King County Metro: Prepare for big changes ahead
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SEATTLE -- Big changes are coming to King County Metro at the end of the month, and that's not good news for many riders who count on the bus.
The changes, which begin September 29, will mean new and better services for many, but hardship for others.
Nearly 400,000 riders currently rely on Metro transportation, but transit officials are under pressure to attract even more riders and make service more efficient.
In perhaps the most drastic change, Metro is doing away with its downtown ride-free zone. To streamline the boarding process, riders on all routes will soon be required to pay when they get on the bus, rather than when they leave. That might seem like a minor detail, but some riders say it's a big change.
"It's been a habit every day to get on this bus and get off and pay when I get off," said Renee Ivry. "So this habit is going to need to get broken and it's going to be very hard for me."
Metro is also eliminating roughly 10 routes and making changes to a dozen more, which means there will be new stops on different streets.
New signs will help riders go with the new flow. They'll see one on the front door showing people where to pay when they get on, and signs on the back door will tell people not to enter.
"We're trying to make the system more productive and give more value back to the taxpayer dollar," said Metro Transit general manager Kevin Desmond.
Desmond is urging riders to start educating themselves on the new changes now, so they're not shocked come September 29. He also said he's confident that the changes will help more people than they hurt.
"It does mean a larger number of potential users get better service, so it's a trade-off," he said.
The changes, which begin September 29, will mean new and better services for many, but hardship for others.
Nearly 400,000 riders currently rely on Metro transportation, but transit officials are under pressure to attract even more riders and make service more efficient.
In perhaps the most drastic change, Metro is doing away with its downtown ride-free zone. To streamline the boarding process, riders on all routes will soon be required to pay when they get on the bus, rather than when they leave. That might seem like a minor detail, but some riders say it's a big change.
"It's been a habit every day to get on this bus and get off and pay when I get off," said Renee Ivry. "So this habit is going to need to get broken and it's going to be very hard for me."
Metro is also eliminating roughly 10 routes and making changes to a dozen more, which means there will be new stops on different streets.
New signs will help riders go with the new flow. They'll see one on the front door showing people where to pay when they get on, and signs on the back door will tell people not to enter.
"We're trying to make the system more productive and give more value back to the taxpayer dollar," said Metro Transit general manager Kevin Desmond.
Desmond is urging riders to start educating themselves on the new changes now, so they're not shocked come September 29. He also said he's confident that the changes will help more people than they hurt.
"It does mean a larger number of potential users get better service, so it's a trade-off," he said.
Lol @ Renee Ivry saying how difficult it will be to break the habit of pay-as-you-leave. Really? That's going to be difficult?
I know a lady who works for Metro~she is dense,seriously. Working at Metro was her morning job and she worked nights with me. After getting to know this chick I am still confused as to why they hired her. I would never get on a bus if I saw her at the wheel.
About a year ago I had to take the bus from the Kent Park and ride to the Renton Park and ride and chose to never ride again after that (it was the 169) The driver himself kept a boombox right next to him , playing music while he drove, which was unsafe and generally annoying. Then as the bus made its way through the Kent east hill I watched in horror as 40-50 students from Kent Meridian all piled on the bus. Not one student payed a fare from entrance to the exit stop(I guess it's because they were the disenfranchised group)
"Desmond is urging riders to start educating themselves on the new changes now, so they're not shocked come September 29."
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I tried but they still do not have a schedule up for the bus that will be replacing mine. Another thing is the bus replacing mine (which is in South Seattle) will be coming from West Seattle So I don't think ANY schedule they come up with will be accurate during commute times.
"It's been a habit every day to get on this bus and get off and pay when I get off," said Renee Ivry. "So this habit is going to need to get broken and it's going to be very hard for me."
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Oh please. I was a bus rider back when the "Magic Carpet" free-ride area was first created, and, yes, it was a slight modification to my payment routine, certainly not insurmountable. If remembering to always pay when boarding is "very hard" right now for this person (!) I'm sure it will become second nature within a week, just like it was for me, and for the countless others who've already gone through this process.
 @TheTruncheon Seriously. How can she even figure out what bus to ride?
