| ROUTE 545 Getting to bus is the hard part Thanks for the great article on routing the 545 Sound Transit bus through Capitol Hill (Thursday). As a Microsoft employee who lives on Capitol Hill, I am excited about the chance to pick up a 545 that goes directly to my workplace; this would certainly save me 45 minutes a day, not 18 as suggested by Michael Bergman. I commute by bus four or five days a week, and am frustrated by Metro's unpredictable and slow bus service from my home to the 545 transfer points downtown and at Montlake. The small change in trip time and frequency would be more than made up for by improved service for hundreds of commuting employees like myself. This alternative will ease congestion on state Route 520 by reducing Capitol Hill-Redmond car traffic, and should be carefully considered. Vince Houmes Only pigs can fly over freeway congestion Sound Transit estimates 10 minutes extra to route the 545 over Capitol Hill during rush hour? That's crazy. I used to live just east of Interstate 5 on Capitol Hill. Before I commuted to Redmond each morning, I'd look at traffic on I-5. If it was congested (which it was about 60 percent of the time), I'd drive over the hill and get on state Route 520 directly to save time. If it wasn't, I'd take I-5 to 520, the current 545 route. Ten extra minutes seems reasonable in some scenario where I-5 and 520 are never congested. But I think that scenario also involves flying pigs. Steve Mooney Metro's schedule doesn't help at all The Sound Transit 545 bus passenger Jane Hadley interviewed for her Thursday story wasn't just lucky to get a seat -- he was lucky to catch the bus at all. As a Capitol Hill resident, I have to rely on Metro route 43 to get to Montlake, and I've often sprinted from the bus stop just in time to see the 545 pulling away. I don't understand Sound Transit's reluctance to serve my neighborhood, which has more eastbound commuters than downtown, Belltown and Queen Anne combined. Jeremy Mazner |
Bus story illustrates futility of light rail
Jane Hadley's story about the express bus service going between Seattle and Redmond illustrates how incredibly expensive and inflexible the light rail scam is.
Eight years after being approved, light rail is not built yet. Cost per rider will be much higher than bus service.
Meanwhile, commuting patterns have changed dramatically, with ridership to the Eastside doubling. Sound Transit is planning on increasing the bus service in a year; that's how long it will take to order and receive the buses.
So light rail costs more, isn't running yet and won't be for at least a couple more years. Once tracks are laid down, they stay; the route cannot be changed.
Bus service costs less, routes can be added with as little as a year's notice; flexibility is much higher. If demand for a route drops, buses can be re-routed within a few months.
I hate nearly everything that Tim Eyman does, but he's right about one thing: This region desperately needs a re-vote on the Sound Transit light rail fiasco. We could spend half the money, but put it all into bus and van pool services and get more riders, more flexibility, more bang for our buck and still take cars off the freeways.
Paul Cox
Enumclaw
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/188266_ltrs30.html