Disabled riders dread Metro's planned bus stop closures
But for disabled riders whose bus stops face closure, there will be nothing fast or efficient about the change.
Metro Transit says it routinely reviews bus routes and looks for ways to improve.
Route 14 carries passengers from Capitol Hill and the Mount Baker neighborhood to downtown Seattle. Twenty of the route's stops have been proposed for elimination, and if all are approved, about one in five riders will have to walk to a different stop to catch the bus.
Included in that small group is Linda Paupaso, who cannot walk without the use of canes.
"I'm just distraught over the thought that it won't be here," Paupaso said of her bus stop.
The bus is the only way for Paupaso to get to work everyday.
Right now, her stop is right outside her front door, but after Sept. 4, she'll have to walk to the next stop.
"I really don't understand what the issue is as to why they would want to take it out," said mail carrier Michael Lambert.
Paupaso is now collecting signatures on a petition, asking for Metro to keep this stop. She also called KOMO's Problem Solvers.
"Why this one, of all of them? That's the question we're all puzzling over," said Paupaso.
When asked how Metro chose the stops slated for closure, spokesman David Hall said, "Primarily it's the terrain, you know. Is it hilly? Is it easy to get to the next stop? Does a person with disabilities or elderly folk - do they need that stop for access?"
Yes, Paupaso needs her stop. She once was a dancer but now suffers from a degenerative bone disease and a dislocated hip.
"I mean, I have no options," she said.
After hearing Paupaso's story, Metro agreed to keep her stop open.
"That stop's not going to be removed and as a matter of fact, according to our guidelines, it shouldn't be removed," Hall said.
Riders who'd like to petition to keep a specific stop on Route 14 have until Aug. 20 to submit comments to Metro Transit.