Month: July 2012

The Transit Riders Union is gearing up for a campaign around the elimination of the Ride Free Area, details to be hashed out at our upcoming August 6 Membership Meeting. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here is our letter to County and City Council Members:

July 26, 2012

To:
King County Council Members
King County Executive Dow Constantine
Seattle City Council Members
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn

Dear County and City Council Members, Mayor, and County Executive:

We are writing concerning the impending elimination of the Ride Free Area on September 29, and the plans to introduce a free downtown circulator.

We are writing, first, to register our displeasure at the manner in which the decision to eliminate the Ride Free Area was taken. The RFA has performed admirably in its original purpose of easing congestion and increasing mobility downtown, to the benefit of shoppers, tourists, businesses, and commuters. Since its inception in 1973, numerous human and health services for low income and homeless people have located themselves in and around the RFA, knowing they would be accessible by bus for free. That the decision to destroy this venerable institution should be made, not through a transparent public process and based on a reasoned assessment of how well it is working, but as a hasty concession in the political bargaining over the Congestion Reduction Charge, is wrong.

We understand that Metro expects the elimination of the RFA to result in a net savings of a little over $2 million per year, mainly in new fare box revenue from rides currently taken for free. However, according to Metro’s estimate, 1.7 million rides annually will no longer be taken once the RFA is eliminated, because these people either will choose not to take the bus or cannot afford it. How will they get to where they were going? Presumably some will walk, and others will drive, but many will simply not take the trip: out to lunch, or to the grocery store, or to the clinic, or to visit family or friends. In other words, this additional revenue comes at the cost of a significant loss of mobility. This is a move in the wrong direction: we should be encouraging, not discouraging, the use of public transit. And of course, this loss of mobility is most serious for those who will no longer ride Metro downtown because they have little or no money.

So we are writing, second, to encourage you, our County and City Council Members, Mayor and County Executive, to do whatever is in your power to fund a free downtown circulator that will adequately mitigate the effects of the RFA’s elimination on low income riders. In the view of the Transit Riders Union, a circulator should meet the following conditions:

1. Full size 40-foot coaches.
2. Free of charge and open to everyone.
3. Operates 12 hours per day, 7 days per week.
4. Frequency no less than every 20 minutes.
5. Runs from Jackson to Denny and up to Harborview, routed to serve the low income and disabled housing and resources that are currently served by the RFA.
6. Operated by Metro.

We understand that a circulator program of this scope would cost well over $1 million per year to operate, as well as resulting in a loss of projected farebox revenue, thus greatly reducing the anticipated cost savings of eliminating the RFA. Considering this, and considering the congestion and reliability problems that are also likely to be in store after September 29, not eliminating the Ride Free Area in the first place begins to look like the superior option. It was actually a pretty good deal.

We appreciate whatever steps you can take to move the current circulator plan closer to the standards enumerated above. In the longer term, we encourage you to pursue a regional low-fare and no-fare transit pass program for individuals with low or no income.

Sincerely,

The Transit Riders Union

On September 29, the Ride Free Area in downtown Seattle will be eliminated.

The RFA was established in 1973, the same year that King County Metro began operations. It was originally called the “Magic Carpet Zone”, and it was intended to encourage people to get out of their cars, to help downtown businesses, workers, and tourists, and to relieve traffic congestion.

In the subsequent decades, many health and human services for homeless, disabled, and low income people grew up in and around the RFA, choosing their locations knowing they’d be accessible by bus for free. But three months from now, they won’t be any more.

There was no public process leading up to the decision to eliminate the Ride Free Area. This decision was made by the County Council during negotiations over the $20 car tab fee in summer 2011, and there’s not much we can do about it now. But what isn’t set in stone yet is what the county and the city will do to mitigate the effects.

The Transit Riders Union takes the following position on the elimination of the RFA:

• The elimination of the Ride Free Area on September 29 will place a significant burden on low income riders who currently use the RFA to travel around and through downtown. This includes disabled people, and service and other low wage workers. The elimination of the RFA will make getting around more difficult for all downtown workers, shoppers and tourists, will hurt the businesses that rely on these customers, and will remove an incentive for people to choose public transit over cars. Meanwhile, very poor riders will find their mobility and access to vital services severely curtailed.

• This is unacceptable. It is the shared responsibility of the County and the City to find a solution that adequately mitigates the hardship that the RFA’s elimination will impose, especially on low income and poor riders.

• The county’s current plan, which calls for several small (10-15 passenger) free circulator shuttles operating nine hours per day, five days per week, with service every thirty minutes, is a totally inadequate solution. These shuttles will not effectively serve even the poorest riders; moreover, they will create a second-class ridership of those who cannot afford to take the ‘normal’ buses around downtown.

• In order to constitute an adequate solution, a free downtown circulator should meet the following conditions:

1. Full size 40-foot coaches.
2. Free of charge and open to everyone.
3. Operates 12 hours per day, 7 days per week.
4. Frequency no less than every 20 minutes.
5. Runs from Jackson to Denny and up to Harborview, routed to serve the low income and disabled housing buildings and resources that are currently served by the RFA.
6. Operated by Metro.

Stay tuned for a plan of action!