Schram: Ride-free zone elimination penalizes poor, homeless
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It's one more slap at the homeless; one more poke at the poor.
With King County Metro eliminating its ride-free downtown Seattle bus service this weekend, untold thousands of people are left wondering how they will keep medical appointments, get to a place where they can do laundry or just run general errands.
And agencies that assist the poor and the homeless are also concerned about the burden they must now deal with.
Social service groups are worried that their supply of free ride tickets will be quickly exhausted.
One report points out that the Downtown Emergency Service Center will have to cough up more than $50,000 a year in new downtown bus fares, and that's before doling out assistance to more than 2,000 clients who need help getting to where their mental health or addiction issues can be dealt with.
Metro expects to rake in an additional $2 million a year by eliminating the ride-free zone, a healthy portion of that on the backs of the poor and the agencies that serve them.
Certainly, there will be fewer drunks and druggies on the buses, but I still find the ultimate price too high.
Some accommodations have been made to help mitigate this move, but the end result will be one more obstacle; one more penalty that the poor and homeless will have to pay.
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Have something to say to Ken? Login or signup below to post a comment. Just be sure to read the rules and keep things civil. You can also e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com. You can also hook up with Ken on Facebook.
With King County Metro eliminating its ride-free downtown Seattle bus service this weekend, untold thousands of people are left wondering how they will keep medical appointments, get to a place where they can do laundry or just run general errands.
And agencies that assist the poor and the homeless are also concerned about the burden they must now deal with.
Social service groups are worried that their supply of free ride tickets will be quickly exhausted.
One report points out that the Downtown Emergency Service Center will have to cough up more than $50,000 a year in new downtown bus fares, and that's before doling out assistance to more than 2,000 clients who need help getting to where their mental health or addiction issues can be dealt with.
Metro expects to rake in an additional $2 million a year by eliminating the ride-free zone, a healthy portion of that on the backs of the poor and the agencies that serve them.
Certainly, there will be fewer drunks and druggies on the buses, but I still find the ultimate price too high.
Some accommodations have been made to help mitigate this move, but the end result will be one more obstacle; one more penalty that the poor and homeless will have to pay.
-----
Have something to say to Ken? Login or signup below to post a comment. Just be sure to read the rules and keep things civil. You can also e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com. You can also hook up with Ken on Facebook.
Ken Schram - you are sooooo wrong on this subject! If you honestly believe this "penalizes" the poor, why don't you volunteer your car and your time and YOU drive the transit abusers around?
They will still be getting free bus service for those appointments the protesters are saying are needed. And there's nothing wrong with people without bus fare WALKING just like all of the other people that walk when they don't have the fare!Â
The nonsense being put out there by the social agencies continues to not treat poor/homeless with the respect, sense of responsibility, and continues to treat these people as helpless, fragile, and unable to do any better! No wonder Seattle is so messed up!
 @mutterma you can't be serious!!  what about people who cannot walk, in wheelchairs and who cannot get to the appointments without the ride free area?
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GET A CLUE METRO,, THIS WAS A VERY POOR IDEA!!!
*but*
Part of the problem is that Seattle is no longer paying King County to support the free ride zone. The amount that they were paying was based on gas prices from years ago and they never wanted to pitch in more cash, so Metro rightly said the free ride is over.
I don't see what the big deal is here. The ride free zone was short. Anyone but a disabled person could easily walk from one end to the other. So how is it that people won't be able to get to their doctor appointments? Are all those people really living in the ride free zone area? I think Komo is exaggerating quite a bit. Only in Seattle could we blow up the end of the ride free zone into something catastrophic. They have been talking about eliminating it for decades. I remember in the 90's the wanted to get rid of it. We've also known for a long time that its days were numbered. Who's surprised here? Other major cities don't have a ride free zone and they're doing just fine. Get over it. Â
 @FremontTroll You think homeless folks have money to buy decent shoes for walking all over downtown every day? It's like 20 blocks from end to end (no it doesn't end where the bus tunnel does), and services for the homeless are scattered all over.
