[Transit] Question re: RTO and ridership

[Cole Gleason]

Hi all,

I have not been very active in this group yet but I would like to be!

I think there is a strong angle to take here on RTO: yes, this would be a
huge increase in transit ridership if we had more investment in transit
infrastructure. Amazon’s RTO policies have had a notable effect on many
routes’ on time performance. If employers are going to ask people to be in
the office and induce traffic congestion to the area, we need bus lanes and
other infrastructure to keep transit moving.

Personally, I ride the 8 route and the rush hour trips are now routinely
~35 minutes late, turning my commute from a 15 minute ride to a 45-50
minute ride. And the buses are usually completely full with riders left
behind at the stops. I know other routes have also seen performance drop
recently. I’ve heard of riders leaving early (2-4pm) to avoid this or
riding bikes instead, although not everyone has that option available to
them.

Anyways, I think it would be cool if TRU said that RTO has had a negative
impact on on time performance and we should address that with more bus
lanes (and other solutions). I would be interested in a campaign for
quick-build bus lanes along routes that have bad performance due to
congestion (not limited to RTO impacts).

Cole

On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 10:25 AM Harry Maher <harryb.maher at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think he is your senator but to be sure you'd have to see to be sure:
> https://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/
>
> I don't think we need to take a public position specifically re:
> RTO--employers are gonna do what they do and it's not going to be in our
> control.
>
> On the other hand, you're right that it provides an opportunity-- in
> response to RTO and the resulting traffic/environmental impact, I think
> it's a good time for us to bring back Orca 4 All
> <https://seattletransitblog.com/2019/09/25/orca-for-all/>! We were on
> track to pass it in 2020 (through the City Council) but then COVID happened
> and derailed everything. We have discussed bringing that back over the next
> year(s), and the city council race combined with RTO provides a good
> opportunity for us to press the issue.
>
> On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 9:30 AM Peter Campbell <odell.campbell at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Rookie question to the group:
>>
>> There was a report on KUOW this morning spinning Amazon's RTO as a boon
>> to County Metro. Honestly it sounded like a well-planted Amazon press
>> release.
>>
>> What's our response to this? Do we experience tension vis-a-vis our
>> support for Amazon employee organizing and the impact of RTO on transit
>> ridership?
>>
>> I'm assuming Amazon's suggestion that their RTO policies are the savior
>> of transit's ridership problem is bullshit—also given Senator Nguyen's
>> point about how ineffective fares are as a source of revenue. I could see
>> Amazon planting stories like this while also talking to policymakers about
>> cutting transit funding if ridership doesn't increase. But I don't know!
>>
>> Finally is Nguyen my state senator? I live in West Seattle just below the
>> junction on Avalon. From the 20-minute interaction he seemed pretty good?
>>
>>
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-- 
Cole Gleason
----------------------
Email: cole at colegleason.com
Website: colegleason.com
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