Comments for Town Hall Seattle http://townhallseattle.org Arts Science Civics Culture Community Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:15:32 +0000 hourly 1 Comment on Updated: Important News for Riders of the #2 Bus by d.p. http://townhallseattle.org/important-news-for-riders-of-the-2-bus/#comment-2360 d.p. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:15:32 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=8438#comment-2360 A serious question, Emma: Which is better? - A TINY NUMBER of people get to have a (slow) route between Queen Anne and First Hill without transferring, but ANYONE coming from ANYWHERE ELSE has to suffer an extremely inconvenient and unreliable transfer; or - We fix the transit system so that ANYONE coming from ANYWHERE can use a fast, easy, reliable, and effective transfer to get to ANYWHERE ELSE. I'm sorry you think I need "a grip," but it is ludicrous that the above dichotomy is even a source of contention! A serious question, Emma:

Which is better?

- A TINY NUMBER of people get to have a (slow) route between Queen Anne and First Hill without transferring, but ANYONE coming from ANYWHERE ELSE has to suffer an extremely inconvenient and unreliable transfer; or

- We fix the transit system so that ANYONE coming from ANYWHERE can use a fast, easy, reliable, and effective transfer to get to ANYWHERE ELSE.

I’m sorry you think I need “a grip,” but it is ludicrous that the above dichotomy is even a source of contention!

]]> Comment on Updated: Important News for Riders of the #2 Bus by emma kaye http://townhallseattle.org/important-news-for-riders-of-the-2-bus/#comment-2358 emma kaye Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:06:41 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=8438#comment-2358 I live north of town. One of the concerns I have regarding the Metro changes is that it seems that Metro thinks everyone is getting off the bus in downtown. For me that is not true. I use the 2/13 (whose route up Spring/Seneca also goes away) to go to the Central Library, Town Hall, and other locations on Seneca. In above posts I second that the congestion on Madison can be significant. As far as the easy two blocks to Town Hall from Madison, I've tried that in the evening and found the street to be pretty dark, and the sidewalk - at least on the west side - bumpy. I realize that Metro has to find ways to pay for Rapid Ride and that these changes are also driven in part by that effort. I wonder if Rapid Ride has been oversold. I also think DP needs to 'get a grip' because his/her BP sounds a little over the top. I live north of town. One of the concerns I have regarding the Metro changes is that it seems that Metro thinks everyone is getting off the bus in downtown. For me that is not true. I use the 2/13 (whose route up Spring/Seneca also goes away) to go to the Central Library, Town Hall, and other locations on Seneca. In above posts I second that the congestion on Madison can be significant. As far as the easy two blocks to Town Hall from Madison, I’ve tried that in the evening and found the street to be pretty dark, and the sidewalk – at least on the west side – bumpy.

I realize that Metro has to find ways to pay for Rapid Ride and that these changes are also driven in part by that effort. I wonder if Rapid Ride has been oversold.

I also think DP needs to ‘get a grip’ because his/her BP sounds a little over the top.

]]> Comment on Saturday Family Concerts: THEESatisfaction by Family Concert Tomorrow Featuring THEESatisfaction « Seattle Office of Film + Music http://townhallseattle.org/saturday-family-concerts-theesatisfaction/#comment-2355 Family Concert Tomorrow Featuring THEESatisfaction « Seattle Office of Film + Music Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:14:44 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=7534#comment-2355 [...] Town Hall Seattle Stop by Town Hall Seattle Tomorrow at 11:00 for a family friendly concert by local duo THEESatisfaction. The Admission is free for kids under 12, $5 for adults with children and $25 for unaccompanied adults. THEESatisfaction is a growing Seattle group with two EPs, and has been seen on the mainstage at the Capitol Hill Blocl Party. The “jazzy, sci-fi-loving, neo-bohemian female duo” will play an awesome one-hour set tomorrow, so be sure not to miss it! Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Leave a Comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI [...] [...] Town Hall Seattle Stop by Town Hall Seattle Tomorrow at 11:00 for a family friendly concert by local duo THEESatisfaction. The Admission is free for kids under 12, $5 for adults with children and $25 for unaccompanied adults. THEESatisfaction is a growing Seattle group with two EPs, and has been seen on the mainstage at the Capitol Hill Blocl Party. The “jazzy, sci-fi-loving, neo-bohemian female duo” will play an awesome one-hour set tomorrow, so be sure not to miss it! Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Leave a Comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI [...]