I use to transit the ride free zone every day as part of my commute to work. It was a horrible and frightening experience that cause me anxiety every day. All I saw were gang members, piss soaked bums, and crack heads abusing the system as a way to get to their next pan handling spot or meet with their dealer. I for one refuse to pay for these types of riders and I am very happy the ride free zone is going away. I think it will help go a long way in making the bus system down town a better experience for all. It sucks that some have to suffer but in the end they will find a way, maybe a medical transport system for those who truly need it.
Such a loving people you are. "There, buy for the Grace of God, go I".Â
 @Debbie1Democrat If you're such a loving person, you can fund their free ride but don't get all godly and judge others because they are speaking their mind. Yeesh.Â
Good job Seattle!!! The few times that I ever took public transport, people were simply abusing the system. Just homeless people taking free rides from one end to another to escape the cold/heat/rain etc.
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Why should i subsidize travel for others? Who is subsidizing travel for me?Â
 @NickM1979 You really think the homeless were using it to get a free 10 or 15 minute ride? Maybe some were but if I were homeless I would jump on the 174 (if it still exists) and get a 2 or 3 hour ride to stay nice and warm. I remember years ago the 340 would run from Burien to Shoreline. During peak hours it could easily take 3 hours or longer just to get from one end to the other. I would catch one of those buses and just crash out.Â
Ken, think for a moment. Â If I gave you, though I don't know you, a Starbucks $5 card once a week or so and then I suddenly stopped doing it, am I penalizing you? Â No. Â You have no right to expect it to begin with. Â
Does L.A. or NYC have a "free ride zone"?
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Man up and admit that you're wrong on this. Â Only a weak-minded leftist shill could call removing a expensive unjustified unearned perk "penalizing".
Hey, if Seattle wanted their free ride zone, they should pay for it.
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People in Bellevue or Kent shouldn't have to pay for people in Seattle to ride free.
I am glad to see the ride free areas disappear . Way too many people abused the system. They would get on the bus in Seattle and go to outlying areas and not pay. The bus drivers can't just keep them on the bus if they don't have money. I have been riding the bus nearly 15 years and this happens  every single day. This time if they don't have money the bus driver can kick them off before they get on the bus. It just isn't fare to those who try to be honest and pay the bloated fare.
 @jd94b No, we can't "kick them off the bus." Official Metro policy is to not get in fare disputes. If someone is a chronic fare-evader, we may write a Security Incident Report and may request Metro Transit Police to intervene if they continue their scofflaw ways..On the "Rapid Ride" buses, you are required to have your proof of fare or pass on your person and then the Fare Enforcement Team can deal with it.
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And don't get me started on "Disabled Passes." That's the REAL scandal.
If Metro can't afford it anymore then they can't afford it. Plain and simple. But they could have at least offered a discounted rate to those agencies who offer services to the disabled and elderly.
I support helping those truly in need. However I do not agree with Ken's comments about the elimination of the ride free zone. Public transit is not meant to be a charity. It is already publically subsidized, after all. Pay the small fare if you want to use it. We all have to make choices in life. One choice is to spend less on tabacco and alcohol so one can have money for the bus.
Now my family and I have ANOTHER reason to avoid downton Seattle.
 @localperspective That's pretty sad that you are avoiding a city because they don't have a ride free zone anymore. You still gotta pay busing into and out of Seattle so what's the difference? Seattle is the only city I know that had this. Other cities you pay when you get on the bus and that was the end of that. It might help the flow of people getting off and on the bus quicker too. So there's a reason TO take the buses in Seattle. See how that works?
Charging a fare serves to keep the predators off the bus too. It isn't all bad news.
