The Curious Case of Dump the Pump 2012

June 21 is National Dump the Pump Day, a rallying cry for transit agencies and advocates to use high gas prices as a way to get non-transit riders to consider taking the bus, train, ferry, etc.

The American Public Transportation Association conceived this day seven years ago and the catchy title, supported by grassroots activities across the country has helped to garner media attention every year. It is a great hook, especially since gas prices tend to rise at the beginning of summer.

Dump the Pump 2012 has presented some interesting concerns. While gas prices spiked earlier this spring, they have really gone down over the past 6-8 weeks. Even in the Northwest, where refinery problems kept the price of gas well above the national average, the last 1-2 weeks has seen a dramatic drop.

The region's transit agencies - those that participate in ORCA plus Intercity Transit in Olympia - rewrote our joint news release several times because of those dropping gas prices. There are some regional calculations in that release, and each time we revised the "current" price of a gallon of gas, those calculations had to be redone.

For Community Transit, our biggest concern over promoting Dump the Pump Day was that our commuter routes are pretty full. Since our latest round of service cuts in February, there are not a lot of empty seats on our peak-hour buses. We didn't want to make a loud call to non-transit users to try transit for this one day only to have them stand the entire ride and not want to come back. Nor did we want to create an even more crowded commute for our loyal riders who have stood with us in these trying times. (The image above is from Dump the Pump 2009.)

So, Community Transit is using Dump the Pump Day to get people to think of their favorite "Summer Destinations" that they can get to on transit. We have a Destinations page on our website with information about bus service to some of the more popular places to go in Snohomish County. We also want to know where frequent or infrequent riders get to on our buses.

Chances are your favorite destination is not work, so we don't think this promotes more riders for those peak-hour trips. But even during our busiest times, not all buses are packed.

Where do you like to take the bus during the summer? What are some trips you didn't think were possible, but have found you can make on our buses?

Bike Lockers to be Rented

The Community Transit Board of Directors this week approved a plan to begin charging rent for the use of bike lockers at park & ride lots and transit centers. The new policy is designed to make more efficient use of the 116 bike lockers that the agency owns and maintains at 15 facilities throughout the county.

The new policy establishes a $60 annual rental fee, or $5 a month to rent a bike locker. The agreement allows a customer exclusive use of that covered locker. A $50 refundable deposit is also required. Currently, all that is required to get a key for a locker is the $50 refundable fee.

At some of the more popular transit centers, there is a waiting list for the lockers. Some of the lockers, while reserved, go unused. It is hoped that the monthly rental fee will cause those people who have a reserved locker but don’t use it to give up the locker, allowing those who want to use the locker and are willing to pay the fee to get access. The rental fees will start on July 1.

Bicycle riders can also lock their bikes for free at bike racks located at most park & rides and transit centers. Revenues generated by the rental program will be used to maintain the lockers and possibly expand the bike locker program.

Where Do People Bike and Bus?

All Community Transit buses are equipped with two-bike bicycle racks. We tried out a version of a three-bike rack a few years ago but had issues with the safety of people loading too close to passing traffic. When revenues improve, high capacity bike racks may be one of the issues we look at again.

Bike use on buses has grown over the years, partly thanks to promotions such as Bike to Work Day and Month. Swift bus rapid transit’s three-bike interior racks were designed by our own mechanics. Those easy-to-use racks are very popular, with about 6 percent of all Swift riders bringing along a bike, according to recent data. Considering Swift has about 100,000 boardings a month, that’s a lot of bikes!

About three years ago, around the time Swift started up, Community Transit changed its policy to allow riders to bring bikes on board all buses if the racks were full, if it was safe to do so (meaning the bus was not so full a bike in the aisle would not potentially harm anyone) and if the rider maintained control of the bike at all times. The driver has final say to allow bikes on board.

April 2012 statistics show that bike use on buses is robust across our entire service area.
Routes 201 and 202 between Smokey Point and Lynnwood had about 900 bikes each that month. Although the percentage of overall passengers using bikes looks small, take into account that we have capacity for 40+ passengers on each bus, but only 2+ bikes. Perhaps a better indicator is that there is a bike on almost every trip, on average.

Routes 115 and 116 also have robust bike ridership, about 500 bikes each. Both those routes serve Edmonds Community College.

While Route 424 does well among commuter routes with 30 bikes on 84 trips, that makes some sense since it serves UW. However, Route 422 has the highest ratio of bikes-to-trips with an average of one bike on every trip. That route is also the longest in our system, traveling between Stanwood and downtown Seattle.

A number of north county routes have high bike-to-passenger ratios: Routes 201, 202, 240, 270, 275 and 280. Could be that bus riders in those more rural areas have further to travel to get to or from their bus stops and a bike helps them get there.

Remember, Friday, May 18, is National Bike to Work Day. We hope to see you out there!

