyer area.

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  5. I wish I had better news to report about new bus stops on 196th Street. I don't. There is a request with the city of Lynnwood for a pair of stops at 48th Avenue, but the evaluation of that request continues. Without those stops, Route 196 has still performed very well. There are an average of about 450 boardings per day on that route. The proposal for Route 417 to connect with Route 196 at peak hours opens up the opportunity for more boardings. It would be great if we had new stops to announce before then. We'll see...

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  6. In regards to the commuter changes, are all the proposed changes referenced on the webpage? 402, 410, 412, 413, 415, 416, 417, 810, 855 and 860 are mentioned on the page are they the only ones that would get additional trips to downtown?

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  7. @Scott, the actual schedule for the additional trips won't be finalized until this winter. These are the south county routes we know have some major capacity issues at certain times. That said, between now and then there may be additional information that points to a need at a certain time or a certain route that isn't listed here. If you have some concerns, please send them in through our public comment process so the Planning staff can review them. Thanks!

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  8. H thello Martin,

    I have a question here. For as long as I've lived here,13 yrs, the 52nd Ave and 188th st corridor have had stops utilized and then of course you have had a 620 route go south on 48th ave to LTC. Even tho these have been long term bus route/stops,if you had the funding to reinstate these routes, do you have to talk to city again and force us to wait like we are waiting for the 196 to either turn north or south on 48th ave then turn north or south(after utilizing 194th which has 2 to.3 stops ready or 200th, which has a stop on 48th and 196th and 2 stops in the vicinity of 200th and 44th @ the ready.

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    1. When Community Transit stops service to a bus stop, we must talk with the city or county again when we plan to reinstate service there. Each jurisdiction maintains control over their streets and sidewalks, except in the case where that is state right of way.

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