On Wednesday, June 15, Community Transit will host its next Community Open House meeting in Monroe, at the High School Performing Arts Center from 6-8 p.m.
Some of the people likely to attend are those bus riders who take Route 424, a commuter route from east Snohomish County to downtown Seattle. Already, this is a long trip, as the bus begins picking up passengers in Snohomish then travels east to Monroe, south to SR522 and I405 then across the always-congested SR520 bridge.
Last week at the Monroe Park & Ride I spoke with a number of Route 424 riders about the alternatives looming for 2012. They pose quite a dilemma. Under Alternatives I and II, the number of trips for that route gets cut from three trips each direction to two trips. As riders pointed out, the buses are already full, especially in the afternoon as people tend to pack into one or two of the three trips home.
Under Alternative III, the number of trips is increased to four in each direction. But the nature of the route is changed to a commuter feeder route. Rather than traveling directly to Seattle, this route would veer from SR522 onto northbound I405, stop at Canyon Park and continue on to the Lynnwood Transit Center. There, riders can transfer to any of a number of buses that go to downtown Seattle. A longer trip, and a transfer.
As I kept repeating last week, and all our staff will continue to tell each rider who is not happy with the choices in the alternatives, we have to cut 20 percent of our costs. There is no way to make people happy with that level of cuts.
The savings in Alts. I and II are obvious; one fewer trip each direction that won't run. The savings in Alt. III come from not having those four buses travel all the way back from Seattle to Snohomish empty.
Essentially, the choices for commuters are between the familiar (Alts. I and II) with the downside being fewer trips. Because the times for those trips have not been figured out yet (that will happen when we're down to one scenario), riders should state their preferred time when giving their input.
The other choice is flexibility (Alt. III) with an upside being more options. In the case of Route 424, there would be more options to catch the bus each way, and more options for connections to and from Seattle. The downside is, of course, more time spent traveling.
Given that there have to be cuts, what are your thoughts about the choices before you for your ride?
Showing posts with label transfers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transfers. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Is the bus on time?
We publish schedules for our bus routes that list what time the bus will be at select stops along the route – these scheduled stops are called “timepoints.” Most timepoints are at park & rides or major connecting points to assist people in planning and in making transfers between buses.
We also post schedules at every Community Transit bus stop. Unless the stop is also a “timepoint” the posted time is only an estimate. Route 113 between Mukilteo and Lynnwood, for instance, has 51 northbound bus stops but only seven scheduled timepoints. All the other posted stop times are estimates. To plan a trip, you look at the timepoint before your stop and figure the bus will be at successive stops sometime soon after.
Nobody likes to wait for a bus very long, and it’s even worse if the bus comes early and you miss it. Experienced bus drivers know what parts of the route they tend to run ahead on (and thus they may drive a bit more slowly), and where they tend to run behind (but know they’ll catch up later). If a bus arrives early at a scheduled timepoint, it will pause at that stop until it is officially time to go. That usually blocks a lane of traffic for a few seconds and makes passengers wonder what’s up.
The bottom line is, getting bus schedules right is important. Community Transit regularly tracks the on-time performance of our system as a whole. In May, 93 percent of trips surveyed departed on time. When you consider the vagaries of rain squalls, traffic jams and even the extra time of having lots of passengers board and deboard, that’s not bad. We also have occasional delays due to mechanical breakdowns, passenger or driver illness and construction reroutes.
Last week Community Transit Service Planners asked for my help checking the on-time performance of Routes 105/106, Routes 115/116 and Routes 201/202. I spent four hours at Ash Way Park & Ride in Lynnwood watching buses come and go while also answering customer questions, handing out the new Bus Plus book and learning about transit scheduling from the agency perspective (I already experience our scheduling as a passenger on a weekly basis). I wrote down exactly when buses arrived and departed so that Service Planning can assess whether their route schedules are accurate. Some of the buses I timed started their routes more than 20 miles away in Arlington. We had staff checking the times all along the way – such extensive surveys happen only a few times each year.
We only change bus schedules twice a year, so the public won’t see results of this test until next February (though internal driver departure times and non-timepoint scheduling could change before then). It takes many months to consider changes, test timings and synchronize the schedules in time for sharing with transit partners, coordinating bus and driver needs and publishing Bus Plus books.
