Category / Wanderings

by Adron

Another Way Home

I set out on a very round about alternate route home today.  Events and scheduling of the day had lined up perfectly for such an alternate trip.

My normal trip home from Redmond, Washington is to board the #545 at Overlake Transit Center bound west for Seattle proper, once there I just walk about towards home, sometimes from the downtown core or sometimes down Denny or through South Lake Union.

Today I’m heading south from Overlake Transit Center on the #566 headed for Auburn, Washington.  The bus takes a trip south down through Bellevue, then on down I-405 toward Kent.  From either Kent, or a stop before then, I intend to transfer and hopefully catch a north bound Sounder Train.  Since this is a rather spontaneous effort, I could be stranded at any random location.  However, I’ve no fear, so “meh” I say.

I ended up realizing I wasn’t going to make the Sounder, so decided to get off at the Renton Transit Center in downtown Renton.  It seemed I had good timing as I got off the bus and walked right into the Renton Farmer’s Market!  Kettle corn was smelling great, freshly cooked up, and all sorts of tents offering various things.  I love these bits of community, absolutely great!

I however skipped out on the farmers market and went into a local establishment called Best Burger.  It was located directly across the street from the transit center.  Further along 3rd the Italian Joint almost caught me, but I wanted something along the junk food line of American Burger.

Route #106

Afterwards I scoped out a return trip to Seattle proper.  I ended up with deciding on the Metro #106 Route.  It has a winding route from Renton, by Rainer Beach a ways, and up and over Beacon Hill.  Unfortunately it doesn’t pass by the actual Beach, I’m still curious to see the area.

The bus wound up over steep hills, twisting and turning through the streets.  We left Renton without much to notice we did and onward toward Rainier Beach Area.  The skyline was beautiful, with trees reaching up broke the spears of sunlight.  Each ray of light flashing as the trees gave relief to those sitting by the windows of the bus.  However several people still shielded their eyes from the brightness.

Once the bus made it to the top of the hill, one could look back and see off into the distance as we turned.  The bus stops seemed like they were every block or two now.  If you’ve checked out the link for the #106 route, you’ll see that there are a great number of stops along this route.  This is one of the reasons that I chose it, as I knew the run would be a bit slower, making it easier to take in the view of the route.

Moving along the spine of the hills we entered Skyway.  Once on this rode I knew I had picked a gem of a route.  This part of town was pretty sketchy.  Businesses along the way were open, but just as many were shuddered.  Some of the single level buildings, and some two story buildings weren’t shuddered, but could easily have been mistaken for being so.

We rolled further along the route through residential and commercial districts.  Along the decline of Skyway I looked out and could see the southern stretches of Lake Washington.  Highway 90 was in the distance, with cars the size of ants zipping across.  The water looked smooth glimmering in the sunlight.  The tree lined shores of the island broke the water with vertical ease.  With the sun and blue  skies this was a rare sight for this area I’m sure!

A little further along the route intersected with the Link Light Rail at the Rainier Beach Stop.  From this intersection the route zigzagged back uphill.  Some of the views down on Lake Washington are awesome from up here on this route.  At this point, I’m glad I decided on this one!

Georgetown!

After a bit further a plane came SCREAMING overhead!  I bound across the bus to see where it was in bound for.  Sure enough we were by the Boeing Airfield south of downtown Seattle.  We pulled up at the first stop in Georgetown and I saw a cool music shop and next to it a coffee shop.  I then commenced to walk along the street in Georgetown and be wowed and the coolness of the area.  Absolutely loud, being sandwiched between an air field, the Interstate, multiple rail lines, and other industrial nitty gritty, but awesome atmosphere for rock n’ roll, biker bars, and the like.  Very rock star is what I’m saying.

I walked around for about 45 minutes and then headed onwards toward downtown.  That was my commute home for today, slightly different than the norm.  :)  Cheers!

by Adron

A Smack In the Face

Today I decided on a bit of a round about way to get to work.  First a view of my commute (this is for the local office, not my Redmond Commute).

Instead of just heading along on the walk shown above (or one of the multitudes of routes (358, 5, 26, 28, or even the 30, 17, or otherwise with a little bit of a walk before) I went for the following trip.

First I boarded (at Dexter and Denny) the King County Metro #8 (Click the #8 to see the route map) headed east and went to Capital Hill for a coffee at Stumptown.  It had been a while since I had one of their brews so I felt it was a good Friday idea.  I got off the bus at Broadway and headed toward the Stumptown at 616 East Pine Street.  Saw a few buses roll by heading into Seattle proper packed to the rim with people.  The #8 route is shown below.

