What Might Have Been
Posted: February 22, 2012 Filed under: Transit 1 CommentBack in 1999, the voters of Washington State approved the passage of Initiative 695. By passing the initiative, the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) on car registrations was repealed, as well as a stipulation that voters had to approve all future tax increases was made law. Though the initiative was later declared unconstitutional (largely because it violated the law of a voter initiative covering two topics), the state legislature ended up repealing the MVET themselves to prevent voter backlash.
After the MVET was repealed, many transit agencies across the state were left scrambling for funds, since the MVET had been a long-standing source of their budgets. More importantly, it was a stable source of money, which can’t be said for the volatile and economically-dependant sales taxes that also contributed funds to the budget. A good number of agencies ended up having to cut back service and raise fares as a result. With the exception of 4 transit agencies (Grant Transit Authority, Link Transit, Pacific Transit, and Yakima Transit), every agency in the state has had to raise their local sales tax rate since 1999.
A Bus Route to Connell?
Posted: February 20, 2012 Filed under: Transit 4 CommentsBack when BFT was first established in 1981, it was the first Public Transportation Benefit Area (PBTA) in Washington State to stretch across two different counties, Benton and Franklin (which led to the name of “Ben Franklin Transit” for the agency). In Benton County, the PBTA covers the majority of the county’s population centers, with the exception of Paterson and Plymouth in the south part of the county (across the river from Oregon). Over in Franklin County, it’s a different story, with only the city of Pasco and a small part of unincorporated county (including the “doughnut holes” within Pasco) being covered. Though there are several communities in the northern part of the county, the most desperate for an intercity bus link is Connell.
North Richland Revamp
Posted: February 14, 2012 Filed under: Transit Leave a commentPerhaps one of the weaker links of the BFT system is the service that is provided to the North Richland area. Currently, Route 23 and Route 26 serve the edge of the area with all day service, only going as far north as Stevens Center and the WSU Tri-Cities campus. During peak hours, Route 26 is extended to serve the Battelle/PNNL campus area, located on the southern edge of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. For off-peak hours, there is taxi feeder service available in the area, though I don’t know how much it gets used (if at all).
Simply put, I think we can find a better way to serve this area.
There’s good reason to visit this issue too. The topic of bringing better service to this part of this city has been coming up a lot lately. Members of the CAC (Citizens Advisory Committee) have asked BFT to consider making changes to better serve North Richland, citing the need to encourage more use of transit by the local workforce. There has also been interest expressed in a worker/driver bus for Hanford, which as I explained in the February board meeting post is upsetting the driver’s union a bit. Regular bus service wouldn’t be able to serve the Hanford Reservation, but the North Richland area does have a lot of Hanford-related workers, particularly Battelle/PNNL, and so the more of those workers we can get out of cars the better.
February 2012 Board Meeting
Posted: February 10, 2012 Filed under: Transit Leave a comment(I stopped doing these specific posts on the monthly BFT board meetings a while back. However, I think last night’s meeting warrants a post about it. In the future, I’ll only do these board meeting specific posts when I feel the need to.)
If I had to summarize this month’s board meeting, I would simply say this: It is going to be an interesting year for BFT.
Ever since I started regularly attending the board meetings, the attendance has always been rather sparse. For most meetings, it was only myself, another rider and DAR driver who are also regular attendee’s, and a representative from the CAC (Citizen’s Advisory Committee). At last night’s meeting, people had to listen in from outside the meeting room, as somewhere between 60-70 fixed-route and DAR drivers had shown up to the meeting.
Yakima Greyhound Stop Being Moved
Posted: February 8, 2012 Filed under: Transit Leave a commentMuch like yesterday’s post on questions of the Yakima-Ellensburg Commuter’s legality arising, this post originates from a simple tweet.
One of the reporters for local TV station KAPP (Yakima) and KVEW (Tri-Cities), David Mance, posted a tweet about how the Greyhound station in Yakima would be moving from its current downtown location to the AM/PM gas station and convenience store at the corner of Fruitvale Blvd and 40th Ave, effective starting February 14th.
Is the Yakima-Ellensburg Commuter Illegal?