Right now we use a combination of sophisticated software and low-tech manual timing surveys and bus driver reports to develop and refine bus schedules. Sometime next year we hope to launch a real-time information system that will make the art of bus scheduling a bit more of a science. No matter what, whether the bus is on time or not will always depend most upon people – the ones inside the bus driving or riding, and the ones outside the bus setting traffic signals, making public policies or causing traffic.
We also post schedules at every Community Transit bus stop. Unless the stop is also a “timepoint” the posted time is only an estimate. Route 113 between Mukilteo and Lynnwood, for instance, has 51 northbound bus stops but only seven scheduled timepoints. All the other posted stop times are estimates. To plan a trip, you look at the timepoint before your stop and figure the bus will be at successive stops sometime soon after.
Nobody likes to wait for a bus very long, and it’s even worse if the bus comes early and you miss it. Experienced bus drivers know what parts of the route they tend to run ahead on (and thus they may drive a bit more slowly), and where they tend to run behind (but know they’ll catch up later). If a bus arrives early at a scheduled timepoint, it will pause at that stop until it is officially time to go. That usually blocks a lane of traffic for a few seconds and makes passengers wonder what’s up.
The bottom line is, getting bus schedules right is important. Community Transit regularly tracks the on-time performance of our system as a whole. In May, 93 percent of trips surveyed departed on time. When you consider the vagaries of rain squalls, traffic jams and even the extra time of having lots of passengers board and deboard, that’s not bad. We also have occasional delays due to mechanical breakdowns, passenger or driver illness and construction reroutes.
Last week Community Transit Service Planners asked for my help checking the on-time performance of Routes 105/106, Routes 115/116 and Routes 201/202. I spent four hours at Ash Way Park & Ride in Lynnwood watching buses come and go while also answering customer questions, handing out the new Bus Plus book and learning about transit scheduling from the agency perspective (I already experience our scheduling as a passenger on a weekly basis). I wrote down exactly when buses arrived and departed so that Service Planning can assess whether their route schedules are accurate. Some of the buses I timed started their routes more than 20 miles away in Arlington. We had staff checking the times all along the way – such extensive surveys happen only a few times each year.
We only change bus schedules twice a year, so the public won’t see results of this test until next February (though internal driver departure times and non-timepoint scheduling could change before then). It takes many months to consider changes, test timings and synchronize the schedules in time for sharing with transit partners, coordinating bus and driver needs and publishing Bus Plus books.
Right now we use a combination of sophisticated software and low-tech manual timing surveys and bus driver reports to develop and refine bus schedules. Sometime next year we hope to launch a real-time information system that will make the art of bus scheduling a bit more of a science. No matter what, whether the bus is on time or not will always depend most upon people – the ones inside the bus driving or riding, and the ones outside the bus setting traffic signals, making public policies or causing traffic.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
ORCA Turns One Year Old
Besides the 40th anniversary of Earth Day today there is another local birthday this week. One Regional Card for All, the regional transit smart card turns one year old!
Last year on April 20 I hosted a press conference in Seattle with Candace Carlson, the Regional Fare Coordination System Program Administrator, to introduce ORCA to customers. We discussed the “limited rollout” that lasted into September, when early adopters were invited to get a card, try it out and let us know their experience.
The limited rollout concept was proposed because we didn’t want to overwhelm the system with too many transactions off the bat, and we didn’t know what the extent of customer assistance new ORCA users would need. It was more than a Beta test, since we were using customers’ money, but we knew there were bugs that only a good supply of transit users could help us find.
In July 2009, Microsoft became one of the first business accounts to convert from FlexPass to ORCA, and the number of cards being used in the system grew tremendously. Business Accounts are employers who supply all employees with a transit pass, even those who may not use them. Hundreds of businesses have used FlexPass for years, and their conversion to ORCA is now almost complete.
On September 15, Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl and general managers from the other transportation agencies heralded ORCA’s “Big Splash” with a call for all transit users to switch to ORCA.
(Remember Steve the ORCA greeting attendees then mysteriously disappearing for awhile? It was a hot day for mascots!)
A couple of key milestones have occurred since then. December 2009 was the last month that paper Puget Passes were sold to the public. This was an important move since some other agencies around the country that have implemented smart card systems continued to sell their regular passes and, as a result, had low conversion rates. Eliminating the paper passes is good for the environment and saves the agencies money, which is one of the goals of ORCA.
