Capitol Hill's hopes for bus Route 545 receive a boost
By JANE HADLEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Friday, October 22, 2004
Capitol Hill residents who commute to Microsoft and other Redmond workplaces got a surprise boost yesterday for their campaign to get Route 545 buses to stop on Capitol Hill during rush hour.
Rather than vote on a Sound Transit staff recommendation that the popular bus route continue to bypass Capitol Hill and run directly between Redmond and downtown Seattle, Sound Transit's finance committee instructed staff to try to find a compromise that would allow at least some buses to stop on Capitol Hill during rush hour.
"People on both sides have presented very compelling, passionate accounts," said Tacoma City Councilman Kevin Phelps, chairman of the finance committee. "Does it have to be all or nothing?"
Phelps asked Sound Transit staff to look at running some buses during rush hour directly between downtown and Redmond, as they now do, but diverting a few rush-hour buses across Capitol Hill.
Redmond city officials and other Eastside groups have objected to the Capitol Hill diversion, saying it would make what should be a regional express route into something of a local run and would duplicate local Metro routes. They also point out that the money for Route 545 comes out of Sound Transit's Eastside budget and should not go to benefit Capitol Hill.
Phelps asked Sound Transit staff to try to find options to pay for the cost of diverting through Capitol Hill with funds other than from the Eastside budget.
Other finance committee members -- city council members from Kenmore, Mill Creek and Issaquah -- supported Phelps' position.
"I'm glad we're doing this," said Kenmore City Councilman Jack Crawford.
Anirudh Sahni, a leader of the Capitol Hill cause, was pleasantly surprised by the committee's move.
"I was very happy the board members are trying to be responsive to the public and come up with a solution that will make both sides happy," Sahni said after the meeting.
Sound Transit is proposing to expand service on the popular 545 route to run every 10 minutes rather than the current 15 minutes. Capitol Hill residents want buses to divert during rush hour to serve the estimated 1,400 people who live on Capitol Hill and commute to Redmond.
The diversion would lengthen the commute by about seven minutes for non-Capitol Hill Seattleites who catch the bus downtown. It would not affect the length of the ride for Redmond commuters, who commute in the opposite direction, but their bus would come every 12 minutes instead of every 10 minutes as a result of stopping on Capitol Hill.
Sound Transit staff says its main objection to the Capitol Hill diversion is that it would lengthen the ride and reduce the frequency of the service for other riders.
But Sahni and Richard Borkowski, president of People for Modern Transit, say the diversion would pick up about 100 more riders than without it.
And they say the densely populated Capitol Hill qualifies as an urban center in its own right and should not be treated as a local neighborhood run.
P-I reporter Jane Hadley can be reached at 206-448-8362 or janehadley@seattlepi.com
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