Buses overflow, squeezing riders and transit in King, Snohomish counties

The express to Snohomish County arrived empty and went away full. Left behind was Connie Stuart, a data-entry specialist heading home to Lynnwood. She might have crammed in, but instead she chose to be first aboard the next bus.

"I refuse to stand up. It's just crazy, we're like sardines. You end up in somebody's lap," Stuart said. "It's just hot and unsafe. We've complained."

Buses are overflowing throughout the central Puget Sound area. On a typical weekday this spring, people took about 477,000 rides on King County Metro Transit, Sound Transit and Community Transit buses, up 8 percent from 2007. Thousands of others used a van pool, train, water taxi or streetcar.

But what should be a reason to celebrate public transportation is turning out to be a hardship as well. The high fuel prices that are pushing people to ride buses are busting transit budgets, forcing higher fares and casting doubt on whether Metro can deliver all the new service it promised.

"It's so recently we were pleading with people to ride the bus for environmental protection, for social reasons," said King County Councilmember Dow Constantine, D-West Seattle and Transportation Committee chairman. "But now, it's becoming a logical choice for a lot of people who never thought it would be — and we're struggling to meet demand."

Gas prices explain a lot, but not everything.

Ridership is up not just on suburban express routes, but on routes that traditionally have served low-income people, and on short local lines where gas prices aren't a crucial issue. Other factors are fueling demand: high parking fees, employer subsidies for transit passes and high population densities from new apartments and condos.

In the past year:

• For King County Metro buses, average weekday boardings increased about 7 percent to 397,000 for the spring quarter and nosed past 400,000 in July.

• In Snohomish County, rides on Community Transit were up 12 percent to 36,800 on an average weekday this spring and rose a bit more in July.

• Sound Transit buses, providing regional express trips in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, are filling even faster, with 14 percent growth. That includes a 40-percent boost in the Bellevue-Lynnwood-Everett corridor.

• Fifteen park-and-ride lots in King County and three in Snohomish County have been full. Even the 1,614-space Eastgate complex, expanded in 2004, is 85 percent occupied.

• Metro van pools increased by 100, to a total of 1,050.

• Ridership on Sounder commuter trains through the Green River Valley is up 32 percent, and passengers often stand.

Commuters are polluting less, and in many cases they are saving money or time, compared with driving alone. On the other hand, full buses tend to irritate riders, who have sent hundreds of complaints to Metro.

"I'd rather have that problem than problems where there's empty buses running around," said Jim Jacobson, Metro deputy general manager.

Rough going on Aurora

Some buses are so full they skip some stops, forcing commuters to wait for the next bus.

Metro drivers reported 640 "pass-ups" in May, compared with 443 a year earlier. Figures can understate the problem, as one report may refer to pass-ups at several stops on a line.

"This is something, in the past, we haven't had to deal with," Jacobson said.

Only about 1 percent of buses miss riders, he said, and usually the next bus is close behind. "It's a very small percentage, but if it's you, it's significant," he said. Bus drivers on Route 358, on Aurora Avenue North, report the most pass-ups, 56 in May.

Just after 9 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, a bus arrived late at 79th and Aurora, standing-room only. A few people boarded. The driver asked a woman with multiple sclerosis, on a red scooter, to wait for the next bus.

"Will you guys move back?" a woman yelled near the front.

"There's no room!" replied rider Terri Bigelow. The midsection appeared spacious enough, but it had no handrails.

Snorting at the request, a young man wearing earphones wouldn't budge.

Heading past Green Lake, the driver opened the door at each stop anyway and halfheartedly offered folks the option of getting on — a polite thing to do, but slow and inefficient. Most declined. The bus reached the Aurora Bridge with 27 people standing and maybe 30 people passed up on the sidewalk.

"Usually people behave quite well, but, sometimes, people get a little bit pissy," said Bigelow, a longtime rider going home from her night job as a janitor. "Metro Transit's a really good system, except for this morning time; it's terrible."

The woman on the scooter, Katherine Bursett, caught the next bus in good spirits. She said it beats waiting 1-½ hours for a dial-a-ride minibus.

What to do?

The pressure on the system increases this month, as vacations end and University of Washington begins fall term. Also, Seattle Public Schools have moved high-school students from yellow buses to Metro.

To add room, Metro recently put 22 new articulated buses on the road in Seattle to replace shorter buses.

On Sept. 20, money from King County's 2006 Transit Now sales-tax measure will add trips to 10 Seattle routes, as well as high-ridership lines serving Kent, Overlake, Redmond, Bellevue, Northgate and Green River Community College, and a new route to Seattle from Snoqualmie and North Bend. Another 30 buses are due next year.

Sound Transit soon plans to add buses on its lines from Everett and Lynnwood into Bellevue. Community Transit is buying 23 double-decker buses to replace smaller buses on commuter routes, and it is adding 15 buses to launch its bus rapid transit service next year on Highway 99.

But it's not clear if Metro can provide everything it promised voters in Transit Now, including new bus rapid transit lines serving Overlake, West Seattle, Ballard, Aurora and Federal Way by the early 2010s.

Besides increased fuel prices, Metro also faces a lull in sales-tax growth, making its budget problem worse. Sales taxes subsidize most of the bus system, while fares cover roughly one-fifth of operating costs.

A proposed 25-cent fare increase at Metro would yield about $10.3 million a year — tackling only part of a predicted $30 million to $40 million yearly deficit. The agency could sell land, eliminate the idle Seattle waterfront streetcar, dip into rainy-day funds or seek fare hikes. A recent dip in diesel prices could provide some relief, but not enough.

Snohomish County on Oct. 1 will raise fares by 25 cents or more, depending on the length of a trip.

King County Councilmember Constantine wants the Legislature to allow more funding options, such as spending some future highway tolls on transit. Another possibility is a county car-tab fee for transit, which he said would be unpopular.

In an $18 billion ballot measure this November, Sound Transit is including a boost of 100,000 yearly bus hours and more south-end Sounder trains. But the lion's share of the money would go to build light rail to Lynnwood, Overlake and Federal Way, which would open in the early 2020s. King County Executive Ron Sims opposes the plan, arguing that buses need more money, right now.

The Highway 520 corridor could get more buses and park-and-ride space under a federal grant, but there would be strings attached. The feds would require state lawmakers to impose tolls on the existing bridge, as an experiment in reducing traffic congestion.

Not just money, but new ideas are needed to keep commuters on the move.

To take one example, the 1,022-space Ash Way lot in north Lynnwood is maxed out. Funds to expand it were cut from the upcoming ballot measure to allow more money for light rail.

Even if spaces could be added at Ash Way, traffic on nearby 164th Street Southwest is at capacity, a downer for drivers trying to reach the lot.

Are shuttle buses one solution? Is the park-and-ride model outmoded? Already, Community Transit has grappled with these questions by offering a $45 monthly discount to commuters who avoid driving alone on 164th to get to their van pool or bus.

If the transit agencies fail, an overcrowding problem eventually could correct itself. If taking the bus becomes too much of a hassle, $4-a-gallon gas might not seem so bad.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com