One of the fallouts from the June 13 service change was confusion at Lynnwood Transit Center’s Bay D5.
Six different bus routes were scheduled to leave that same bay to downtown Seattle each morning. As you can imagine, some of the those buses arrived at nearly the same time and customers were inventively forming various queues to catch a particular bus.
After several days of observation and receiving comments from riders, we’ve made an adjustment that will improve customer loading and bus flow. These changes go into effect on Tuesday, July 6.
• Community Transit Routes 401, 402 and 422, all of which travel to downtown Seattle from the north end via Stewart and 2nd, will continue to depart from Bay D5.
• Community Transit Routes 421 and 425, which travel to downtown Seattle from the south end via Cherry and 4th, will depart from Bay D4.
• Sound Transit Route 511, which travels to downtown Seattle from the north end via Stewart and 5th, will depart from Bay D2.
• All routes will serve their new bay assignments in both the southbound and northbound directions.
Information about the changes is available at the bus bays and on the Community Transit website. Also, staff will be at LTC Tuesday morning to help people adjust to the new bay assignments.
This change means that our newly printed Bus Plus books will be incorrect for these routes at these bays. But it was decided that improving the customer experience was the higher priority. Besides, minor changes are often made between service change cycles which deviate from Bus Plus language. Which is why we now tell our customers that the best, most-up-to-date information can be found on our website.
By the way, riders to and from Lynnwood now have more options because of the service change. Several routes (Routes 421, 422 and 425) from north Snohomish County now make stops at LTC on their way to and from downtown Seattle, meaning there are more buses to choose from between Lynnwood and Seattle. Now that we’ve got the bay issue worked out, we hope more riders will learn to take advantage of this benefit.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Moving Beyond June Service Changes
Last week was not a celebratory time at Community Transit. We said goodbye to about two dozen co-workers who were laid off – a lower number than we’d feared thanks to others who retired early or made other choices. We’ve now had no service on Sundays for two weeks, and we know how hard that is and will be for many or our riders.
We did successfully implement one of the largest service changes in our 34-year history. “Success” in this case means that most riders were aware of our changes and many have been adjusting to new routes and service this past week. Community Transit employees in all departments made a tremendous effort to help our customers through this transition.
Already we are looking ahead (I do not say looking forward) to our next service change in February 2011. We planned this round of service reductions to avoid future ones, and that appears to be holding true. Still, we don’t expect to be able to restore service at that time. If you’ve following any of the financial news, you know that things are not yet looking up for our economy in general, for Washington state transit funded by sales tax (like us), or for new funding from the state or federal government.
We did successfully implement one of the largest service changes in our 34-year history. “Success” in this case means that most riders were aware of our changes and many have been adjusting to new routes and service this past week. Community Transit employees in all departments made a tremendous effort to help our customers through this transition.
Already we are looking ahead (I do not say looking forward) to our next service change in February 2011. We planned this round of service reductions to avoid future ones, and that appears to be holding true. Still, we don’t expect to be able to restore service at that time. If you’ve following any of the financial news, you know that things are not yet looking up for our economy in general, for Washington state transit funded by sales tax (like us), or for new funding from the state or federal government.
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.
Friday, June 4, 2010
What’s So Cool About Vanpool?
Community Transit Vanpool #465 folded last week, after five years (at least – we don’t remember exactly) of carrying commuters from Marysville to the south Everett industrial area. The van was started by a Community Transit employee who wanted to save miles on her new car. Her schedule eventually changed and she left the van, but the group continued with a hodge-podge of Boeing workers, SNBL staff, Northshore Christian Academy teachers (and even the principal for awhile!), an Agilent engineer who vanpooled when he wasn’t teleworking, a Snohomish PUD guy we picked up in Everett and dropped off 3 miles later and me, a part-time rider who used the van on rainy, snowy or just plain slow days instead of biking and busing.
According to a Washington State Department of Transportation survey , 85% of vanpoolers say the main reason they share the ride is because it saves them money. A secondary reason is that vanpooling is less stressful than driving . I can personally attest to the many benefits, which also include book and restaurant reviews, occasional reroutes for coffee and getting to know your neighbors and co-workers. Vanpool groups set their own hours and stops, and depending on the participants can be flexible enough to wait 5 minutes when you’re running late or give your kid a ride as well (if they sign a vanpool user agreement and wear their seatbelt!).