]]> Comment on Jeff Madrick: The Genesis of Our Greedy Era by sheila http://townhallseattle.org/jeff-madrick-the-genesis-of-our-greedy-era/#comment-2352 sheila Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:31:51 +0000 http://uid.trumba.com/event/94082189#comment-2352 You may now listen to his talk in our media libaray: http://townhallseattle.org/jeff-madrick-the-genesis-of-our-greedy-era/ You may now listen to his talk in our media libaray: http://townhallseattle.org/jeff-madrick-the-genesis-of-our-greedy-era/

]]> Comment on CD Forum: Isabel Wilkerson: ‘The Warmth of Other Suns’ by sheila http://townhallseattle.org/cd-forum-isabel-wilkerson-%e2%80%98the-warmth-of-other-suns%e2%80%99/#comment-2351 sheila Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:30:02 +0000 http://uid.trumba.com/event/96226729#comment-2351 You may now watch it here in our media library: http://townhallseattle.org/cd-forum-isabel-wilkerson-%e2%80%98the-warmth-of-other-suns%e2%80%99/ You may now watch it here in our media library: http://townhallseattle.org/cd-forum-isabel-wilkerson-%e2%80%98the-warmth-of-other-suns%e2%80%99/

]]> Comment on Updated: Important News for Riders of the #2 Bus by d.p. http://townhallseattle.org/important-news-for-riders-of-the-2-bus/#comment-2350 d.p. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:16:19 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=8438#comment-2350 There are many myths in the above comment that need debunking: "One of the longest routes": This is not a good thing. All this means is that there are many chances for the bus to get blocked, get delayed, and get far off schedule. "One of the oldest trolley bus routes": While some of the quirks of the trolley wires have existed for a century, the truth is that service patterns and through-routings have changed dozens of times over the decades. Unfortunately, much of the current #2 does indeed date from the time before I-5 and before there was a lot of automobile gridlock to contend with. Delays on the route have been accumulating for years, and we are well past due to fix it! "High productivity": Please do not confuse this with efficiency. The #2 does have lots of riders, but it is one of the slowest routes in all of Seattle, often traveling at less than 3 mph between downtown and Broadway. The #2's many riders deserve to get where they're going without extreme delays or unpredictability! Waiting forever and sitting in traffic are not "productive" uses of the buses' time nor anyone else's. "The only public beach served by a bus in the city": I'm not sure why this is relevant, but it's also not true. Madison Park Beach is served by the #11, to name just one nearby example. "At all of the community forums... the response in favor of keeping the #2 exactly as is has been overwhelming." Indeed, the "Save Bus #2" group's fearmongering has succeeded in sowing lots of fear! Rather than work to improve our transit system, they have devoted all of their energies to spreading falsehoods about the proposed changes, all in the service of "keeping the #2 exactly as is" -- meaning slow, unreliable, broken. They're like the Fox News of transit policy. Please don't be taken in by their misinformation. There are many myths in the above comment that need debunking:

“One of the longest routes”: This is not a good thing. All this means is that there are many chances for the bus to get blocked, get delayed, and get far off schedule.

“One of the oldest trolley bus routes”: While some of the quirks of the trolley wires have existed for a century, the truth is that service patterns and through-routings have changed dozens of times over the decades. Unfortunately, much of the current #2 does indeed date from the time before I-5 and before there was a lot of automobile gridlock to contend with. Delays on the route have been accumulating for years, and we are well past due to fix it!