Also, at the end of the year Community Transit and Sound Transit joined Everett Transit and Kitsap Transit in eliminating all paper transfers. This meant it was cash or ORCA, and ORCA was the only way to get a two-hour transfer on those systems. King County Metro Transit and Pierce Transit still offer paper transfers that are good on their systems only.
This week, Kitsap Transit reinstated paper transfers for the rest of this year because it is having a difficult time converting its low income fare customers. This is a fare category unique to KT and requires registration like an RRFP card, so those riders must get the card in person.
Community Transit is happy with the “ORCA is your transfer” policy, and we have seen many cash customers switch to ORCA in 2010. We did a lot of outreach, including having our drivers hand out 4,000 blank ORCA cards to cash customers last December. Also, when we launched Swift – which does not take paper transfers – last November, many of our riders on that corridor made the decision to get a card. This year we’re continuing to push for more converts to ORCA.
So, what’s there to celebrate on ORCA’s first birthday?
Well, there are about 150,000 active ORCA cards out there, and many more in circulation. Also, there are nearly 200,000 average daily transactions on the ORCA system. That’s pretty good for the first year!
ORCA is meant to be a convenience. Transit riders no longer have to carry exact change and can use the same card to transfer between different transportation systems, whether you have a pass or not. Riders can load their ORCA card with a variety of period passes, like a monthly pass, or put cash value in an E-purse and draw down with each trip. Our drivers love ORCA because fare payment is quicker and simpler than before.
So, does ORCA work perfectly for every user all the time? No. And my Blackberry service goes out from time to time too. But for such a complex system with so many users there have been a lot of fixes in this first year, and the vast majority of regular users are finding success.
You can get more information about ORCA at http://www.orcacard.com/ or by visiting www.communitytransit.org/orca.
What do you think of ORCA?
Last year on April 20 I hosted a press conference in Seattle with Candace Carlson, the Regional Fare Coordination System Program Administrator, to introduce ORCA to customers. We discussed the “limited rollout” that lasted into September, when early adopters were invited to get a card, try it out and let us know their experience.
The limited rollout concept was proposed because we didn’t want to overwhelm the system with too many transactions off the bat, and we didn’t know what the extent of customer assistance new ORCA users would need. It was more than a Beta test, since we were using customers’ money, but we knew there were bugs that only a good supply of transit users could help us find.
In July 2009, Microsoft became one of the first business accounts to convert from FlexPass to ORCA, and the number of cards being used in the system grew tremendously. Business Accounts are employers who supply all employees with a transit pass, even those who may not use them. Hundreds of businesses have used FlexPass for years, and their conversion to ORCA is now almost complete.
On September 15, Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl and general managers from the other transportation agencies heralded ORCA’s “Big Splash” with a call for all transit users to switch to ORCA.
(Remember Steve the ORCA greeting attendees then mysteriously disappearing for awhile? It was a hot day for mascots!)
A couple of key milestones have occurred since then. December 2009 was the last month that paper Puget Passes were sold to the public. This was an important move since some other agencies around the country that have implemented smart card systems continued to sell their regular passes and, as a result, had low conversion rates. Eliminating the paper passes is good for the environment and saves the agencies money, which is one of the goals of ORCA.
Also, at the end of the year Community Transit and Sound Transit joined Everett Transit and Kitsap Transit in eliminating all paper transfers. This meant it was cash or ORCA, and ORCA was the only way to get a two-hour transfer on those systems. King County Metro Transit and Pierce Transit still offer paper transfers that are good on their systems only.
This week, Kitsap Transit reinstated paper transfers for the rest of this year because it is having a difficult time converting its low income fare customers. This is a fare category unique to KT and requires registration like an RRFP card, so those riders must get the card in person.
Community Transit is happy with the “ORCA is your transfer” policy, and we have seen many cash customers switch to ORCA in 2010. We did a lot of outreach, including having our drivers hand out 4,000 blank ORCA cards to cash customers last December. Also, when we launched Swift – which does not take paper transfers – last November, many of our riders on that corridor made the decision to get a card. This year we’re continuing to push for more converts to ORCA.
So, what’s there to celebrate on ORCA’s first birthday?
Well, there are about 150,000 active ORCA cards out there, and many more in circulation. Also, there are nearly 200,000 average daily transactions on the ORCA system. That’s pretty good for the first year!
