The first time Metro tried to kill the 42, there were three basic groups of objections. The first group had reservations about taking the train, because they thought it was going to be too hard to use or much more expensive. ORCA issues aside, this was basically unfounded. They put on a parade of testimony to the King County Council, a fine example of how to move the council on small-bore issues.
The basic argument was that vulnerable populations needed a one-seat ride to the doorstep of their facility. Metro relented by not deleting the route entirely, instead cutting it down so that it could be served by only one bus, running hourly between Pioneer Square and downtown Columbia City. Cleverly, the new 42 also provided a nice connection between downtown Columbia City and its station for those disinclined to walk. At least a seventh of these riders would have to be mobility-impaired, and headed to or from ACRS, to make the 42 cost-effective vs.
We simply cannot construct a sensible system where everyone is within a block of a one-seat ride to downtown. See the photo at top. A bad signal about how much the organization really cares about transit access. When I made the walk to the 7 stops I spent as much time waiting for signals as I did in motion.
Access may be more cost effective, but unless things have changed since my days working with the disability community and I sincerely hope they have , it stinks compared to being able to take regular transit. I routinely heard tales of it being many HOURS late to pick people up, so users would schedule their pick up several hours before whatever appointment they had to go to, in order to get there on time.
Most of the people I have seen at public meetings that want to save the 42 are healthy, able bodied people that do not need to use Access. That is not how you build a good transit system. How many people use the 42 to get to the ACRS? If the answer is very few, then the 42 should goβthere are plenty of other options. Seems like it would be a pretty simple matter to see how many people get off and on at the ACRS stop for a day or week.