Friday, May 28, 2010
Holiday Bus Ridership
May 31 is the last major holiday that receives Community Transit bus service for awhile.
This spring the Board of Directors made the decision to suspend bus service on Sundays and six major holidays to plug half of the agency’s $11 budget hole. The other half is addressed through cuts to early morning and late night service, route eliminations and new routing and schedules.
The cuts take effect June 13.
As explained in an earlier blog (“What happens when Sunday bus service goes away?”), by shutting operations completely on one day, the agency saves more money and impacts fewer riders than by cutting more routes and trips every day of the week.
In 2009, average Sunday boardings on Community Transit service was about 8,400 riders, while we had just under 7,000 riders on holidays. The average ridership each weekday was nearly 38,000.
Obviously, some people still work on holidays. People also have important things to do on those days. But demand for bus service on holidays is lower than on any other days of the year.
Operational costs on holidays are also higher. Just like any other company, people who work at Community Transit on holidays get holiday pay. That’s different than Sundays. For our line of work, Sunday is just another day you might be scheduled to work, so the pay is no different than other non-holidays.
By suspending bus service on Sundays and six major holidays, the agency will save about $2.5 million this year and about $5 million next year. (By the way, the six major holidays are: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.)
While the economy may not be recovered by the end of 2011, if new funding becomes available to Community Transit, Sunday and holiday service could be restored by then.
Our agency has been meeting with federal elected officials and their staff to request funding through various bills in Congress. There has been some talk about allowing more flexibility in the federal money we receive so that funding alloted for capital needs (bus purchases, etc.) can go to operations. But these days we simply need more money. Taking away from our capital reserves just pushes the problem out a couple years to when we won’t be able to afford to replace our buses. Community Transit has already delayed a scheduled bus purchase two years during this financial crisis. Older buses cost more to operate and are more prone to mechanical problems, even with our first-rate maintenance team.
In Olympia, the Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee is studying the issue of transit funding this summer and fall. They plan to present a recommendation to the 2011 Legislature. That is another forum we will monitor and participate in to help ensure that state lawmakers understand the needs of local transit agencies like ours.
This spring the Board of Directors made the decision to suspend bus service on Sundays and six major holidays to plug half of the agency’s $11 budget hole. The other half is addressed through cuts to early morning and late night service, route eliminations and new routing and schedules.
The cuts take effect June 13.
As explained in an earlier blog (“What happens when Sunday bus service goes away?”), by shutting operations completely on one day, the agency saves more money and impacts fewer riders than by cutting more routes and trips every day of the week.
In 2009, average Sunday boardings on Community Transit service was about 8,400 riders, while we had just under 7,000 riders on holidays. The average ridership each weekday was nearly 38,000.
Obviously, some people still work on holidays. People also have important things to do on those days. But demand for bus service on holidays is lower than on any other days of the year.
Operational costs on holidays are also higher. Just like any other company, people who work at Community Transit on holidays get holiday pay. That’s different than Sundays. For our line of work, Sunday is just another day you might be scheduled to work, so the pay is no different than other non-holidays.
By suspending bus service on Sundays and six major holidays, the agency will save about $2.5 million this year and about $5 million next year. (By the way, the six major holidays are: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.)
While the economy may not be recovered by the end of 2011, if new funding becomes available to Community Transit, Sunday and holiday service could be restored by then.
Our agency has been meeting with federal elected officials and their staff to request funding through various bills in Congress. There has been some talk about allowing more flexibility in the federal money we receive so that funding alloted for capital needs (bus purchases, etc.) can go to operations. But these days we simply need more money. Taking away from our capital reserves just pushes the problem out a couple years to when we won’t be able to afford to replace our buses. Community Transit has already delayed a scheduled bus purchase two years during this financial crisis. Older buses cost more to operate and are more prone to mechanical problems, even with our first-rate maintenance team.
In Olympia, the Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee is studying the issue of transit funding this summer and fall. They plan to present a recommendation to the 2011 Legislature. That is another forum we will monitor and participate in to help ensure that state lawmakers understand the needs of local transit agencies like ours.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Bike to Work Day Bike-pool from Marysville
Bike to Work Day is this Friday, May 21. I'll admit the weather isn't that inspiring just now, but the company on Bike to Work Day always is. It's great fun to be on two wheels with other cyclists, and to stop by the Celebration Stations set up throughout the Puget Sound.