Well, I am just so CERTAIN that all those folks who have been riding for free downtown will now start paying huge gigantic amounts of money into the Metro fare boxes and thereby completely rectify the financial dilemmas at King County Metro! I mean, all those poor and homeless people will just HAVE to slit open their mattresses and dig out the million$ they have all been hording for YEARS!
</SARCASM>
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Keep rubbing their faces in it Ken - they need some good reason to go clean up their own act!
 @JLS1950 Based only on what I heard from an SPD fried, you are correct. metro already has a special signal you tell the driver when you get on the bus that you aren't paying, you just say, "I am not paying", walk past and sit down. Enforcement is so lax, as to be nonexistent.Â
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dozens of riders every day enjoy free services in such a manner, likely the same type of individuals who, on being asked to turn down the music, respond with gunfire....
 @EastSideTony Not precisely the point I was making rather sarcastically. Eliminating the ride-free zone that is used largely by people who could not afford to pay to ride is NOT going to improve Metro's bottom line by very much. The buses still have to run (their schedules largely dependent on the outlying communities and paying riders/commuters they serve) and the folk who cannot afford to pay will simply have to walk. Downtown businesses will suffer and the poor will suffer and taxpayers will still have to make up the difference.
As for the misbehavior on the buses, that could be handled if the KCSO stopped using the transit police as a dumping ground for their "problem children" and simply FIRED the rule-breaking bully cops. Then they could put cops in the buses who could actually enforce laws against firearms, playing loud music, defecating, fornicating, etc. That might make the buses more attractive to a whole lot of people, and bring in paying riders and some serious revenue.
But the concept seems lost on KCSO and their union, on the KC-Metro council, and on even much of the public.
I tend to agree. I work with the homeless and most services for them are downtown. Many may be unaware, but one of the biggest health problems they face are problems with their feet because they are on them so much. It is such a problem that many podiatrists donate their time at several day shelters. So lots of them find it very painful to 'just walk' the short zone. I know there are big deficits and don't know of an alternative solution, but this will hurt a lot of people and many of them have children.
I can see how some people (the elderly and disabled) should still receive some form of aid. But I walk the entire length of the ride free zone in 25 minutes, it's really not that big of an area. Check out the map sometime.
I know you are lamenting the loss of the free ride zones but lets be real for a minute. That money has to come from somewhere. It doesn't fall out of the sky or grow on trees. It comes from the beleaguered tax payers like you and me. We are strapped trying to hold on to what we have with the falling wages and rising prices. These entitlements are nice when there is enough spare money to fund them, but they are not worth me loosing my house or other things I have worked years for just to support someone's bus ride. I don't mind helping others as long as I can continue helping myself FIRST.
 @LongBeachBum More entitlement blathering,.. Enough of the political buzzwords. It was a service, not an entitlement.
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 @Audio Cat  @LongBeachBum The service is the bus ride. The entitlement is when someone doesn't pay while others do.Â
 @Audio Cat  @LongBeachBum Ok..  A service that costs the taxpayer money..  Its just semantics..
 @Maynard G Krebbs  @Cupid Stunt  @LongBeachBum The Republican Party disagrees with you. All union pensions and Social Security are seen as entitlements to them.
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Where do you stand?
 @Audio Cat  @Cupid Stunt  @LongBeachBum Social Security is not an entitlement ! You have no way to opt out of paying the tax,not does the employer.Just like a union contract where a wage is set,.
W @Cupid Stunt  @LongBeachBum Wrong. Social Security, Unemployment, etc., and a free bus zone are completely different animals.
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Just because you think it is semantics, doesn't mean it really is.
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....to bad most raise in fares went to the drivers instead of service.
You want someone to blame Kenny, start there...more than just Metro "just raking it in" to this story.
@Sydthepiper
."...to bad most raise in fares went to the drivers instead of service."
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Wha...? I get a 1.3% (39 cents per hour?) increase this year and I am indeed grateful for it. Thank you King County, I am your humble servant. Should there be anything I can do to make your commute a little more pleasant, please don't hesitate to ask...Â
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Please don't confuse ATU 587 with those Communist Unions like SEIU.
