Thank you to all of those who participated in our Alternative Services Delivery (ASD) Meetings in Duvall and Fall City as well as those who have left comments via our online survey. We greatly appreciate all the feedback and wanted to acknowledge the most frequently raised questions and concerns during this process and let you know we are currently looking into how to address them.
At the meeting in Duvall, community members shared concerns about transferring to Route 232 to get home in the evening and asked what would happen if they missed the last bus of the day. We understand this concern and will be looking into your suggestions for a guaranteed last ride home and extended service on Route 232. We value your patronage and do not wish for any Metro rider to ever be stranded due to a missed transfer. Some other ideas put forth were: the need for faster trips to I-90 and Bothell, the importance of a Route 224 stop at the Bear Creek Park & Ride so riders can connect to Route 268.
At the meeting in Fall City, community members told us that they’d like us to speed up Route 209 by skipping downtown Issaquah and going straight to the Issaquah Transit Center. We’d also like to acknowledge the comments about adding a bus stop at Orchard Street along Snoqualmie Parkway. While we understand greatly the convenience a stop at this location could bring along the routes served, Metro must take into consideration what would be required to open a stop. At the moment, our biggest concerns would be regarding the safety of our riders. A stop would require that the shoulder be large and level enough to pass our accessibility requirements for Metro riders to wait for the bus and that the road the bus is traveling upon has enough space to safely maneuver in and out of traffic as well as space to accelerate and decelerate to necessary speeds. Unfortunately, without significant investments, a stop at Orchard Street would not meet these requirements and, therefore, could not be easily opened. That being said, while Metro would not be able to open a stop at Orchard Street at this time that does not rule out the possibility of opening up a stop in the future.
Lastly, the reason we enjoy being able to discuss these projects with the public is that we get the opportunity to run ideas by our current and prospective riders and see what they think, as well as hear about suggestions that never crossed our minds. For example, we heard that our flex time in Duvall would have excluded Duvall High School. An oversight on our part and something we are grateful someone has pointed out to us. We’re now able to discuss this option along with the list of other great questions/concerns/comments you have all brought up.
We’ll continue to keep everyone posted as we discuss the issues raised above as well as others and although we may not be able to address every concern, we do consider all feedback and potential solutions as we work to serve as many riders as we can with the best possible system.
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