COVID-19 ridership update: Ridership remains steady, fare suspension continues through June

I agree with Felsen and Jason. I commute to work using Link and route 70. Metro REALLY needs to restore the cancelled northbound route 70 trips between 5 AM – 7 AM and the cancelled southbound trips between 2 – 5 PM. The northbound morning trips get a lot of construction workers who are transferring from the inbound Sounder trains, so the 5th Ave../S. Jackson St stop often gets approximately 10 people just from Sounder and then is at capacity by the time it gets to the 3rd Ave./Columbia St. stop because it picks up more construction workers at the Prefontaine stop. The construction workers start work by 7 AM, so they start getting off work around 2:30 PM; yet Metro’s scheduling doesn’t account for that. You need more service during the early morning and early afternoon commute to account for when the construction workers are traveling. The route 70 buses are routinely at or over capacity during work commute times now, which is only going to get worse once other places such as the UW, Amazon, or Fred Hutch start reopening their campuses.

Also, I think Metro needs to reinstitute fare collection. Another big reason why route 70 has overcrowding problems is that a lot of homeless people get on at the Prefontaine, Columbia St., and Pike St. stops, Many of them get on buses just to sleep or just travel between bus stops so they can loiter with friends who are also hanging out at stops to kill time instead of going to a specific destination. Also, many of them get on buses even if they’re only traveling as far as the next stop on the route. Most of the route 70 drivers aren’t monitoring passenger loads at all or monitoring who gets on. Even if the bus is already at capacity,they’re letting homeless joyriders get on who take up space needed for essential workers. Reinstating fare collection for ALL passengers would help to keep out people who are riding short distances just because the bus is free or who are making multiple non-essential trips to kill time. Most of the essential workers who still use buses such as route 70 or the First Hill hospital routes get subsidized ORCA cards through their employers, so Metro should issue those workers priority boarding cards. Essential workers don’t want to have to worry about either being bypassed because the bus is full or being exposed to COVID-19 because they have to ride on overcrowded buses full of people who don’t wear masks or follow social distancing.

This is my next point: Metro needs to enact a no shirt, no shoes, no mask = NO SERVICE rule. Not only is route 70 a bus that’s routinely at or over capacity, it’s also a route where about half the riders are homeless. Almost none of these homeless riders wear masks or follow social distancing rules. Many of them get on the bus and immediately sit down behind or next to other passengers even if the bus is empty enough for them to be able to maintain the 6′ social distancing. These people make no effort to sit away from others and are generally bad about not covering their coughs or sneezes. I often see other riders moving away as soon as they hear someone cough or sneeze, so I’m not the only one who thinks you need to enforce the mask rules! I think Metro needs to have a security person actually riding on heavily used routes such as route 70 and have that person both monitor passenger loads and enforce social distancing/mask rules.

Metro has handled the service cuts and social distancing rules so poorly that I think a lot of the white-collar workers who used to commute on Metro won’t return once the COVID-19 shutdown ends. Most people who have the option of working from home, driving, or using UBER for commuting will continue to do so because they’re at the point where they no longer feel safe on buses or find the reduced schedule makes buses infeasible.

“Overall, Metro will operate approximately 42% fewer buses…” -AND- “From May 18-22, the average weekday bus ridership was 112,000, compared to 413,000 for the same time in 2019, or a 73% drop­….”
WELL, DUH! When there are only 58% of buses running and only allowing 12 or 18 riders per bus, then of course you’re going to see 27% of regular ridership! Only 114,000 passengers are given the opportunity to ride. PLEASE REINSTATE FARES and give us back some of the eliminated routes; the last 7 weeks have been the worst commutes I’ve ever experienced on this backwards transit agency. I think I’m not alone in this, as so many more people are now driving to work because they’ve had their buses canceled indefinitely or can’t tolerate the conditions on what few buses are still available. After 19 years of daily round trip commutes, I think I’m finally pushed too far and am about to become part of the problem and join the swarms of single occupant vehicles on I-5. Lord knows I tried!

When will route 190 start?