Some Metro service to be restored
Published 12:29 pm Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Mercer Island commuters who found their bus routes to Seattle cut last September may soon have an option for alternative Metro service.
The city has been working with King County Metro over the last few months “to design and implement alternative transportation services that will help mitigate for service lost on routes 202 and 205, including a community shuttle and innovative ridesharing solutions,” according to the City Council’s April 20 agenda bill.
Per City Council approval of an agreement with King County Metro and the City of Seattle, a Mercer Island Shuttle will operate between S.E. 46th Street and Island Crest Way and downtown Seattle via Seattle’s First Hill, with flexible on-call service to the Shorewood neighborhood. The County is looking at leasing additional park-and-ride spaces near the intersection of S.E. 46th Street and Island Crest Way.
The shuttle will have five trips in the morning and five trips in the afternoon—running about every 30 minutes between 6:15-8:15 a.m. and 4-6:30 p.m.—to and from Seattle, and scheduled to align with riders’ desired arrival and departure times.
The Mercer Island Shuttle will be designated as Metro route number 630 and be included in Metro’s Online Trip Planner. The 19-passenger vehicle will be operated by Hopelink, a contract service provider with Metro. It will have a rack for 2 bikes in front and be equipped with a lift and ORCA card reader. Standard Metro fares apply.
Last year, Mercer Island lost 75 percent of its Metro service as part of budget and service reductions made by King County. Metro set aside funding for an Alternative Services program, geared toward putting service of the right size, scale and type into each community served. City staff and Mayor Bruce Bassett worked with Metro to find a solution for Island commuters.
There were three possible services for Mercer Island: a community shuttle that would connect North Mercer to First Hill and downtown, a TripPool that would provide flexible commuter options to South Mercer Island, where Metro would own and operate the vehicles, or a community van that would provide customized transportation to Shorewood Heights, where Shorewood Heights would schedule and run the van.
The city conducted a survey of displaced riders to find out what would work best. Ashley Arai from King County Metro spoke about alternative services at the Council’s January planning session, noting that core travel, commuter and basic mobility needs were assessed through the survey.
There were 240 survey respondents, 90 percent of which said they would be interested in using a new shuttle, and 65 percent of which said they would use the shuttle three or more times per week.
The city will contribute $80,000 annually (50 percent of which the city of Seattle will reimburse to Mercer Island as part of its $3 million fund for regional transit partnerships) with Metro funding the remaining costs.
Mercer Island’s 2015-2016 adopted budget includes $150,000 per year as a placeholder in the Street Fund for transit funding, an amount proposed by Bassett and Deputy Mayor Dan Grausz at the planning session.
The funding source for the shuttle service will be the newly instituted Transportation Benefit District (TBD) vehicle license fee, which is $20 per car—though that could go up to $40 if certain measures in the State Legislature’s proposed transportation package pass.
The city’s website will be updated to reflect that “TBDs can fund transportation improvements. Transportation improvement is defined to include not only maintenance and improvements of arterial streets, but also investments in public transportation.”
The shuttle service will run for an initial demonstration period from June 8, 2015 to Sept. 11, 2017, and be evaluated on cost per rider, trip utilization rate, daily ridership and rider and stakeholder satisfaction survey results.
As part of a demonstration project, Metro staff will be required to report to the King County Council and the Mercer Island City Council with progress.
Updates from April 20 City Council meeting:
The shuttle will provide 2,600 annual hours of service and cost $300,000, Metro staff said.
Leasing 28 parking spaces at the Congregational Church will cost $2,000 per year, which will be covered by Metro.
Deputy Mayor Dan Grausz noted that he was worried about the shuttle filling up at the First Hill Park and Ride with riders who are not Mercer Island residents. He also said that between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., the shuttles would be empty, and that the city should look at using them to transport people from the South to the North end of the Island.