I enjoyed a capacino and once I finished a bit of blogging and reflection I walked down a block and boarded the #11 heading into town.  A short ride and I then walked over and boarded the #17 out to 1515 Westlake for the end of my morning journey.

A round about way to get to work, but fun in the end.  It’s always nice to get a little bit of a different view of the city and all the morning flows of people to and from.  For the evening commute, I may walk, may bus, or maybe zig zag across the city street, I’ve no idea yet.  With that, I’m off.

by Adron

I Felt Spontaneous

Because of that, I got off the bus at Montlake Expressway Stop instead of getting all the way into the city on #545.  I didn’t know where I was, but figured “what the hell, I’ve got 2+ hours before I have to be somewhere.”

I got off and walked up the sidewalk to the main street.  The bus pulls off a side stop, called and Expressway Transit Stop or something, and people can get on or off the stops and walk up to the primary surface streets.  I got to the top and immediately saw about 50 bikes (ok, I didn’t count but there were a lot of them).

I walked across the overpass and to the south bound (toward downtown Seattle) and boarded the next bus that came along.  The #48 pulled up and I flicked my newly received Microsoft ORCA Card and off we went. 

After just a few minutes I got off again, not being sure where the #48 actually went, to check were and what route I needed to be on.  The #43, which I knew goes downtown, runs parallel to the #48 route along this road.  I could at least board it.  However I saw a Fuel Coffee Shop a second ago and decided to walk back to it.

I arrived and purchased an ice coffee.  I pulled the laptop out to figure out where I was, and where I needed to go to arrive at Fado in downtown Seattle by 6pm.  I first looked up Fado to be sure of the address ”801 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-1404”.  That looked good so then I looked up what routes I was near to figure out where I was actually at.  I found myself near E Lynn St and 24th on OneBusAway.  So now I went back to Google Maps and threw in the two address I knew of “801 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-1404” to “24th Ave E & E McGraw St”.

This is where I didn’t like the results.  Google Maps told me to go back to the Montlake Expressway stop and get on something from there to go downtown.  I didn’t want to do that so I figured I’d board the next #43 and just enjoy the scenery.  So with that I finished this entry up and…  vroom, off I went.

by Adron

Walk, Ride, Around About Seattle, A Bit of Caffé Vita and Fremont

The Blur of Saturday Morning

It is Saturday.  I am feeling a bit retrospective.  New city, new residence, new places out there.  I decide I need to get out and about, otherwise I am going to get to feeling kind of ratty today.  Nothing like wandering to clear the mind, get one’s ideas straight, and get the motivation kicking again.

I got up around 8am, maybe later, not really sure.  I put myself together and out the door I went.  No coffee, no food, nothing but a laptop, cell phone, ORCA Card, and some wanderlust.

First I decided that coffee was in order, so I headed toward the Uptown Espresso at 4th and Wall.  However, just after crossing Denny by the Monorail, here comes a #8 (#8 route map) which just seems like the perfect route to kick off my day with.  So with a flicker of thought, and pondering if I’ll survive without coffee, I decide to board the bus.

We get to rolling and pass across I-5 and slowly make it up the hills toward Capitol Hill.  At John St & 15th I note a Safeway, which is important for the car free life.  In these parts the Safeways are often the cheap bulk stores that are great for commodity type goods.  Unlike the Whole Foods, which are great, but suck up every penny a poor soul has to their name.

The #8 route continues up and over the hills into residential streets.  Beautiful neighborhoods that remind me of north west neighborhoods.  The green is lush, the hills steep, and people walking about carrying on with their daily lives.

At Madison and MLK Streets there is a small slice of stores mixed into the middle of the neighborhood.  The bus just pokes along this section with us 4 riders.  Unlike other times I am not particularly observant today.  I haven’t noticed the people or been watching them.

I pull up another map, to see where my connection points are to get back into town.  The Sound Transit Link Light Rail has several connection points that look perfect.  I figure if anything, being deprived of coffee still, it ay be a good idea to grab the light rail back into town and and get a cup of coffee that I’d trust.

