http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/12/19/what_s_up_with_metro Comments On: What's Up With Metro by Erica C. Barnett en-us Copyright 2009 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by Nic]]> Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:29:54 -0800 The Stranger Posted by war/med]]> Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:55:06 -0800 The Stranger Posted by ak]]> Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:03:12 -0800 The Stranger also, it's not worth the money to outfit the buses for a once or twice a year 1 day long storm (this year is wacky as this storm is lasting a week).
when it snows, take the day off. get over it. weather happens.
thanks, metro.
go lightrail.
Posted by ak]]> Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:02:12 -0800 The Stranger
Saw someone with cross-country skiis swooshing up the sidewalk instead--that's my new plan for Monday morning.
Posted by Commuter 1]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:19:42 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Jigae]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:36:24 -0800 The Stranger Posted by same as 60]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:16:50 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Gilbert (zjil-bear) Scott]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:15:35 -0800 The Stranger
That said, NOW can we please get serious about building light rail?
Posted by RainMan]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:55:29 -0800 The Stranger
It's total f-cking bullsh-t. Even if we can't do anything about the snow, we CAN do something about the communication. Come on METRO! Man the phones! Get an opt-in text system in place!
Posted by Jigae]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:54:39 -0800 The Stranger
Seattle gets the snow plow service its willing to pay for, which is, not very much. Of course we don't need it very much, only a couple days per year. So quit whining that your street and driveway aren't plowed yet - you aren't willing to pay the taxes for that. Are you ready to pass a 10-year "snow plow" levy or something? I think not.

As for what kind of job SDOT does do, you voters keep approving of the job they're doing by voting Nickels into office over and over. Voters here have gotten pretty much exactly what they've voted for, so quit whining or pick someone else (viable) to run and back them till they get elected. (Note to Seattle: "Al Runte" does not equal "viable").

As for Metro, if only they could figure out how that thar new fangled 'internets' thing workz maybe they couldz post changes on that thar thang. I mean, with all the people with cell phones you'd think they'd deploy some wireless device-friendly version of their schedule pages or something. No, "mybus" doesn't seem to work well - usually I get a reply text only after 10 or 20 minutes and then its often incomprehensible.

Of course, given the extreme 'challenges' King County government has with upgrading computer systems - what has it been like 10 years they've been trying to upgrade their software systems and each time they manage to blow like $2 million on something that turns out not to work? I mean, with all the techies in Seattle you'd think for that much moola they could just hire someone to write completely new code from scratch and be done with it.

Have you ever tried to figure out the 'secret #' for your bus stop by using Metro's rider info line? Insane - it can take 10 to 15 minutes to work the menu and that assumes you don't accidentally hit a wrong entry and have to start over. Portland has come up with a brilliant idea - they stencil the bus stop # on the bus stop sign - OMG?! Who'd have thought such a crazy idea like that could work? Those Portlanders are so far ahead of the curve its scary!

The daily Metro mantra - repeat after me: "its not about the customers, we have no customers, the apparent reality of customers and their needs are a trick of Satan and must be denied at all costs." Yes, there are lots of bus drivers who are wonderful people, but that doesn't excuse the agency from being as disappointing as it is.

If ever there was a city/region that needed a Bus/Transit Riders Union to bludgeon Metro into some approximation of common sense, this is it.

So ECB, when are you holding the first meeting? I'll be there.
Posted by I am your Mother]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:40:54 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Former Resident]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:38:20 -0800 The Stranger
Thursday and Friday a number of routes also seemed to be running on "unpublished re-routes" and said to call Metro. When you can't get through on the phone that doesn't really help riders to know where to catch the bus. It's really not helpful. I'm thinking "unpublished re-routes" means we don't know where the hell your bus is.

Today, the 3 is running to the top of the hill but the 4 isn't? How does that make any sense? They operate on the same route for most of the way so why can the 3 make it but not the 4?

Also, if Metro could change the time stamp on their adverse weather page to PST instead of GMT that would be helpful too.
Posted by QA Resident]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:08:37 -0800 The Stranger
A few days ago everyone was snickering about how Seattle closed schools when there was no snow.

A few months ago a transit column in a Seattle daily included a question about why Metro is not putting higher-capacity articulated buses on their route, because their buses are so crowded.

Six months from now the right wing will be complaining about city tax dollars spent on situations that rarely occur.

The only sane people today are those looking at the big picture, not this brief, transient event.
Posted by Thomas]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:09:19 -0800 The Stranger
Those storms only affected parts of the area, mainly the peninsula & North end above Everett, I believe, although I do recall we got a bit of compact ice on the roadways, but it was scraped off the main arterials pretty quickly, so the ice was only problematic in re: travel for a couple of days, at most.
Posted by COMTE]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:51:48 -0800 The Stranger Posted by matthew]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:12:34 -0800 The Stranger Posted by blank12357]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:47:42 -0800 The Stranger
What do you want Metro to do? Get rid of articulated buses for the few days it might snow in Seattle even though they carry more people?

I do agree that Metro needs to do a better job of communicating snow conditions. Most of us will walk a mile or two if we know another line is running. Shit happens, get over it.
Posted by reality based commute]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:06:21 -0800 The Stranger Listen to Natuba: Go With Hummer Cabs:

http://www.natuba.com/photo/XhiK8H/


Posted by 100 Percent Natuba]]> Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:01:42 -0800 The Stranger Posted by JoshMahar]]> Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:45:48 -0800 The Stranger
I don't understand why Metro ever sends out those articulated buses in the snow. They always fail, chains or not. Maybe they can be used for selected flatland express buses (PnRs to downtown and back), but otherwise they are a menace.

Run the short buses instead.
Posted by Always_right]]> Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:33:06 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Goodman]]> Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:22:52 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Bruce]]> Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:14:45 -0800 The Stranger Posted by bob]]> Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:37:33 -0800 The Stranger
Total bullshit. One or two days of below freezing temps does not compare to A SOLID FUCKING WEEK, PLUS.

@35: I totally recognize snark, which is simply the same thing as saying I recognize the whiny self-centeredness of people who would have made pre-Gallilean Catholicism seem tame by comparison.

@32: I remember those winters as well. In '85 I drove my 1972 Chevy Impala from Sea-Tac up 99 to my job in P-Square sans chains and without so much as a stall. Feb '89 I think I was in Spokane, so I'm biased; December '90 I lived between Redmond & Fall City and IIRC nothing moved - I mean NOTHING - for days; Christmas '96 was the worst in my book. I was living in N Greenwood when on New Years Eve the 2 1/2 FEET of snow that got dumped on us melted within 24 hours and flooded my below-ground-level basement apartment.

So, yeah things could be worse. But, I wouldn't WANT them to be...
Posted by COMTE]]> Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:25:11 -0800 The Stranger