According to Magnolia Voice reader Christine, there is a serious problem with the bus service for Magnolia due to the recent schedule changes by Metro:
There is a problem with overcrowding on buses since they changed the schedule on the 4th of February. We used to get the longer bus size and now on a daily basis people get passed by during the peak hours due to overcrowding. I have submitted a complaint to Seattle Metro and encourage everyone to do so who have been affected by this change. I hope with other complaints that they will give us back our longer buses. One bus driver said due to no one riding during the day when it?s off peak hour they took them away. We pay for a service and are not getting what we paid for. The prices are going up as well as more people riding due to the economy and recent gas prices. Whoever is in charge over there needs to do their job so I can get to work on time and not have to drive and pay for parking when I have a perfectly good bus pass that I pay almost a hundred dollars for a month! One man said we would have to try and ride a earlier bus? I have done that! I got passed by a bus at an earlier time and the next one almost passed me up before stopping thank goodness. Can you post this link so we can have a voice and make this happen? This is a huge problem between 7am-9am during the peak hours.
If you want to share your concerns with Metro, click here for the link to provide feedback.
I haven’t commuted on the bus since I was laid off over a year ago so I’m curious which routes’ buses are filling up before leaving Magnolia. Given the limited service we have anyway, I can imagine how annoying it must be when this happens.
Actually, this might explain the issue I had catching a bus home from downtown a few weeks ago. I waited for a bus at Westlake for almost 40 minutes. During that time, only the 33, which doesn’t go near my house, stopped. When the 19 finally came, it was jam-packed and we had to pass by a couple of stops before some folks got off at the end of the ride-free zone.
The problem has much more to do with a lower tax revenues thanks to the recession AND to the choice of voters to cut taxes and require a 2/3 majority in the legislature to institute new ones and new fees. In short, just as more people are needing and wanting to ride Metro, Metro is running into higher gas prices and less money being available.
So before you go screaming about Metro needing to its job better, look to the legislature and more importantly to the voters of this state who continuously vote against their best interests in the name of lower taxes.
Yup, blame me, not Metro, Iam one of the “voters” that don’t know “what is good for me”. I am tired of paying higher taxes to subsidize a commuter system that is inefficiently run, and I am unable to use.
Awesome. Thanks billynibbet. It’s good to have a name to go with the facts. If only I thought I could educate you on the true costs of handicapping our region’s mass transit (public health costs, crumbling roadways, the bottomless pit of costs from continually building new roads to satisfy your “need” to drive), you’d see why I think you don’t get it.
Unless of course you’re one of the very few, very rich people who don’t need government or the services it provides all of us, then you’re totally in the right voting the way you do. But I doubt that’s the case.
Awesome. Thanks billynibbet. It’s good to have a name to go with the facts. If only I thought I could educate you on the true costs of handicapping our region’s mass transit (public health costs, crumbling roadways, the bottomless pit of costs from continually building new roads to satisfy your “need” to drive), you’d see why I think you don’t get it.
Unless of course you’re one of the very few, very rich people who don’t need government or the services it provides all of us, then you’re totally in the right voting the way you do. But I doubt that’s the case.
I just love people like you who act like they are too smart for everyone else. You should not be educating anyone on anything.
Putting people down, assuming they ?won?t get it?, making assumptions about and then digging into the choices they make, yeah- that?s someone we should be listening to.
First and foremost, of course Metro and the people balancing their budget and services should be held accountable. Don’t blame the voters for being tired of having their monies wasted and finally saying enough is enough!
We are given the right to choose how we vote in order to achieve different outcomes.
Since it?s obviously so wrong to you Charles and its ?going against our best interest? that must mean you know paying more-regardless of how it?s managed or distributed- is the “right answer” have you stepped up to pay$?
Charles, you are “crusader”…when you get a bit older, and you have actually paid more than your fair share of taxes you will understand the futility of it. I would much rather make donations to much more worthy private non-profit institutions that do so much more good than our government ever will.
Remember the “monorail debacle”? I paid over $2k a year in taxes for a couple years, and what did we get?…
Which routes are you talking about and where are the pass-by problems happening?
Frequently on the 24 and the 33
I take the 7:20 24 bus. It is a double bus and it is never over crowded. I also take the 19 bus, single bus, and it too is never over crowded….full, but no one standing.
Frequently on the 24 and the 33
CKUP-The only routes we have from here are #19 (limited service), #24, and #33 from Magnolia to Dowtown. I catch it from 28th and Blaine since I have to drop my son at school first on the way from my house.
Charles-I hear what you are saying. I think you are wrong. We actually had these longer buses one month ago on a regular basis. The driver said we are the only route in the city (which I find hard to beleive that are that are crowded during peak hours) since they took the longer bus away and gave us the smaller ones. They already raised the rates in the past 2 years which is not what I am complaining about. It’s pretty simple- you have more people than the number of seats and space to stand for one month so far between the hours of 7am- 9pm. I don’t care about the ride home… doesn’t interfere with my job so if you are scheduling the bus routes you wonder to yourself and think (lightbulb!) Why.. I should change the equiptment that goes on that route during that time!
That is why they have a complaint, comment, and suggestion section on the site right? So, we can tell them what is working and what is not. Thank you for your input though… but I don’t think it’s that complicated.
MJ-It’s pretty limited, but if you are going downtown it’s fine if you time it right. I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else on the bus besides work since we have the challenges going anywhere else due to limited routes. It’s okay with me though except when I have to commute to work. That is the price you pay for living here and I am okay with that. To go downtown to work it is the most economical and fastest way if you want to avoid paying crazy prices for parking.
I just want it to change and for them to make it work. I don’t want ot have to worry about making it to my job on time everyday or getting in there with a miserable start to my day. This post was for the people that it was affecting to send in a email to Metro.. maybe something will change.
Thank you for your comments
When I was giving her her weekly stipend, my maid mentioned the bus was more crowded lately. Curious, I looked at one more closely when I passed one in my Mercedes. Sure glad I have massage seats and don’t have to listen to indigents headed to the half way house who don’t use their “inside voices” when on the bus.