We'll ride to Everett via Hwy 529, W. Marine Drive, Alverson and Grand Avenue. I'll be joining the Everett Celebration Ride at the Snohomish County Campus, departing there at 7:30 a.m.
Or, just stay (or ride to) Marysville for the Marysville Celebration Ride at 7:30 a.m. from the library on Grove Street. Either way, you'll bike with a mayor and probably a police escort. That and the other cyclists will make up for any wind or raindrops we might encounter.
Getting the word out about service change
We’re just three weeks away from one of the biggest service changes in Community Transit history.
Actually, in 2000 the agency cut 23 percent of its service after the state withdrew all its car tab funding for transit agencies. Over the next few years, once voters approved a sales tax increase to support Community Transit, service was brought back and reconfigured, leading to four consecutive years of record ridership from 2005-2008.
On June 13, there will be no Community Transit service, the first Sunday of our “Sunday and major holiday” service suspension.
On June 14, nearly every Community Transit route will see some trips eliminated, sections of the route cut, or both. Eight routes will be eliminated entirely, including Route 441 from Lynnwood to Redmond, our only service to the Eastside.
Since the Board of Directors approved the service change in March, then revised it slightly in April, details of each route change have been posted on Community Transit’s website.
Earlier this month, post-June 13 route schedules and route maps were added, the first time we’ve ever put that information online before Bus Plus schedule books were published. We put that information online as soon as the Bus Plus book went to the printer, and that’s something we’ll likely do in future service changes.
Beginning May 2, Community Transit staff have been riding buses, standing at park & ride lots and transit centers and talking to bus riders about the service change.
We’ve directed people to the website as the best source for updated information, and once Bus Plus books are available in early June we’ll use that as a tool to help riders find the information they need to plan their trips for after June 13.
As we talk to riders, we’re learning several things:
Our goal in this education effort is to make people aware of the changes coming and give them the tools to rearrange their trips, if needed. Above all, we want to reduce the number of people who are confused when June 13 and 14 come around, even though we know there will be some confusion.
Between now and then we will continue to meet riders where they gather, on buses and at transit facilities and bus stops. And we’ll push our education through our website, our electronic alert system, this blog, Facebook and other communication avenues.
Actually, in 2000 the agency cut 23 percent of its service after the state withdrew all its car tab funding for transit agencies. Over the next few years, once voters approved a sales tax increase to support Community Transit, service was brought back and reconfigured, leading to four consecutive years of record ridership from 2005-2008.
On June 13, there will be no Community Transit service, the first Sunday of our “Sunday and major holiday” service suspension.
On June 14, nearly every Community Transit route will see some trips eliminated, sections of the route cut, or both. Eight routes will be eliminated entirely, including Route 441 from Lynnwood to Redmond, our only service to the Eastside.
Since the Board of Directors approved the service change in March, then revised it slightly in April, details of each route change have been posted on Community Transit’s website.
Earlier this month, post-June 13 route schedules and route maps were added, the first time we’ve ever put that information online before Bus Plus schedule books were published. We put that information online as soon as the Bus Plus book went to the printer, and that’s something we’ll likely do in future service changes.
Beginning May 2, Community Transit staff have been riding buses, standing at park & ride lots and transit centers and talking to bus riders about the service change.
We’ve directed people to the website as the best source for updated information, and once Bus Plus books are available in early June we’ll use that as a tool to help riders find the information they need to plan their trips for after June 13.
As we talk to riders, we’re learning several things:
- Many riders are aware of the service change, even if they disagree with it.
- Many riders have gone online and figured out how they will get around once service changes.
- A good portion of riders have heard something, but have not looked into the details enough to see if their route or trip is affected. We’ve helped some of these people get that information, if they have time, but as riders are often in a hurry they often say they’ll look into it later.
- A good number of people remain unaware that service is being cut.
Our goal in this education effort is to make people aware of the changes coming and give them the tools to rearrange their trips, if needed. Above all, we want to reduce the number of people who are confused when June 13 and 14 come around, even though we know there will be some confusion.
Between now and then we will continue to meet riders where they gather, on buses and at transit facilities and bus stops. And we’ll push our education through our website, our electronic alert system, this blog, Facebook and other communication avenues.
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