We so badly need light rail to liberate us from the regime of idiocy that is the Metro bus service. One of the many examples of this ruling idiocy: Since I have lived in this city (exactly two decades on Feb 10, 2009), not once has it occurred to any of the planners and professionals at Metro that the northbound 73 should stop soon after exiting I-5. Instead the bus exits the freeway, heads down 45th, turns down Roosevelt, runs all the way down to Campus, turns and only stops at the corner of Campus and University. This movement, this course, is nothing but a waste of time for those who could get to where they’re going faster if the fucking bus let them out near the corner of 45th and Roosevelt. Because this idiocy, this lack of a reasonable stop, has no opposition, it persists every fucking day!
Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory... More by Charles Mudede
Try it in the afternoons. Coming off the express lanes, there’s a stop at 42nd St. and 8th Ave.
Tell the driver you’re about to vomit and demand that they stop — everyday.
You’re talking about the 73 Express, not the regular old 73. The normal 73 doesn’t go by the intersection. Presumably, they wanted the express bus to have the same stops as the non-express, in the U-District.
Charles,
Agree. I recall there being a stop at 45th & 9th a long time ago (across from Metro Cinema). Hopefully, with light rail kicking in in July, the point may be moot.
What #3 said is exactly the reason and Metro HAS explained this to the public before (you should stop bitching and actually attend the public hearings Metro holds now and then)
It’s always funny to hear a socialist argue that he’s too selfish for public transit. Welcome to capitalism, Charles – it provides you with mode choice.
I like the idea that somehow light rail is going to be handled more efficiently when the whole concept comes from the same geniuses
Not to mention that the routes and stops can be changed easily with buses. Trains? Not so much.
But if it stopped it might inconvenience the impatient automobile drivers – and then they might get so frustrated they’d stop driving and take the bus instead …
LETS PASSIVE AGGRESSIVELY WHINE ABOUT IT ON THE INTERNETS!!!1111
Do you not understand the difference between an express bus and a local bus? You’d think after exactly two decades in this city you could read a schedule…
The light rail stops are really far apart. Like #8 said, this is not an improvement.
So much about Metro is so screwed up…
I live a half-mile out of White Center; the 131 is the ONLY bus that runs on my street on the weekends, but –> it does not run that half-mile up into White Center. It doesn’t go up to where all the other buses connect in White Center, so there’s no way I can ride the bus to, say, get groceries on the weekends.
AND the 60 stops in Georgetown on the weekends; it doesn’t complete the rest of its run up into White Center on Saturdays or Sundays. Because, of course, no one would ever want to go there on the weekend.. according to Metro.
Seriously, who laid this shit out? Did they give ANY thought to people moving around the city, or were they just trying to funnel commuters into the downtown corridor during the week? (Rhetorical question, no need to answer.) Did you know it’s impossible to go from the University District to Queen Anne, without going downtown to transfer?
Oi vey, I could go on and on and on………
@13 It is completely possible to go from the U District to Queen Anne directly. In fact, there is a shuttle that is designed to do exactly that, in admirably little time. Now, granted, it only runs a couple of times a day, but it does exist and augments travel for students to and from those two areas.
ha ha!
LOSER CRUISER!!!!!
@ 14 – Well, yes, but if it only runs a couple of times a day, then the point of the exercise is not to quickly and efficiently enable people to move around town, it’s some sort of school/commuter thing…
I love my bus drivers, but Metro as an entity has its headlights up its tailpipe….
@13–Are you talking about the top of QA or the bottom of QA? The 30 runs from Key Arena, down Mercer then on to Fremont then on to the U-District. If you live on top of the hill you’d only have to take a 2, 13, 3 or 4 to get down the hill. The 45 (the shuttle I think @14 is referring to) runs four times in the a.m. to UW (then comes back 4 times in the afternoon) staring on Roy, going up QA Avenue then back down the north side of the hill to Aurora.
So many strange things about Metro… like, why can’t you get a bus that goes from center of Fremont to the center of Ballard? Baffling.
can’t wait til the budget gets slashed and we see further reductions in service.