Posted: February 7, 2012 Filed under: Transit Leave a commentEarly this morning, I saw a tweet on my feed which caught my eye.
@Yakima_Herald: State rules Yakima-Ellensburg bus service is legal http://bit.ly/A9uS6z
Suffice to say, I had questions. So, I read on…
Apparently, since the Yakima-Ellensburg Commuter launched service, one of it’s competitors has made the argument that the service illegally overlapped his. That competitor is Richard Johnson, owner of Central Washington Airporter (part of Bellair Charters, provider of the “Airporter Shuttle” service). He claims the subsidy that WSDOT gave to Yakima Transit/HopeSource allows “the agencies [to use] taxpayers dollars to undercut private industry.”
Transit Humour
Posted: January 24, 2012 Filed under: Fun, Transit Leave a commentLast night on Twitter, I posted a couple off-handed tweets noting how I had previously taken photos of a Sound Transit bus when it was still owned by them that is now owned by BFT, and I could do a before/after comparison with those photos now. In response to those tweets, a Twitter conversation between myself, @transitdude, @oranv, @danielmwarwick, and @safesler came to end up as a plethora of good ol’ “transit humour.” There’s was a lot of good material from the whole conversation, but I wanted to highlight some of those tweets below.
DETOURS/DELAYS – Regional Snowstorm (1/19/12 – 1/21/12)
Posted: January 19, 2012 Filed under: Transit 1 CommentUnless you live under a rock, you’ve probably noticed the snowstorm that has hit our part of the world this week. Needless to say, this has been making things a bit difficult for transit operators in our area.
Below, I have a list that I will be updating as often as possible on delays/detours/service cancellations for transit services in the region.
Update #1 (10:33AM): Information for Ben Franklin Transit/Grapeline/Link Transit/Valley Transit/Yakima Transit has been updated.
Update #2 (1:26PM): No changes to report. Some minor delays may still be occuring.
Update #3 (5:25PM): Information for Grapeline has been updated.
Update #4 (11:39PM): Information for Grapeline has been updated.
Update #5 (4:10PM SAT): Unless there is a major change in the weather, this will be the last update. All services are back to normal. Ben Franklin Transit, Grapeline, and Link Transit have been posting timely updates on their websites (links below), so always double-check to be safe.
- Ben Franklin Transit: Some buses are running on schedule today, though most are facing minor delays of only a few minutes. Route 47 has resumed regular route today, and is now serving Garfield Hill again. Route 50 is not serving the Comfort Inn and Shopko stops. The bus will proceed directly to Grandridge Blvd after serving the JC Penny stop. Route 67 will serve the CBC Campus in Pasco by request only; Route 225 is unaffected.
- Central Transit (Ellensburg): No information has been reported at this time. Expect bus to be delayed (if it is running).
- Community Connector (Yakima to Prosser Bus): All service for Friday, 1/20, has been cancelled.
- Grapeline (Walla Walla to Pasco bus): All service for the rest of Thursday, 1/19, has been cancelled. For Friday , 1/20, all service has been cancelled. For Saturday, 1/21, the 6:35AM Walla Walla departure and the 9:55AM Pasco departure have been cancelled. Service for the rest of the day is still scheduled to run, but that is subject to change.
- Link Transit (Wenatchee/Chelan and Douglas Counties): Most buses are running close to on time today, some minor delays may be seen.
- Union Gap Transit: No information has been reported at this time. Expect bus to be delayed (if it is running).
- Valley Transit (Walla Walla): In response to my Facebook post, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin says that Valley Transit reports “everything is on schedule as normal for today.” To be on the safe side, expect minor delays.
- Yakima Transit: No changes have been reported, but expect some minor delays.
If you have any questions/need information, don’t be afraid to call the Customer Service phone number for your transit agency. They are there to help you in any way they can. But please do be patient as they will most likely be receiving many calls.
#TAD2012 – Transportation Advocacy Day 2012
Posted: January 18, 2012 Filed under: Transit Leave a commentFor those unfamiliar with Twitter lingo, #TAD2012 is the “hashtag” being used to help promote Transportation Choices Coalition‘s Transportation Advocacy Day 2012.
What’s that?