I finally transferred at the Othella Link Light Rail Station stop.  The #8 headed off on its southward route, and I walked around the station area.  The area was somewhat sketchy, nothing compared to my New Orleans days of wandering, but sketchy for the north west.  As always, this didn’t really both me and I walked about looking in the unopened stores.  At this time of the day, this part of town is shuttered.  I’m betting though if one wants some Pho or other Vietnamese treats, this is probably a good part of town for that.

Flanged Wheels Rolling and STOP

So I boarded the light rail train that came along next.  We zipped off quickly heading north into town.  I got a little curious about the tunnel station under Beacon Hill.  That curiosity kicked me into gear and I decided to go explore that area too.  I got off and headed up in the elevator to ground level.  I got out and this part of town was rather desolate.  I must admit, I’m not sure why Sound Transit or Seattle or whoever, decided to stick this station right here.  There is literally nothing that is particularly walkable from here.  Maybe it was hiding, but it definitely was not visible.

I walked a few blocks toward where I could see over the edge of Beacon Hill down upon the city.  Even though there wasn’t any immediately walkable coffee shops or such the view up here is spectacular.  I needed a panoramic camera to get this shot of the city!  One can see the shipping loaders, the SODO area, and of course downtown rising from the Earth.  Absolutely great view.  I’ll have to return here just for pictures upon getting a camera to do it justice.

I then headed back into the tunnel, boarded the next train, and zipped off toward the city again.  I love coming out of the tunnel on the raise section of rail overlooking SODO.  Being able to see the light rail facilities and passing along the bus facilities is interesting for a transit sleuth like me.  We rolled into SODO and then onward.  However at some point we came to a complete stop!  We just sat and sat there.  The recorded voice came on the speaker and said there is traffic and we’ll move forward in just a moment.

That left me with the thought, if the voice is recorded to say that, how often do they have delays on the light rail because of traffic?!?!!?  This is a dedicated, controlled, unimpeded right of way!  WTF!  Nonsense, again, if I ran transit this nonsense would be a thing of the past (at least with five 9s of no delays).  Anyway, not like I was unhappy, just kind of shocked at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Then after a few minutes the driver came onto the speaker as we sat, “There is a bus broken down in front of us so as soon as they get it moved we’ll pull into the station.”  Oh my god the perverse transit related irony of this situation!  A BUS is blocking the dedicated LIGHT RAIL.  I suppose though, this is the one part that isn’t dedicated.  This points out two issues – 1.  Buses break down (for whatever reason) a LOT.  2.  Rail based vehicles can’t pass things when appropriate infrastructure isn’t available (like passing tracks).

After the 13-15 minutes STOP we experienced we finally pulled forward.

Caffé Vita Mmmmm

I got off the light rail at this stop and walked over to Caffé Vita at 125 Prefontaine Place South Seattle, WA 98104-2672.  I knew this coffee shop from many previous visits to Seattle.  They make a high quality cappuccino which is much needed sometimes, especially on a day like this.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=caffe+vita&sll=47.619718,-122.34587&sspn=0.008996,0.014699&ie=UTF8&hq=caffe+vita&hnear=&ll=47.601215,-122.329337&spn=0.008999,0.014699&z=14&iwloc=A&cid=8054863590227938189&output=embed
View Larger Map

 

Finally I headed out from Caffé Vita and north bound to Fremont via the #28 (#28 route map).  This route is initially the #23 (#23 route map) before it turns into the #28 I found.  This is a good thing to know, being that I didn’t, but d
ecided at the last minute I’d board the #23 to get further into town.  Once I got into town I got off, thinking that the #28 was coming and fortunately looked back at the bus and realized it now read #28.

This is by far another stupid point for Metro.  How the hell is anyone supposed to know the route change if all they’ve looked at is the time points or the numbers on the stop?  The stop had #28 listed, but #23 comes up to the stop?  That’s not good at all, that just introduces total confusion for riders.  But alas, I managed to get onto the correct route.

Awesome Hippy Land Communist Capitalist Fremont

Just toward the center of Fremont is an actual X-Soviet Statue of Lenin.  Yes, that guy that managed to create one of the most horrific Governments in all history.  Yeah, that dude!  His statue is on American soil standing in Fremont.  I found this hilarious and sad.  But wait, that isn’t the entirety of the sadness.  The reason it is here is because of an American individual who saw the statue toppled and desecrated in the then X-Soviet Union after the wall came down.  He re-mortgaged his house to get the status – which weighs tons – back into this country.  Nothing against the guy for liking art, but wow, that seems like a lot of trouble for a part of history that is of questionable perpetuation at best.  Anyway there is this statue, of him in front of arms (i.e. armaments of war) and flames moving into revolution as he did.  In an artistic sense this is awesome, in a tasteful sense it is of questionable nature to keep a statue that for millions represents great suffering and death.  But I digress, it really isn’t for me to say as I stood against and have always stood against what Lenin did.

