posted 12/15/11 07:01 AM | updated 12/15/11 09:52 AM
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Bus Chick petition: Save the 27!

By Tom Fucoloro
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Carla Saulter (AKA Bus Chick, also with Transportation Choices Coalition, though she is doing this as a private citizen) has started an online petition arguing against proposed cuts to off-peak service on Metro's Route 27 between downtown and Colman Park.

The planned 2012 revision would change the route so that it only runs between downtown and 12th Ave except during peak hours. The route runs most of the length of Yesler Way, and proposed cuts to both the 4 and 27 could mean no off-peak bus service from downtown to commercial destinations along much of Yesler as well as public destinations, such as Douglass-Truth Library and Leschi and Colman Parks.

Here's a map of the proposed change from King County Metro:

The petition says that the route should at least go as far as Leschi Elementary (Yesler and 31st) for all-day service. Ridership pattern analysis by Bruce Nourish at Seattle Transit Blog shows that, while the 27 is very peak-oriented, ridership is fairly strong to about 23rd Ave. Nourish also notes that the bus does run parallel to the stronger Route 14 just a few blocks south on Jackson.

Here's the text of the petition:

King County Metro's September, 2012 service changes include several major changes to bus service in Seattle's Central District. (For more information and to provide feedback, visit this page on Metro's site: http://metro.kingcounty.gov/have-a-say/get-in-the-know/projects/route-information.html.)

Metro proposes to eliminate 27 service to Leschi during off-peak hours, terminating the route at 12th Ave. The rationale is that "service to Leschi Park and Colman Park do not meet Metro's guidelines for continued service," but this does not explain why the route is being terminated at 12th instead of at 23rd or Martin Luther King, which are common destinations for 27 riders at all hours. If route 4 is eliminated as proposed, there will no longer be a direct link from downtown to Douglass-Truth Library, and there will be no public bus service to Leschi Elementary. (Some other public resources that will be harder to reach by bus: Odessa Brown and Carolyn Downs medical clinics, Catholic Community Services, and Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center.)

In addition, if the proposed changes take effect, there will be no transit access to the Colman Park area of Lake Washington, another significant public resource, for anyone who does not drive an autombile.

We, the undersigned, do not support King County Metro's proposed changes to the route 27. All-day and weekend service must be retained at least as far east as Leschi Elementary.

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Most times I ride this bus, it's between 10 and Noon. The last 3 times I took the bus, it was between 11 and Noon and there were 15-20 people on the bus. I pick up at Lane and Lakeside and get off at 14th. That means 15-20 people will not be able to get where they need to go. I don't know what the numbers need to be in order for a route to stay active, but this seems like quite a few people who would no longer have the option of public transportation to get where they need to go.
I will be writing Metro about this as well.
Save the 27 - ALL of it!
Comment by Trisha
5 months ago
Defective Petition
This petition is defective when it stipulates to maintain off-peak service "at least far east as Leschi Elementary". There are many senior citizens, apartment dwellers, and others downhill from 32nd Avenue who are dependent on daytime and weekend bus service and would be seriously challenged to be required to walk uphill to 31st and Jackson to find a bus. In fact, some of my frail elderly friends of modest income -- who rely on the 27 to get groceries and go to medical appointments would be stranded. Believe it or not, folks: we aren't all rich folks down here. Some of us have had homes here 40 or more years, bought when property was cheap. There are old apartment buildings, too along the Lake that do not cater to rich people, rather to working stiffs.

The whole notion that we urban dwellers should walk extra blocks for buses in the dark, or rain, or snow is disappointing to say the least. It's not all that safe in the City!

The petition should ask Metro to continue service to Colman Park.
Comment by John Barber
5 months ago
Eliminate the #27 Bus
This is another bus route that must be eliminated entirely.

Folks need to walk this distance. Just take one of the many stairways to the top of the hill and take a more efficient bus route or walk all the way. Especially the old people. They need to get some excersize and quit mooching off of the tax payers
Comment by Grumbo
5 months ago
Redundant services
The 14 runs from 3rd downtown to 31st and Jackson. This means that all the way out to 31st and Jackson, we already have another route that is .2 miles away (the distance from Yesler to Jackson).

If people can not walk, ride, or wheel 2/10 of a mile, then they probably need special bus services, which are provided by metro.

Beyond 31st the routes diverge, likely requiring a transfer at off-peak hours for folks going to alder or lakeside. However, since we've established that off-peak ridership is low past 23rd, this seems like a reasonable choice.

