Daniel Hill’s 930DART bus route may soon be on the chopping block, while Pat Lyga’s 221 bus route may be reduced or revised, according to King County Metro’s 2012 Service Guidelines report.
“It would make my route a lot longer. I’d have to go all the way down to Seattle and back up to Redmond,” said Hill, a Lynnwood resident, while hopping on his bus Tuesday evening at the Redmond Transit Center on Northeast 83rd Street.
Lyga, a Redmond resident who also works for the city, said the changes would severely impact his day and commute.
“For coordinating after-work activities at home with school-age kids or other activities, the bus provides a valuable link in getting about and connecting — and here’s the biggie, without using my car, which is what my employer wants. They’ve motivated me to leave my car at home and use alternate transportation, so much so that the incentive is they will subsidize a bus pass to accommodate that,” said Lyga, who rides his bike to and from the bus stop each day.
The 930DART and 221 are two of 151 King County Metro Transit routes that are at risk of being affected if state lawmakers allow temporary two-year funding for the agency to expire without authorizing a permanent and sustainable source of revenue to fill Metro’s projected $75 million annual budget gap, according to Metro’s report, sent to the King County Council this week. The report measures and analyzes transit service based on measures of productivity, geographic value, social equity and ridership.
Other Redmond bus routes on the list to be possibly deleted are the 216, 244EX, 250 and 268, while the 224, 232, 245, 248, 249, 269 and 931DART are others that could be reduced or revised.
Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond said their analysis shows that they should be adding service to meet growing demand instead of cutting routes or revising them.
“The result would be even more crowded buses, riders left at the curb, or people climbing back into their cars — something that would worsen the region’s traffic congestion and hurt the economic engine of the state,” he said.
Metro says that considerable additional analysis will follow during the coming year and the public will receive additional information and opportunities to give input, both online and in face-to-face forums, starting this fall. If new funding does not become available, Metro’s 2013-14 budget assumes that deep service cuts will begin in fall 2014 and continue in 2015.
Back at the Redmond Transit Center, Lyga set a goal for himself a few years ago to try and travel mainly by bike and Metro and leave his car at home.
“I’ve been pretty good at it for a couple years,” Lyga said. “I haven’t equaled one of my co-workers who actually sold his car — he says, ‘I’ve been able to do it.’ I’ve even got my son used to the idea. I give him bus money in the morning, he’s learning how to use the bus, as well.”