ORCA is meant to be a convenience. Transit riders no longer have to carry exact change and can use the same card to transfer between different transportation systems, whether you have a pass or not. Riders can load their ORCA card with a variety of period passes, like a monthly pass, or put cash value in an E-purse and draw down with each trip. Our drivers love ORCA because fare payment is quicker and simpler than before.
So, does ORCA work perfectly for every user all the time? No. And my Blackberry service goes out from time to time too. But for such a complex system with so many users there have been a lot of fixes in this first year, and the vast majority of regular users are finding success.
You can get more information about ORCA at http://www.orcacard.com/ or by visiting www.communitytransit.org/orca.
What do you think of ORCA?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
No-fee ORCA deadline is February 28
ORCA (One Regional Card for All) is the electronic fare-payment system adopted by Community Transit, King County Metro, Sound Transit, Everett Transit, Pierce Transit, Kitsap Transit and the Washington State Ferries. ORCA cards allow customers to travel and transfer seamlessly between agencies without having to use different passes, tickets and transfers.
Marketing Promotions & Outreach staff from Community Transit have distributed ORCA cards to customers throughout Snohomish County since the smart card launched last year. Our goal has been to get as many people as possible hooked up with ORCA before the card fee kicks in. Beginning Monday, March 1 it will cost $5 to get a new card, but right now adult and youth ORCA cards are still free. Over the past few weeks we’ve hit the outreach circuit extra hard at senior centers, park & rides, bus stops and resource fairs, with a new promotion to help our customers make the switch to ORCA. We’ll be out and about through Friday to help as many people as we can.
There are lots of ways to get your hands on a free ORCA card before March 1 – since you're reading this online, your best bet is to pop over to www.orcacard.com and order a registered card that'll be mailed right to your door. Customers who want to go in person can visit the RideStore at Lynnwood Transit Center, Everett Station, or the newest retail location at Roger’s Market in Mountlake Terrace. Click here to see all your ORCA options.
Customers who are new to ORCA often ask us how it works or how it would benefit them. Frequent riders who used PugetPass before might not see much of a day-to-day difference, though there are some great online features that PugetPass didn't offer. You can register your ORCA card online so that your value is protected in case of loss or theft, and you can set up an auto-reload feature so you'll never run out of E-purse or forget to buy next month's pass.
The best benefit of switching to ORCA now is for customers who pay their fare with cash. Transfer policies changed in January with most agencies no longer issuing or accepting paper transfers for cash-paying customers. Now, ORCA is your transfer – when you pay by ORCA card you always get a 2-hour transfer (good from the time of your first card tap).
Friday, February 19, 2010
How Do You Get to the Airport?
by Kristin Kinnamon (from California)
I used to pay $30 dollars to take an airport shuttle to SeaTac from Marysville. That was a long time ago. These days when I visit my parents in California, I get to SeaTac for under $5 on public transportation. My mom usually insists on picking me up from the airport in the Bay Area, but since she is recovering from surgery and isn’t allowed to drive for awhile, I had a chance to try transit on both ends.
I know some people in Snohomish County are waiting for light rail to come to Lynnwood and beyond before they feel that we truly have “mass transit” here. Meanwhile, people who are paying attention use the peak hour commuter service to Seattle offered by Community Transit and the all-day express service offered by Sound Transit to get where they want to go. I took Route 421 from Marysville and Link Light Rail to SeaTac and got there in less than two hours during the morning rush, only a little more time than I’d need to allow for driving myself.
My mom warned me it wouldn’t be so easy on her end. “We have a terrible transit system here,” said the woman who has not taken a bus in 50 years. “The bus doesn’t go anywhere people want to go.” I have heard that before.
As a transit person, I readily admit that buses do not and never can go everywhere that people want to go. But nowhere? Heck, my sister and I used to take one of those nowhere buses to high school. My mom also feared that the California bus drivers would be unfriendly and unwilling to answer questions.
Nevertheless, I went to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority website to plan my California Transit Adventure: Route 10 shuttle from the airport to a transit center, then Rapid 522 down El Camino Real. It looked like I’d need to pay $2 fare for each bus, but the friendly driver on the first bus made sure I knew it was free before I put my money in the farebox.