“High productivity”: Please do not confuse this with efficiency. The #2 does have lots of riders, but it is one of the slowest routes in all of Seattle, often traveling at less than 3 mph between downtown and Broadway. The #2′s many riders deserve to get where they’re going without extreme delays or unpredictability! Waiting forever and sitting in traffic are not “productive” uses of the buses’ time nor anyone else’s.

“The only public beach served by a bus in the city”: I’m not sure why this is relevant, but it’s also not true. Madison Park Beach is served by the #11, to name just one nearby example.

“At all of the community forums… the response in favor of keeping the #2 exactly as is has been overwhelming.” Indeed, the “Save Bus #2″ group’s fearmongering has succeeded in sowing lots of fear! Rather than work to improve our transit system, they have devoted all of their energies to spreading falsehoods about the proposed changes, all in the service of “keeping the #2 exactly as is” — meaning slow, unreliable, broken. They’re like the Fox News of transit policy.

Please don’t be taken in by their misinformation.

]]> Comment on Updated: Important News for Riders of the #2 Bus by d.p. http://townhallseattle.org/important-news-for-riders-of-the-2-bus/#comment-2348 d.p. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:49:11 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=8438#comment-2348 Enid, I appreciate your perspective and am glad to have read it. It has been my experience that, while traffic accrues on Madison in the westbound direction in the afternoon, it is never half as bad as what the #2 experiences heading up Spring Street throughout the day and into the evening. The hope is that by adding frequent yet evenly spaced buses on Madison, and by eventually adding in-lane boarding platforms so that the buses don't have to fight traffic pulling out of every stop, Madison will be a much-improved corridor for travel to, from, and over First Hill. It makes more sense to put these efforts into Madison because there are no direct ramps onto I-5, whereas Spring's southbound ramp causes permanent problems. Regarding the difficulty of transfers downtown, Metro is attempting to restructure the system with the intention of making transfers more frequent, quicker, and much easier than they ever have been. By increasing frequency and reliability on all routes, and by reducing cumbersome through-routings, the hope is that there will be much less "standing around waiting" at any time in your journey! It is worth noting that most elderly riders from around the city currently do not have a direct route to Queen Anne, and already have to make a transfer to get there. It would simply be impossible to provide direct service from everywhere to everywhere else -- you would have 10,000 routes and none of them could run more than twice a day! I do think that Metro should work to provide more and better benches at transfer points, and to minimize the hills that need to be navigated between routes. Thank you for bringing those issues up, and I hope you will do so in public meetings with Metro as well! Enid, I appreciate your perspective and am glad to have read it.

It has been my experience that, while traffic accrues on Madison in the westbound direction in the afternoon, it is never half as bad as what the #2 experiences heading up Spring Street throughout the day and into the evening. The hope is that by adding frequent yet evenly spaced buses on Madison, and by eventually adding in-lane boarding platforms so that the buses don’t have to fight traffic pulling out of every stop, Madison will be a much-improved corridor for travel to, from, and over First Hill.

It makes more sense to put these efforts into Madison because there are no direct ramps onto I-5, whereas Spring’s southbound ramp causes permanent problems.

Regarding the difficulty of transfers downtown, Metro is attempting to restructure the system with the intention of making transfers more frequent, quicker, and much easier than they ever have been. By increasing frequency and reliability on all routes, and by reducing cumbersome through-routings, the hope is that there will be much less “standing around waiting” at any time in your journey!

It is worth noting that most elderly riders from around the city currently do not have a direct route to Queen Anne, and already have to make a transfer to get there. It would simply be impossible to provide direct service from everywhere to everywhere else — you would have 10,000 routes and none of them could run more than twice a day!

I do think that Metro should work to provide more and better benches at transfer points, and to minimize the hills that need to be navigated between routes. Thank you for bringing those issues up, and I hope you will do so in public meetings with Metro as well!