To provide the best bus service for the whole community, we can't have wasteful and redundant routes like this. The changes are justified.
Comment by Andy
5 months ago
RE: Redundant services
Hey Andy and Grumbo,

I'm sure you're cool with your wife or daughter or grandmother walking alone through the woods alone in Frink Park, right? Otherwise, it's a lot more than .2 miles, right?

Or do you just not care because that's someone else's problem?
Comment by Mike
5 months ago
RE: Redundant services
I am opposed to wasting resources on that route and many more. Regardless of the petty inconvenience of one person having to walk a small distance.
Comment by Grumbo
5 months ago
amazed
I'm amazed that people would be against having consistant bus service to the Central District. The 27 especially is a route that it would be ridiculous to cut since it serves so many who need public transportation most. The 27 goes from downtown to a popular clinic for low income kids, to a public library, to Lake Washington (and yes, to my workplace). Walking isn't an option for a lot of the folks I see on the bus every day--walking short distances (even .2 miles!!!) is actually really tough since there are some of the steepest hills in Seattle up and down Yesler Way and steep areas are abundant as you get closer to the lake. (I do a lot of walking around the neighborhood and know there are plenty of hills I wouldn't want someone who wasn't completely steady on their feet to try to hike, just to get to a bus stop.) Cutting this route would inconvenience me, true, but more importantly it would completely isolate seniors and make it impossible or at least difficult for families who do not have cars to get to the library and clinics from Yesler Terrace and from downtown.

Also, if you think that Access and other special services will pick up the slack, try to get everywhere you need to go in a week using just those services. Good luck with that. Especially since cutting these important routes will put even more strain on alternatives.
Comment by Kerrie C
5 months ago
Oh snooze.
Wow. Seniors will be "completely isolated". Low income kids will not be able to go to the library any more. Right. Undoubtely they will be shooting orphans in the street and the world will end. You've further convinced me that people need to walk more to get oxygen to their brains. Eliminate #27.
Comment by Grumbo
5 months ago
RE: Oh snooze.
Grumbo,
You amaze me! Your uncompasion and lack of empathy for any that you seem to think isn't worthy for the services that they pay for just blike you makes me have less hope for the world. May you be confined to a wheelchair, old and alone and sucking on an oxygen tank real soon! A** hole!
Comment by Vicky G.
4 months ago
Metro's changes should be supported.
The 14 is just a few blocks away, and hardly anyone rides the 27 on the water. Metro's plan is to transfer the 27 off peak service (they are still keeping the peak service) to routes like the 14, to provide more frequent service and more padding at the end of the line to keep the bus on time. Eliminate the 27. The hours aren't going away, they are just being used in a more productive way.
Comment by Chetan
5 months ago
RE: Redundant services by Andy RE:Eliminate the #27 Bus by Grumbo
Routes 27, 04 needed to service shopping library and housing and doctors and hospitals. Redundant means no longer necessary due to repeating or copying another or same as and the 27 route and even the 4 route may cross each other paths but do not repeat each other. almost all of the discussions on these route changes are done online and and in English there are still allot of people with out Internet Access and People who are emigrants who Don't Speak English or have Computers or internet access who Don't know they have say in all this or even how to have a say Metro Transit and the KC Council know this and are counting on this to get what they want. to quote SPOCK from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan "That is wise. Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" so Grumbo and Andy you are the few and are out voted..
so lets keep the 27 route from downtown to 36th ave S.& S Massachusetts Street, and keep the 4 route from downtown to 26th ave S. and S.Walker for service to from Lighthouse for the Blind and to Swedish Cherry Hill Hospital Swedish First Hill Hospital and Harborview Medical Center.

LONG LIVE THE 27 AND THE 4 ROUTES....

So LONG LIVE THE 27 ROUTE and 4 ROUTE.....
Comment by Terry
4 months ago
Eliminate Metro - Banish it from our wonderfull city.
Let's kick these county morons out of the city and stop giving them our taxes to run the gigantic pig busses that crush the life from our streets.

A mosquito fleet of private busses operated with flare and vitality. There are thousands of creative energetic people who would buy or build their own bus and compete for ridership. There would be gospel busses, drug dealer busses (like the #7), mexican busses, samoan busses, ethiopian busses, terrorist busses, hindu busses, jamaican busses. Man. I tell you - the busses of Samoa are so cool. You should go there just to see them. You can get anywhere in a flash for $0.50. They run every minute - anywhere you want to go.
Comment by Grumbo
4 months ago
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