I wondered about and found Tableau (a company I have worked with and almost prospectively worked for), and Adobe Office, and a bunch of other things in the Fremont area.  This is one of the cooler places in Seattle.  I got off the bus and wondered a good hour plus in this area of town.  There are coffee shops, diners, breakfast places, and much more.  I also found a great sandwich shop.

After wandering about for a time I went back and boarded the #26 (#26 route map) back into Belltown.  I retraced this route later, but as for the exploratory wandering this was it for me today.  Great fun, awesome discoveries, and more to come in the near future.  Enjoy.

by Adron

The Comparison So Far: TriMet vs. Metro/Sound Transit

Ok, I am in week three of my new Seattle life.  All is rocking along, but I must say I have noticed some serious differences between the transit options in Portland versus Seattle.

For one, both cities now have pretty much the same type of core modes.

Seattle Portland
Bus (30~ ft, 40 ft, 60~ft) Bus (30~ ft, 40 ft)
Streetcar (Skoda Style) Streetcar (Skoda Style)
Light Rail Light Rail
Oddball Monorail Oddball Aerial Tram
Ferries (big, small, medium)  
Commuter Rail (Engine + Passenger Cars) Commuter Rail (DMU)

The biggest differences I have noticed are those that impact me the most.  I will go through each of those here.

  • Wireless is available on the Express Buses & Commuter Trains.  This absolutely ROCKS and Portland should have done this ages ago!  It is NOT expensive to do these days either.  Point – Seattle
  • Metro & Sound Transit actually have cushy, comfortable, enjoyable seats to sit in.  This is a big step up from TriMet’s Seats except on the WES BRDs.  Point – Seattle
  • TriMet’s fare system is about a billion times easier to use, understand, and in addition it is actually cheaper if one uses it well.  Sound Transit, or Metro, or whatever – the Seattle Transit Fare System is absolutely nutsy.  Major failure in my opinion.  Point – Portland
  • TriMet has a ton more light rail, and if you like light rail as I do, and prefer it over buses, TriMet wins in this category big time.  Buses just are NOT smooth vehicles.  I try to use the laptop, with the awesome wireless and I have to fight to keep the stupid thing on my lap!  The longer buses are even less off a smooth ride.  Not a big issue to me, I deal, but overall it really sucks.  Light rail is generally just a lot smoother.  Point – Portland.

Point wise, Portland and Seattle are even.  2 points each.

However, TriMet in my opinion is doing a much better job of providing transit that is easy to use over the Seattle area agencies.  However the Seattle area agencies are doing a much better job at providing nice, comfortable transit that mostly works (the scheduling and mapping is horrible to figure out – mostly at the fault of Metro).  I am also betting, per area resident, per cost per person, TriMet is probably doing better too.  That however is a study for another time.

The other contender.  If Portland had a Microsoft Transit…

Ok, so I am a private (i.e. pro-citizen/individual) operator advocate.  I hate that cities have taken transit (as any long time reader of this blog knows), made authorities, taken control from individuals running and operating transit as non-profit, for profit, or otherwise.  However, there is still private transportation in some areas, albeit often on a small scale.  One example of a not-so-small scale operation is Microsoft’s Transit & Commuter Operations.

Microsoft itself runs its own transit and commuter operations.  It includes taxis, mini-buses, and actual buses.  They operate at efficiencies that Metro, Sound Transit, and TriMet could only dream of.  They all provide wifi, and in normal private fashion, they cost taxpayers a whopping $0.

The dispatch system and other features of the system are integrated into the reception desks, computers, and all sorts of devices to create efficiencies in pickup and delivery of riders.  Metro & Sound Transit in Seattle and TriMet in Portland absolutely need to send people to learn from Microsoft, because there is a LOT to learn from these private operators.

This alone, when working at Microsoft (which I am doing as a consultant right now) makes Seattle ROCK in so many way.  Not a system I have seen compares to the awesomeness of Microsoft’s System.

Point – Seattle!

With that stated, Seattle wins hands down.  Portland needs more private entity involvement.