For years I’ve seen the specially-painted Rapid 522 buses on El Camino Real - the Highway 99 of Santa Clara County. Like Swift, it is complemented with a local bus route serving the same corridor, Route 22. Both run every 15 minutes, but Rapid 522 stops at 75 percent fewer stops. That’s the only difference I could see besides the paint job. I was determined to try out the Rapid, which meant I let two local buses pass by while I waited in the sun. The second Route 22 driver assured me that the Rapid always caught up and passed him down the road. I told him I’d wave hello as we went by.
While waiting I talked to a substitute teacher who got rid of his car and now relies on transit to get to schools all around the area. Like Community Transit, VTA has had budget problems and they implemented service cuts in January. I asked whether he’d been impacted. He said most of his trips were the same – but now there was even less service after 6:30 p.m., which cut into his nightlife. Overall, though, he had few complaints and he really liked the Rapid, since it saved him lots of time.
I can’t complain either. The Rapid finally came, and it did indeed get me to my destination just ahead of the Route 22. The friendly Route 22 driver opened his door to explain that buses were off-schedule due to a plane crash that had taken out power at the end of the line.
I could have waited for a one more bus to get within ¼ mile of my parents house, or walked the final mile with my suitcase, but I called a neighbor for a ride instead. She was happy to help.
And so ended my California Transit Adventure – buses that got me where I wanted to go, more or less, friendly bus drivers, and proof that people who don’t take transit really shouldn’t comment on its characteristics. Right, mom?
I used to pay $30 dollars to take an airport shuttle to SeaTac from Marysville. That was a long time ago. These days when I visit my parents in California, I get to SeaTac for under $5 on public transportation. My mom usually insists on picking me up from the airport in the Bay Area, but since she is recovering from surgery and isn’t allowed to drive for awhile, I had a chance to try transit on both ends.
I know some people in Snohomish County are waiting for light rail to come to Lynnwood and beyond before they feel that we truly have “mass transit” here. Meanwhile, people who are paying attention use the peak hour commuter service to Seattle offered by Community Transit and the all-day express service offered by Sound Transit to get where they want to go. I took Route 421 from Marysville and Link Light Rail to SeaTac and got there in less than two hours during the morning rush, only a little more time than I’d need to allow for driving myself.
My mom warned me it wouldn’t be so easy on her end. “We have a terrible transit system here,” said the woman who has not taken a bus in 50 years. “The bus doesn’t go anywhere people want to go.” I have heard that before.
As a transit person, I readily admit that buses do not and never can go everywhere that people want to go. But nowhere? Heck, my sister and I used to take one of those nowhere buses to high school. My mom also feared that the California bus drivers would be unfriendly and unwilling to answer questions.
Nevertheless, I went to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority website to plan my California Transit Adventure: Route 10 shuttle from the airport to a transit center, then Rapid 522 down El Camino Real. It looked like I’d need to pay $2 fare for each bus, but the friendly driver on the first bus made sure I knew it was free before I put my money in the farebox.
For years I’ve seen the specially-painted Rapid 522 buses on El Camino Real - the Highway 99 of Santa Clara County. Like Swift, it is complemented with a local bus route serving the same corridor, Route 22. Both run every 15 minutes, but Rapid 522 stops at 75 percent fewer stops. That’s the only difference I could see besides the paint job. I was determined to try out the Rapid, which meant I let two local buses pass by while I waited in the sun. The second Route 22 driver assured me that the Rapid always caught up and passed him down the road. I told him I’d wave hello as we went by.
While waiting I talked to a substitute teacher who got rid of his car and now relies on transit to get to schools all around the area. Like Community Transit, VTA has had budget problems and they implemented service cuts in January. I asked whether he’d been impacted. He said most of his trips were the same – but now there was even less service after 6:30 p.m., which cut into his nightlife. Overall, though, he had few complaints and he really liked the Rapid, since it saved him lots of time.
I can’t complain either. The Rapid finally came, and it did indeed get me to my destination just ahead of the Route 22. The friendly Route 22 driver opened his door to explain that buses were off-schedule due to a plane crash that had taken out power at the end of the line.
I could have waited for a one more bus to get within ¼ mile of my parents house, or walked the final mile with my suitcase, but I called a neighbor for a ride instead. She was happy to help.
And so ended my California Transit Adventure – buses that got me where I wanted to go, more or less, friendly bus drivers, and proof that people who don’t take transit really shouldn’t comment on its characteristics. Right, mom?
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