@TheTruncheon I remember riding the bus back in Phoenix in the 80s when I was a kid; there was no ride free zone anywhere. Busses didnt run at night; the system was much different than seattle is here. Not perfect here, but not bad.
We are now officially, "Big City America". I think I'll move down to Bend, Oregon.
 @Seattlebcc You might like Burns better.
 @Seattlebcc Bend is nice.Â
Where I lived in Canada, paying as you got on the bus was just something I had been doing since I was a child. When we moved here, it was hard to remember to pay getting off the bus sometimes and pay getting on at other times. I like being able to pay getting on and not have to worry about walking back up to the front of the bus to pay at the end of my journey.Â
One more reason NOT to visit Seattle. Â Was just there last weekend for the husky game. Â Rode in the bus tunnel for free and thought, "this is cool. Â Had to pay a ton for parking but at least I can get through the city." Â WRONG.
 @makeadifference It's still cheaper then paying $40 for parking and then battling with traffic to the parkade and then back out again. I took the bus from Renton to Seattle for Bumbershoot daily and paid a total of $2.25 one way. I call that a win!
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 @Wickedwitch Ha ha, my bad.  Nice catch
I hardly ever ride the bus, but I've been complaining for years about the ride free and pay at the end thing. I'm so glad they are finally going to fix that mess!
Making Metro More Efficient=Eliminating or drastically reducing layover (often insufficient to begin with so the bus starts back on its route late. Repeat  procedure at each  terminal).
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How about you (Metro) give folks who use an ORCA card a 20% bonus when they load their card to give an incentive to change over from using cash which takes time for everyone to clean out the back of their couch and SLOWLY count the pennies into the fare box.
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Also, require a valid pass or transfer to be in possession at all times on the bus. A few busts in the CBD would go a long way to incentivising compliance and could be done fairly economically.
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Make SOLICITATION of non-fare payment a violation of the MCOC (Metro Code of Conduct).
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Have actual standards for Disabled Passes. Seems some passengers on my bus are able to run OJ style from the 7-11 with their Steel Reserve tucked inconspicuously in a paper bag which is the disguise I can never figure out just WHAT is in it. But I CAN spot a SR from 30 feet away by the sound of it popping open and the graphics on the upper third of the can I see in my aisle mirror.Â
Actually, Sid, non-payment of ones fare falls into the same parameters of the law as defrauding an inn-keeper.....it's just not enforced. (Should be, though!)
I think it is a good thing. Too many people are riding the bus and refuse to pay when they get off. Â They do this everyday acting as if they forgot their money and what is the driver supposed to do, keep them on the bus? It is better to make people pay before boarding the bus.
Two Words which liberal tax addicts love to banter about when it comes to gas taxes & tolls:Â USER FEES!!
More words:Â Reap it, love it, live with it.
4000,000 customers and they still cannot pay their own way. Your public services at work
 @LockesChild 400,000 customers "and" tax revenue from car registrations.
So why is that a big deal? Just have your money ready before you get on! That's what I do! Why is this a big deal? Does this hamper their efforts to try to bail off before paying?
homeless people get bus pass for all month but they sell those to buy beer or drugs
I have to pay my own way, the same as untold thousands of other hijacked taxpayers, who are forced to subsidize these free loaders transportation. Until these parasites start paying their own way, rather than thinking that I have an obligation to subsidize them, donât expect any sympathy from those of us whose pockets you have your greedy hands in.     Â
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So you are saying, we should turn away all tourists, throw away any tax money we would get from their sales? I mean, that's one of the biggest purposes of the Ride-Free zone, so tourists can travel all around downtown without having to worry about having exact change or anything.
 @CommutingGuy It's not like it;'s advertised anywhere. Back when I used to visit Seattle I drove a rental car like most other tourists. Off the plane, down the escalator, out baggage claim and across to the parking garage where the rentals are. I don't even remember seeing a highly visible or easy to find bus stop that would work for me, my luggage and kids. And why would I dump my car and ride the bus once I have a rental car? The ride free zone is for bums, people who live in Seattle and office workers who conveniently forget to pay
 @CommutingGuy How many tourists actually use Metro Transit? How many tourists would refuse to come to Seattle because they would have to pay for public transit like they would in almost every other city?
