Ballardblog.com

Last week I wrote a post about the fact that the Ballard bus lines, already dealing with increased ridership due to the “Ballard Boom” is also being hit with the double whammy of the influx of students with the start of the school year.  Adults have been left standing at bus stops unable to board the bus in either direction when commuting due to the overcrowding.  Excited to see the headline in today’s Sunday Seattle Times, “Region’s buses overflow, squeezing riders, system” I was fully expecting to see Ballard commutes sited in the article, particularly in a sidebar called “Where riders get passed by.”   However, Ballard routes #15 and #18 failed to nab a place in the Hall of Shame.   Has anyone from Metro ever ridden these routes at rush hour?  Do the good folks at Metro not pull reports, which can be produced by the swiping of bus passes, which would detail the ridership woes from these routes?

The only time Ballard’s bus routes were mentioned in the article was in the following statement, “But it’s not clear if Metro can provide everything it promised voters in Transit Now, including new bus rapid transit lines serving Overlake, West Seattle, Ballard, Aurora and Federal Way by the early 2010′s.” Does this mean when I purchase something I will get a refund of the portion of my sales tax that goes to Transit Now if they will not be fulfilling the transit needs promised?

It’s interesting that this week’s Ballard District Council Meeting includes a representative of Ballard Rapid Ride, Paul Roybal, Project Manager for King County Metro, along with Jonathan Dong, Project Manager, for Seattle DOT.  The agenda states “the Ballard Rapid Ride corridor is next up for planning and design.”  Really?  After what the Seattle Times just printed?   Their talk at the meeting will also include discussion on the ‘potential benefits.’   Wow, I think anyone who rides a bus in Ballard could easily give a presentation on that.

As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  Please attend this week’s meeting to speak out on behalf of Ballard bus commuters.

BALLARD DISTRICT COUNCIL
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Ballard Library – 5614 22nd NW
(Free parking below building – accessed from NW 56th)
7:00 – 8:30 PM

Like a lot of Americans I just wasn’t getting the message.   I listened in horror on the I-90 bridge on my way to work to the events happening in New York on 9/11.   I watched footage of Katrina and the effects on New Orleans.  I talked to coworkers during the storms of 2006 who had lost power and were without heat and lights and were happy to be in the office.  However, I still did nothing, nothing to prepare myself in case a disaster, whether man-made or natural, happened in my neighborhood.

I don’t have any excuse for this lack of planning or preparedness, particularly in light of the fact that I am a person who plans for everything else in my life.   I plan my calendar, my errands and even my laundry.    It’s frustrating to watch news coverage showing people sick from lack of water or food because they don’t have emergency supplies, but I looked around my own basement while doing laundry the other night and realized I don’t have the things I need to get myself through a disaster.   I know that there are a few items I should buy and put down there: some gallons of water, some non perishable food items, an extra flashlight, etc.  However, even those items would hardly help me survive a prolonged or severe situation.   

So what is stopping me?  I guess from a psychological viewpoint many of us don’t prepare at all because we don’t want to even think about ourselves or our community dealing with such a terrible situation.    Maybe we are a little superstitious too.   If we don’t plan for a disaster, then we won’t invite it to happen.   It’s the equivalent of children pulling the blanket over their heads to hide from monsters.  

I cannot pinpoint exactly what has changed.  Have I matured?   Has the rate of disasters seemed to have speeded up?   Is it my belief in global warming and involvement in groups that are predicting dire circumstances for our future?   Or is it just simply that someone had the brilliant idea to create a class making it too easy and convenient for people like me to not do something?

We Ballardites are fortunate to be given the opportunity to educate ourselves on how to prepare to take care of ourselves and our neighbors in the event of an emergency. 

Ballard Library SNAP community organizing meeting:

6:30 – 8pm Sept. 11th

For more information on Seattle Neighborhood Preparedness:  http://http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/programs/snap/

When I stepped onto the #15 bus today I was confused that all the seats up front were taken.  I take the same bus at the same time every day.   At  the stop where I get on there is usually plenty of room.  It took me a moment to register all the faces and realize that most of the seat occupants were teenagers.  That’s when it struck me that today was the first day back to school and I was back to bus hell. 

Over the years as condos have been put up at dizzying rates the Ballard buses have gotten more and more crowded.  Then add in the increased price for gas over the past few years and the Ballard routes were already at maximum capacity.   However, last year when the Ballard School District decided to stop providing school bus service forcing students to take Metro buses to get to school, it pushed an already overburdened route to the breaking point.  People like me who use the #15 to commute to jobs were not given any warning about the impact to us by this poorly planned decision.  Last year I suddenly found myself being told that I couldn’t board the bus as there wasn’t even standing room left.  Adult riders who depend on the bus to get to their jobs were suddenly left stranded.  When I found out the cause for the sudden increase in riders, I called Ballard High School to complain.   I received a voicemail from the principal indicating that he had worked with Metro when it was decided that students would no longer have access to a school bus system.     I wonder how much ‘collaboration’ actually occurred between the school and Metro as the schedule was unchanged.  There weren’t any additional buses added to the route to account for extra capacity needed by this flood of additional riders.    It’s also obvious that the high school did not alter its start time to be slightly before or after the peak commuting hour so that workers and students would not be competing to get to where they need to go.     Also, students don’t appear to have been directed to take the local #15.  Instead they pile on the Express bus which is specifically used by commuters to get to downtown jobs. 

When the Transit Now initiative to expand Metro Transit service was approved by King County voters in 2006, the measure was supposed to enhance existing service to produce a network of core high ridership routes with all day, two-way bus service connecting residential, business and recreational centers.  The frequency goal was for service on these routes every 15 minutes as ridership studies show that when passengers can count on service being available, even commuter ridership increases.    These improvements are paid for by the people through another add on to our already high sales tax.   I of course assumed that there would be additional buses added to the #15 and #18 routes, two of the routes with Metro’s highest ridership statistics (hence the reason the Monorail was going to have its stations all along Ballard).   Instead for reasons that were not made clear, the route chosen by Metro to increase capacity was the #48 which runs from Ballard to the U District and points beyond.

The fact that both Ballard to downtown routes have long had riders standing from front to back make me wonder why Metro wouldn’t choose to use the Transit Now funds for these routes, at least from a liability standpoint.  Having so many people standing, combined with the way some drivers suddenly brake hard, it seems as if these factors create a certain amount of risk for Metro.  In case of a very hard stop, or an accident, I wonder about the effect of overcapacity on the injury rate and the potential for lawsuits. 

Today I wasn’t turned away from the bus, but I wonder whether that will last based on my experience last year.  I was, however, late to work due to the fact that boarding and unloading is a long process when the bus is packed full.  Is it too much to ask in this supposedly ‘green’ city that encourages people to get out of their cars, that those of us who actually do so, be able to board a bus, take a seat and get to where we need to be in a timely manner?   

Quick Update:  Today, Thursday August 4th, 15 adults were denied boarding on the Express #15 bus due to influx of students and lack of planning by Metro and Ballard High School.