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Disclaimer: The above has been a remarkable example Sid's utter hypocrisy when it comes to Unions. He states that his Union is OK but that others are a bunch of Communists. I don't know how he sleeps at night.
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edited for spelling
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 @Sid Vishess  @Sydthepiper But you are right about the evil of SEIU.Â
 @Sydthepiper You have my vote. The Unions are bankrupting the cities with these insane wages they are sticking us with. Wages way over the business sectors. If you don't believe me then look at California, and any other state that are having cities, and I don't mean little poo dunk bergs, filing bankruptcy left and right. When is it coming to Seattle you union leaders?
The question should also be "who is paying for this now?" Times are tough for many and not getting better. Thus all must share in the added burdens. The"poor" in this opinion is those we call homeless,how many have lost their homes since Obama? How many more will lose their homes  ?Â
The worst part of this goes back to one of the reasons the zone was set up in the first place: to keep the buses moving. As someone who rides the Sounder daily and transfers to the tunnel, this will be a nightmare. Already it takes several minutes to load the buses, using both doors, with nobody paying. There is no way they can run trains and buses in the tunnel with the RFZ removed.
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Fine, remove it from the surface but keep it in the tunnel, or add turnstyles like a real transit system uses.
 @Ben Brooks If that is such a hassle they can just get an Orca card.
Ken doesn't mention the fact that we are paying 20 bucks more to register cars for the next few years specifically in order to keep Metro from eliminating a healthy percentage of routes.
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I wonder, Ken, how many "untold thousands of people" with actual jobs who rely on the buses to get to work each day would have been affected.Â
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And seriously, are there really "untold thousands" of homeless in Seattle that use the free ride zone to get to important medical appointments in a 2x1 square mile area of downtown?Â
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Maybe they are "untold" because you flat out made that number up.Â
The heroin addicts going to the methadone clinic in Sodo were some of my best non-customers.
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"Pay as you leave? You mean we're not in the free-zone anymore?"
"No sir, this is Holgate Street. Have a nice day."
Geeze Ken, how about reporting on the full story? Yes the ride free bus zone is being eliminated, however a Seattle Circular is going to be put into its place that is free. Will it provide the same level of service and flexibility? No... but it should be suitable with a little planning.
 @Scott And this "Seattle Circular" is...?
@Glassman @Scott http://www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Transportation/circulator/Pages/default.aspx
"Fewer drunks and druggies?" Is anyone kidding? I get enough of those on the 358!
Umm... Considering the free ride zone is only about a mile long, can't they just walk?!?!
@DaveP - No they often cannot. I work in dowtown and there are many people, not just homeless, but elderly and handicapped that use the bus service to get a few blocks along. If your body is aged and achy, or you're blind, or disabled in some way, NO you can't "just walk" because every inch is hard.Â
   @DaveP "...you can't "just walk" because every inch is hard."
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Apparently, they ain't totally disabled.
The point of the Free Ride Zone was never about homeless people anyway.Â
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"The Ride Free Area in downtown Seattle began in September 1973 in partnership with the city of Seattle to speed up bus boarding in the more congested central business district and to support retailers."
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http://metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/bus/ride-free-area/answers.html
 @caphillkid If only the self appointed activists had this vital piece of information!!!!!!!!
 @caphillkid It was called the "Magic Carpet Zone". The vast majority of the poor and "homeless" using it now came into existence after 1973. Back then, there were very few obviously inebriated, dangerous thug-types, drug-dealers, loud/foul-mouthed punks, or just plain crazy weirdos using the free-ride service.... or allowed to be shambling around causing trouble in public, for that matter. It truly was a boon to legitimate businesses, tourists and decent citizens who knew how to properly behave themselves in social settings.
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The demographics have changed for the worse, and so we all have to suffer.