I’ll let this quote from TCC’s site explain:
You as [a] citizen lobbyist are the most powerful tool we have to be successful in pushing forward good policies in Olympia and we need your support. We are shooting to have the largest transportation advocacy day ever. This will be an all day event, register today.
Our morning will be a great time to get trained and informed on what is going on with transportation in Olympia this year. It is also a great time to connect with like minded advocates from across the state. The afternoon will be dedicated to meeting with your legislators.
The whole point is to show the legislators of Washington State that we the citizens care about transit, and want them to care about transit too, by “[bringing] Washingtonians more and better transportation choices — real opportunities to take a bus, catch a train, ride a bike, or walk.”
The west side of the state, being more liberal-minded and friendlier to transit, tends to be well represented at this event each year. The east side of the state, including the Tri-Cities, is more conservative-minded and isn’t as friendly to transit. That’s not to say that this side of the state doesn’t have people who truly believe in the power of transit and everything it encompasses (I think the existence of my blog helps make that point). Via tweets sent from @TranspoChoices, I found out that participants from Zillah, Dayton, and Dixie (all small Eastern Washington towns) have signed up for TAD2012. For my part, I’m working on seeing if I’ll have the chance to attend and participate. However, I fully encourage anyone and everyone who lives in Washington, especially Eastern Washington, to sign up and go to Olympia on January 31st to make your voice heard.
To sign up and learn more about TAD2012: http://transportationchoices.org/action/transportation-advocacy-day-2012
DETOURS/DELAYS – Entire BFT System (Snow 1/18/12)
Posted: January 17, 2012 Filed under: Transit Leave a commentTonight and tomorrow, the Tri-Cities will be seeing snow. Reports vary, but from the sound of things the Tri-Cities will be getting 3-7 inches of snowfall.
As the service day for fixed-route and paratransit will be over in less than 2 hours, there shouldn’t be any major problems tonight. If the snow starts accumulating rapidly tonight, delays could be possible for Night Service riders. As a fellow user of Night Service, I’d advise all other users to be patient, but also don’t be afraid to call and check in for the status of your ride (especially if you’ve haven’t been picked up 20 minutes past your scheduled time).
For tomorrow, there’s no way to know how things will be running until we see the conditions firsthand. My advice is prepare for the worst. If you don’t have to leave your house, then don’t. Stay nice and warm inside, enjoy a hot cocoa, and enjoy a good movie or a book. If you do have to leave your house, be prepared for buses running late. Each and every driver at BFT puts safety as their first priority, so they will most likely need to drive slower to adapt for the conditions. Also expect buses to be missing connections at transit centers. If you can get on a bus that interlines with a route that will get you close/directly to your destination, that’ll be your best bet.
For detours, I’m not aware of any “snow route” system that BFT may have (though I’m going to try and find out for future reference). The only specific detour I can report on is for Route 47. Almost always, when the snow falls, Route 47 will be detoured off Garfield Hill and instead run up/down 19th between Garfield and Olympia, and then up/down Olympia to 27th to continue the normal route, so expect the bus to be doing that. Buses may be detoured on a case by case basis. Your best bet to catch a bus is if you are on a road that has been plowed.
If you have any questions, or need information on anything, don’t be afraid to call Customer Service at (509) 735-5100. Understand that many people will be calling them, so it may be busy. I do ask that you be as patient as possible with the Customer Service agents, they work very hard and strive to help you as much as they can.
On my part, I’ll try and tweet any information that I find out via @ziggzagzac. If it’s major information, I’ll update this post below.
UPDATE (11:07AM): Buses are running between 10-20 minutes behind schedule right now. Route 47 is on the detour I mentioned when originally posting this. (No service on Garfield Hill, detouring via 19th between Garfield/Olympia and Olympia between 19th/27th.) Route 50 is also on detour, with no service to the stops at Comfort Inn and Shopko. The bus is proceeding directly to Grandridge Blvd after leaving the JC Penny stop.
Ben Franklin Transit phone numbers
(All start with area code 509)
Customer Service: 735-5100
Dial-A-Ride: 735-0160
Night Service: 545-0684
Vanpool: 943-5442
Prosser (General Demand/Dial-A-Ride): 786-1707
Business Office: 735-4131
Transit 509 