UWeek Vol.15, No.13 January 22, 1998

Staff Forum gathers first time Jan. 26

Access, quality are issues in 98 legislature

Metro bus route proposal clarified

Nominees sought for staff award

Regents pass new statement on diversity

Hearing: It's a more complex process than we realize

Advisory group begins search for Bothell dean

Senate Meeting Agenda

Value-added education: Landscape students learn by doing in design/build studios

Metro bus route proposal clarified

An Open Letter From the Transportation Office:

Last week residents in the North Seattle area received a tabloid from Metro describing proposed route realignments for September 1998. Some of these proposals affect routes to the UW, and the Transportation Office has received calls and e-mail messages from staff and faculty concerned about specific changes. In this letter we hope to clarify these proposals and describe the Transportation Office's role in this process.

The North Seattle Transit Service tabloid included a survey for area riders to "vote" for their preferences between two different maps with various route realignments. Proposals from either map can be "mixed and matched" as desired. The data from this survey will help Metro and its citizen Sounding Board choose which proposals to submit to the King County Council, which will ultimately decide which routes to change, implement and delete. Riders should review the maps carefully and complete their survey by tomorrow's deadline so that their opinions are included.

As riders review the maps, they will notice that Map 1 has few route changes and is closest to the status quo.

Map 2 shows more extensive changes. Because the tabloid was developed for residents throughout North Seattle with varying destinations, the maps and descriptions may not be clear for those with specific concerns related to UW routes, such as:

Route 65 consolidates the many routes that now run along 35th Avenue Northeast, providing more frequent and consistent service. This route will also travel on campus.

Route 67 does not appear in either map option because there are no changes proposed.

Route 68 from the Northgate Transit Center is deleted and replaced with more frequent service on parallel Route 73 and new Route 63. The Transportation Office is communicating to Metro that this route should be retained due to the high ridership.

Route 71 will serve the U-District along University Avenue Northeast, as it does now, but will not continue to downtown. Downtown riders can transfer to the new route 69 traveling between the U-District and downtown every 8 minutes.

Current route 72 is re-routed and re-named to route 63. Route 63 will travel from Lake City via 25th Avenue Northeast, serving University Village before coming onto campus.

Route 73 is consolidated with route 78 (see below).

Route 75 is re-routed to travel up the 45th Northeast Avenue viaduct to connect the U-District and University Village shopping areas. Route 75 will travel onto campus after this slight re-routing. Frequency of service would be improved to every 15 minutes during rush hours.

Route 78 is proposed to be consolidated with route 73 to run along 15th Avenue Northeast with greater frequency. Unfortunately, the new route 73 was not proposed to travel onto campus to serve those stops that the 78 currently does. The Transportation Office is communicating with Metro to extend the 73 onto campus under this proposal.

The routes described above do not encompass all of the changes, but we hope they serve to clarify common misunderstandings. As administrators of the U-PASS program, the Transportation Office has the opportunity to make recommendations to Metro and will be doing that in the upcoming weeks. UW faculty and staff with route concerns or comments can e-mail the Transportation Office at upass@u.washington.edu. We will respond to your question and use your input in our discussions with Metro.

Again, we hope these explanations lay some fears to rest. We currently enjoy a high level of service from Metro on most routes, and want to continue that accessibility when using our U-PASSes. Thank you. ¶

Jeff Aumell, Acting Manager, Transportation Systems