]]> Comment on Updated: Important News for Riders of the #2 Bus by Bus2Riders http://townhallseattle.org/important-news-for-riders-of-the-2-bus/#comment-2346 Bus2Riders Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:02:41 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=8438#comment-2346 Thanks, Weir, for helping to spread the word to Town Hall supporters about the significant changes Metro is proposing to the #2 bus line. Many bus riders who depend on the #2 are still unaware of how these possible changes would affect them, so Town Hall's contribution to public education and awareness -- and inviting civic discourse about these transit changes -- is in the finest tradition of Town Hall's mission as Seattle's community cultural center. The #2 route, which runs from Madrona Park on Lake Washington (the only public beach served by a bus in the city), through the Central District and Capitol Hill, over the high-density residential corridor on First Hill on Seneca, through downtown to Seattle Center, and to the top of Queen Anne Hill, is one of the longest, as well as one of the oldest and most established, trolley bus routes in Seattle. Its extremely high ridership (top 4% of all Seattle and King County bus routes) and productivity reflect the value and importance of this route to all those who use and depend upon the #2. At all of the community forums, at which Metro staff has heard from #2 bus riders, the response in favor of keeping the #2 (with its Queen Anne connection to the #13) exactly as is has been overwhelming. We invite Town Hall supporters to join us. Thanks, Weir, for helping to spread the word to Town Hall supporters about the significant changes Metro is proposing to the #2 bus line. Many bus riders who depend on the #2 are still unaware of how these possible changes would affect them, so Town Hall’s contribution to public education and awareness — and inviting civic discourse about these transit changes — is in the finest tradition of Town Hall’s mission as Seattle’s community cultural center. The #2 route, which runs from Madrona Park on Lake Washington (the only public beach served by a bus in the city), through the Central District and Capitol Hill, over the high-density residential corridor on First Hill on Seneca, through downtown to Seattle Center, and to the top of Queen Anne Hill, is one of the longest, as well as one of the oldest and most established, trolley bus routes in Seattle. Its extremely high ridership (top 4% of all Seattle and King County bus routes) and productivity reflect the value and importance of this route to all those who use and depend upon the #2. At all of the community forums, at which Metro staff has heard from #2 bus riders, the response in favor of keeping the #2 (with its Queen Anne connection to the #13) exactly as is has been overwhelming. We invite Town Hall supporters to join us.

]]> Comment on Updated: Important News for Riders of the #2 Bus by enid slivka http://townhallseattle.org/important-news-for-riders-of-the-2-bus/#comment-2343 enid slivka Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:20:41 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=8438#comment-2343 to add another bus to the clog on madison is ridiculous. from a little before 1500 until after 1800 going west on madison means getting behind a long line of cars waiting to go south on I5.requiring residents of first hill to stand around on third ave waiting for a bus to go to the opera house or to queen anne is just one more example of metro's attempt to discourage us older(i am 84)riders from using metro. there are few benches at bus stops, which are much further apart, often on steep hills.too bad that metro planners don't actually look at who is using the bus. to add another bus to the clog on madison is ridiculous. from a little before 1500 until after 1800 going west on madison means getting behind a long line of cars waiting to go south on I5.requiring residents of first hill to stand around on third ave waiting for a bus to go to the opera house or to queen anne is just one more example of metro’s attempt to discourage us older(i am 84)riders from using metro. there are few benches at bus stops, which are much further apart, often on steep hills.too bad that metro planners don’t actually look at who is using the bus.

]]> Comment on Updated: Important News for Riders of the #2 Bus by d.p. http://townhallseattle.org/important-news-for-riders-of-the-2-bus/#comment-2342 d.p. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:24:30 +0000 http://townhallseattle.org/?p=8438#comment-2342 I can't believe I misspelled "Wier." My apologies. I can’t believe I misspelled “Wier.” My apologies.

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