Ride Free Area is being eliminated(Downtown Seattle) (Federal Way, Tukwila: 2015, how much)

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Ira500

I worked on the waterfront streetcar, and on a busy day with lots of tourists, it would take us all of 25 minutes to go a mile and a half. If they'd supplied me with a whip, we probably could have stayed on schedule.

The streetcar replacement, 99 bus is that way now. I finally gave up trying to use it and get to my bus in time, and now walk the mile to the transit tunnel. Tales me about 20 minutes, the 99 takes that long or more, especially during the summer tourist season. The additional benefit is getting on at Westlake instead of International District, many more empty seats when I get on.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

I hope this doesn't slow boardings downtown, but I think that it will.

[Transmition]

I don't know how many times I got off the bus outside the ride-free area without paying before finding out I was meant to pay! None of the drivers ever said anything.

[tickyul]

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

I hope this doesn't slow boardings downtown, but I think that it will.

Yeah, but it will speed things up when de-boarding. And most people will get the hang of things after a couple of weeks.......a uniform policy is a lot less confusing.

[jgardener]

I lived car free near the ID and riding the bus was a almost daily activity. The ride free zone really slowed down everything and didn't make a ton of sense to me as every other city I've lived in was pay as you board and no free rides.

The ride through downtown was often slowed down by the number of people who would ride two or three stops and then get off; I'm guessing the reality of having to pay a few dollars to ride a few blocks might keep those people from slowing down the trip through downtown. One of the reasons given for the ride free zone was to benefit tourists, but I rarely encountered tourists when riding the bus plus Seattle's downtown is fairly walkable.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by tickyul

Yeah, but it will speed things up when de-boarding. And most people will get the hang of things after a couple of weeks.......a uniform policy is a lot less confusing.

I dunno ... maybe if they do away with cash fares entirely and make Orca mandatory. Otherwise, 12 people paying cash at 3rd and union is going to take quite a while. Plus you are eliminating the back doors for entry.

I can see a lot of backups in the tunnel. But, I'm sure a solution will be found. Transit in Seattle is pretty innovative and efficient for the U.S.

[iskray917]

good, i'm tired of those lazy fools who ride one block just because they can

[tickyul]

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

I dunno ... maybe if they do away with cash fares entirely and make Orca mandatory. Otherwise, 12 people paying cash at 3rd and union is going to take quite a while. Plus you are eliminating the back doors for entry.

I can see a lot of backups in the tunnel. But, I'm sure a solution will be found. Transit in Seattle is pretty innovative and efficient for the U.S.

No.....I do not agree.

I drove for Metro for about 11 years. Metro is run by a bunch of head-in-the-sand paperpushers. Well known problems are ignored and very good, innovative ideas are regularly shot down.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by tickyul

[/b]


No.....I do not agree.

I drove for Metro for about 11 years. Metro is run by a bunch of head-in-the-sand paperpushers. Well known problems are ignored and very good, innovative ideas are regularly shot down.

Well then you would know better than me.

I was talking about from a rider's standpoint. Metro and ST (and community transit, when I rode them as part of my commute) certainly appear to be efficient and effective.

I lived nearly car-free in Seattle for a while, which is damn near impossible here in Baltimore, a city of almost the same size, with higher density. It's also adjacent to one of the most transit-rich cities in the U.S., Washington, but there is no coordination in systems.

All I'm saying is - if you think you have it bad out there, take a trip to some other similarly-sized places in the U.S. and see how they do it.

[Steve Bowen]

Originally Posted by tickyul

Yep, you are right on.

I drove for Metro for about 11 years. Man, the amount of problems that came from the RFA.

I have rode a lot of public transit......do not remember any other with a RFA.......people will get used to it.

Portland had a similar free ride area downtown which they recently phased out as well.