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:
- Full size 40-foot coaches.
- Free of charge and open to everyone.
- Operates 12 hours per day, 7 days per week.
- Frequency no less than every 20 minutes.
- 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.
- Operated by Metro.
Stay tuned for a plan of action!