The Sounder Train.... changes a-coming? (Seattle, Tacoma: buses, move, station)

[Inkpoe]

Too many empty seats on Sounder north line | Local News | The Seattle Times

The South line (going towards Tacoma) is doing wonderfully that SoundTransit added two more stations. However, the North line (going towards Everett) isn't meeting projections. This leaves SoundTransit in a bit of a bind so now they have to figure out what to do with the North line.

What do you think they'll do?

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Too many empty seats on Sounder north line | Local News | The Seattle Times

The South line (going towards Tacoma) is doing wonderfully that SoundTransit added two more stations. However, the North line (going towards Everett) isn't meeting projections. This leaves SoundTransit in a bit of a bind so now they have to figure out what to do with the North line.

What do you think they'll do?

One question to ask is this. Why aren't there as many people going north?

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

One question to ask is this. Why aren't there as many people going north?

Its a commuter train. People north of Seattle aren't really using the train to get to Seattle. Of course, the stations up there aren't as accessible as the Southern stations.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Its a commuter train. People north of Seattle aren't really using the train to get to Seattle. Of course, the stations up there aren't as accessible as the Southern stations.

Which brings us to another question. How do we make those stations more accessible on the north side? I ask because while the Seattle area got a relatively late start on transit, from what I notice, it has been getting better rapidly, and I would hate to see things happen to it that would stifle that growth.

[Xeon1210]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Which brings us to another question. How do we make those stations more accessible on the north side? I ask because while the Seattle area got a relatively late start on transit, from what I notice, it has been getting better rapidly, and I would hate to see things happen to it that would stifle that growth.

If you want a GIS project, head of to king county GIS (lots of ESRI data files) and do a study of the population levels from the king street station in seattle(where both the north and south trains terminate/begin) and look as far south as Lakewood and as far north as Everett.

Basically the south leg of the train goes though much much more populated areas, is longer, and is a much better alternative than the highway (i-5 southbound just plain sucks) . The south leg has more trips iirc and when I rode it daily 2 years ago every train was packed sardine mode until we got to tacoma, even though it's expensive as heck ($5.25 ONE WAY from lakewood (which is a new station), $4.75 from tacoma). Keep in mind that there are also buses that run to the same south leg stations as the train and they are well used as well.

Now on to the ops question, i say get rid of it and move it to the south end. I hear that the north leg is well serviced by the buses so why pay a premium?

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by emerald_octane

If you want a GIS project, head of to king county GIS (lots of ESRI data files) and do a study of the population levels from the king street station in seattle(where both the north and south trains terminate/begin) and look as far south as Lakewood and as far north as Everett.

Basically the south leg of the train goes though much much more populated areas, is longer, and is a much better alternative than the highway (i-5 southbound just plain sucks) . The south leg has more trips iirc and when I rode it daily 2 years ago every train was packed sardine mode until we got to tacoma, even though it's expensive as heck ($5.25 ONE WAY from lakewood (which is a new station), $4.75 from tacoma). Keep in mind that there are also buses that run to the same south leg stations as the train and they are well used as well.

Now on to the ops question, i say get rid of it and move it to the south end. I hear that the north leg is well serviced by the buses so why pay a premium?

Thank you for the idea. I will do what I can with what I've got. I am going to look at some things to see if there is another solution besides getting rid of the north line.

[Ira500]

The south line also started first, and when it first statrted, ridership was below projections.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Ira500

The south line also started first, and when it first statrted, ridership was below projections.

In short, time is needed.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

In short, time is needed.

That's my view. They added trips on the South Line, and it resulted in higher ridership. But times are different, and so are the politicians, so they're going to reduce service on the north line.

[secret_squirrel]

Additionally, the north line has problems the south line doesn't.
1) A couple times a winter, it is shut down from mudslides, or fear of mudslides, over the tracks.
2)It is also slower: Everett to Seattle takes 59 minutes. A similar distance from the south, Auburn to Seattle is 33 minutes.
3) Geographically, it is further from population density with less parking options. It doesn't make sense for a lot of potential riders to spend time getting west to Mukilteo or Edmonds to spend another 45 min on a train.

Going to the park and ride and taking the bus makes a lot more practical sense from the north.