Bike to Work Day, May 18

Community Transit has a long history of supporting and promoting Bike to Work Day. Part of our mission is to encourage commute alternatives to driving alone, even if it doesn’t involve taking the bus. Of course, we use Bike to Work Day and Month to encourage people to combine bike and bus trips as well.

This year, our agency is helping out with these events, but not taking the lead. Changes in staffing, fewer resources and, frankly, fewer buses on the road caused us to re-evaluate our role in Bike to Work. Still, we encourage people to get on their bikes, get healthy, and bike and bus when they can.

Community Transit is partnering with the Cascade Bicycle Club for all of your Bike Month needs. Regular bike commuters have been participating in the Group Health Commute Challenge, with teams and individuals tracking their participation and vying for some exciting prizes.

Friday, May 18, is National Bike to Work Day. Stop by one of the many Commuter Stations set up around Snohomish County and the City of Bothell for a snack, have your bike checked out by a mechanic and pick up your copy of the updated Snohomish County Area Bike Map!

This week, King County Metro is allowing cyclists to ride their buses (and Metro-operated ST buses) for free. Community Transit is not participating in this promotion, partly because we have two-bike racks on our buses (not three) and many of our bike racks are already well used. We don’t want to discourage those who show up with their bikes by potentially having them wait for two or more buses before they can board.

Electric Vehicles Can Charge Up at Mountlake Terrace Transit Center

Last Saturday, May 5, Community Transit and the City of Mountlake Terrace held an event at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center to unveil 10 new electric vehicle charging stations. The charging stations were installed by the city thanks to a federal stimulus grant to help complete a goal of creating a network of charging stations along the I-5 corridor. U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen was there to help commemorate the event.

The 10 stations can charge up to 20 electric vehicles at a time. The city charges a fee for the electricity, now 85 cents an hour. At the event, several electric cars were there to get charged up, including a red Tesla roadster electric sports car.

The event was also used to announce that the transit center has received a Green Globes “One Globes” certification by the Green Building Initiative (GBI). This is similar to LEED certification for buildings. It means the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center was built with sustainable principles that create a low impact on the environment, reduce energy consumption and reduce overall maintenance costs.

The transit center was built with concrete using recycled materials, includes a daylighted stream as part of its stormwater runoff filtration system, has 30 solar panels that feed into the regional power grid and uses low-energy lighting in the parking garage.

The transit center earned a One Globes certification out of a possible four globes. The Mountlake Terrace Transit Center is believed to be one of the first non-occupied buildings in the world to be recognized for sustainable construction.

"How Do I... ?" Watch and Learn.

by Karen Johnson, Design/Video Supervisor

Riders call us with lots of good questions.

“How do I catch a Swift bus?”
“What are my options for getting to Alderwood?”
“How do I load my bike on a bus?”

To provide another resource for our customers, Community Transit is creating Instructional Video Shorts for our website. These videos are about two minutes or less, and you'll be able to find them on our YouTube channel, in our Video Gallery and on topic-specific pages.

Video Shorts are easy to watch, with step-by-step instructions. Our first video short, “How to Use Our Trip Planner,” will show you how easy it is to plan your trip. Other topics you’ll find in the coming months include:

- ORCA
- How to Use Swift
- How to Buy Swift Tickets
- Riding The Double Tall
- Reading Schedules and Maps
- Bikes on Buses
- Transit Instruction Program

Our Customer Information Services division helps select the subject matter for our Instructional Video Shorts based on the questions they hear from riders. And the CIS staff is always available with personalized help for customers at (425) 353-RIDE (7433).

We’re always interested in more ways to help our customers. What are your ideas?
Can you suggest a topic that we should consider for our next quick instructional video?

Watch the video

New Cabela's Store Could Boost Transit Revenues

The central element of Community Transit's financial woes the past five years has been the reduced level of sales tax revenue in our service district. It's not rocket science -- when the economy sours and people lose their jobs or fear for losing their jobs, they hold onto to their money and put off purchases, especially big-ticket items like homes, cars, boats, etc. The items that people do keep buying, groceries and food, are exempt from sales tax or generate little tax revenue.

So it's good news when a new major retailer opens in the district, as Cabela's will be doing with its Tulalip store on April 19. Quil Ceda Village, with its Seattle Premium Outlet mall, Tulalip Resort Casino and big boxes like Home Depot and Walmart, has been a strong economic force during the recession. The opening of a large store like Cabela's can help stimulate the economic recovery in Snohomish County.

Customers can also get to Cabela's, and other Quil Ceda destinations, on Community Transit. Route 222 goes through Quil Ceda Village and has its northernmost stop between the casino and outlet mall. Riders can connect with Route 222 in Marysville at State & 88th from Routes 201/202, which serve Smokey Point, Everett and Lynnwood, or plan their trips online.

Our Buy Local for Transit campaign encourages residents to keep their shopping dollars in the county. That, in turn, helps the bottom line for Community Transit as well as local cities and businesses.