 @oldster70 Let's just stop funding Metro altogether. Be patient as you sit with an extra 400,000 cars on the highways.
 @hawc1506  Ok Hawc...lets see now...400,000 cars x 3 gallons of gas per day x 37.5 per gallon gas tax = $$$$ for the roads our poverty stricken DOT says they don't have....I can live with that!!
 @hawc1506  @Sydthepiper That does not mean every of those 400,000 cars are going to be centralized at one location... they are going to be spread out across the state. There'll still be some sort of public transportation with cuts to Metro, it is not going away completely. Obviously no one likes to ride Metro because their service sucks. Better to fix the roads than fund a broken system.
 @hawc1506  @Sydthepiper Yes, then toll every bridge and road till WSDOT gets full.
 @Sydthepiper  @hawc1506 I-5 is already over-capacity at 250,000 cars per day. When the SR 99 was closed, Everett to Seattle was 117 minutes at its peak. Do you commute? Because it sounds like you think we have room for 400,000 extra cars.
How does paying when you get on rather than off make a diff? Â No more free ride zone...was this for downtown businesses originally? Â A customer could go downtown and then hop around free. Â Wonder how that'll be impacted? Â I see -$ there... Â
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KOMO, would be nice to have linked out to the route changes if such a site exists. Â I think it would have added some value to the article. Â I know you already know that a spell checker is not a proof reader, just like me :-).
 @teahater http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/scvchange.html
 @teahater It reduces confusion among passengers. I've seen many people who either forget to pay when they were suppose to or try to pay when they're not suppose to. The policy operated on a time-of-day schedule, and would be pay-as-you-leave during certain times of the day when going a certain direction. It was a terrible policy.
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This new policy will allow passengers to pay as they enter the front and exit out the back, which speeds up the process of boarding/alighting.
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:)
 @hawc1506  @teahater Sounds good to me
tea (party) lover.
"King Country Metro"?
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Really KOMO?
 @hawc1506 We got an spelling be wiener hear.
You mean Metro is the transit God around here?
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hahaha....
 @bobalouie Not only that, but we're all royal!
I have used the bus system in Jakarta, Indonesia.. There they have the big buses running from hubs to hubs. Small buses pick you up and deliver to the hubs or just down the street a few blocks. Big buses don't stop to pickup or drop off single passengers. Other countries also use this approach.
Why can't Metro figure this out? I have seen double length busses with  just a few people on board running on outside routes.
Metro needs to get rid of its backward management team.
 @rockguy Do they have good security at all the "hubs" there? Here, the "hubs" we have (transit centers and downtown transfer points) are easy pickin's for parasitical "thugs", so-called "gangs", aggressively begging nutjobs, violent drug-pushers, crazy bums, and other assorted shambling filth.
 @TheTruncheon Good point. I hear the transit center in Federal way is really bad. In Indonesia the stations were without the above trouble makers. There were security personnel. Other places were not as safe.Â
 @rockguy Is it true, as I have heard, that part of the incentive for all the double buses on underused routes is that, under their contract, drivers receive higher pay for operating the larger articulated buses. Ridership matters less than keeping the cash flowing to drivers? Anyone know?.
 @Fritz Maybe  Sid V would know.  If it is true, this money drain / expense is still the responsibility of "Management". They are being paid to run the system for the taxpayers, the ones who ride the bus and the ones who don't.
 @rockguyÂ
 @rockguy Metro wanted to make drastic cuts with the September service change, which would have been a lot more ambitious in its previous form. But politics often gets in the way. Metro isn't always the most well-managed, but they know when routes are inefficient.
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Politicians cry when their constituents live out in the middle of nowhere and don't get a stop. Then they force their agenda on Metro, who gets stuck with the bill AND the public backlash for waste.
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Wonderful political system we have don't we?
 @hawc1506  @rockguy You do realize that "out in the middle of nowhere"  is many other people's "as near as I can afford to live".
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