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3 hours ago, SounderBruce said:

Note that when you do come down to buy the card, you will need to show proof of age, such as an ID card. I'm not sure if they accept non-American ID cards, though.

In the past, the Puget Sound agencies qualified this fares as being based on age alone... not age and residency as in other jurisdictions...

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16 hours ago, EvergreenRailfan said:

Do they usually put Enviro500's on the 512 on Saturday? I saw a few parked in the yard next to SODO Station today.

They do run on some Saturday trips (especially during "peak" hours for Saturday commuters), but yesterday's Womens March required extra capacity that prompted extra double tall service.

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Who is relinquishing their coaches?

Quote

Sound Transit requires storage for approximately 15 to 26 buses for a period of 9 months, with options to extend for an additional 15 one-month periods. ... These buses will eventually be used to accomplish a transition of transit service from one operating agency to another (as yet unidentified). The approximate types and quantities of buses to be stored are fifteen 60-ft articulated buses and eleven 40-ft buses.

PDF, page 13

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12 hours ago, Atomic Taco said:

Who is relinquishing their coaches?

PDF, page 13

 

Quote

Vehicles will be moved from King County Metro’s East Base (or CSC Operations) beginning approximately August 1, 2018; movement will likely be one or two buses per week on average. These buses may be moved out of storage beginning May 1, 2019.

 

Looks like retirement of 2001 Phantoms and D60LFs probably and used as contingency fleet 

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On 6/18/2018 at 5:43 AM, dancingfatpotato said:

Weren't the 2004 9500s ordered with the the KCM 2800? Considering that metro retired almost all of theirs, is STP planning in retiring theirs soon? 

It's happening, albeit slowly.  9542 was retired in January; it had an engine failure in September and was not repaired.

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2 hours ago, Express691 said:



Is this a Luminator Titan? Or is it programmed like this

Hmm... I'm 90% sure that's just a 'standard' Luminator Horizon. The numbers are using the three-pixel font. It's pretty easy to program that using the software.

It's a good look and easier to see -- I'm not sure why so few Luminator customers ever use that font.

 

 

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On 11/24/2018 at 11:17 PM, EvergreenRailfan said:

After getting off a late Amtrak 508 last night, I noticed a ST Ticket machine and 2 ORCA Readers on Track 9 at King Street Station. Is it for the agreement for Sounder-North?

Is that the one closest to the stadium? if so it is because on Seahawks game days with Sounder service, southbound trains depart on the track closest to the stadium to prevent people from having to walk up then downstairs again. 

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42 minutes ago, aznichiro115 said:

Does anyone know why CT is taking over 540 from KCM in March? 

 

This is just conjecture (as in... anyone with better info, feel free to correct it!)... but for what it may be worth:

Cost. Community Transit contracts our their share of Sound Transit service to First Transit. I'd have to imagine 540 will fall in to that package -- I don't see Community Transit operating it from Merrill Creek with their own employees. This is kind of a weird, underhanded way of outsourcing -- not sure if it's "intentional or accidental"...

Equipment Consolidation. I'm a little rusty on 540 -- it was using 40-foot buses last I checked. If that's still the case, this could be an effort to consolidate Sound Transit 40-footers. They may be the only 40-foot buses used for any service out of East Base. That way, East Base can become an all-artic operation... and First Transit will have a slightly larger pool of 40-foot Sound Transit buses, which I believe are also in use on the 532-535.

I reiterate -- nothing more than educated guesses! I'm not even certain that 540 runs from East anymore, and I may also be out-of-date on 532-535 vehicle assignments. I encourage corrections, additional discussion and more information.

My real question is which agency initiated the switch? Did Sound Transit independently "go shopping" for operators? And/or did Metro perhaps nudge them in an effort to oust a "misfit route" from East?

 

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4 hours ago, Border City Transit said:

 

This is just conjecture (as in... anyone with better info, feel free to correct it!)... but for what it may be worth:

Cost. Community Transit contracts our their share of Sound Transit service to First Transit. I'd have to imagine 540 will fall in to that package -- I don't see Community Transit operating it from Merrill Creek with their own employees. This is kind of a weird, underhanded way of outsourcing -- not sure if it's "intentional or accidental"...

Equipment Consolidation. I'm a little rusty on 540 -- it was using 40-foot buses last I checked. If that's still the case, this could be an effort to consolidate Sound Transit 40-footers. They may be the only 40-foot buses used for any service out of East Base. That way, East Base can become an all-artic operation... and First Transit will have a slightly larger pool of 40-foot Sound Transit buses, which I believe are also in use on the 532-535.

I reiterate -- nothing more than educated guesses! I'm not even certain that 540 runs from East anymore, and I may also be out-of-date on 532-535 vehicle assignments. I encourage corrections, additional discussion and more information.

My real question is which agency initiated the switch? Did Sound Transit independently "go shopping" for operators? And/or did Metro perhaps nudge them in an effort to oust a "misfit route" from East?

 

Got an answer from a metro supervisor. 9090-9091 and 9124-9126 the remaining 40ft buses at East at staying at East and not moving to First Transit. 

"When the 550 moves out of the tunnel, it will need to add buses at peak, with the longer travel times.
This allows Metro to add the needed service with the same current equipment we have."

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On 2/20/2019 at 3:57 PM, Border City Transit said:

 

This is just conjecture (as in... anyone with better info, feel free to correct it!)... but for what it may be worth:

Cost. Community Transit contracts our their share of Sound Transit service to First Transit. I'd have to imagine 540 will fall in to that package -- I don't see Community Transit operating it from Merrill Creek with their own employees. This is kind of a weird, underhanded way of outsourcing -- not sure if it's "intentional or accidental"...

Equipment Consolidation. I'm a little rusty on 540 -- it was using 40-foot buses last I checked. If that's still the case, this could be an effort to consolidate Sound Transit 40-footers. They may be the only 40-foot buses used for any service out of East Base. That way, East Base can become an all-artic operation... and First Transit will have a slightly larger pool of 40-foot Sound Transit buses, which I believe are also in use on the 532-535.

I reiterate -- nothing more than educated guesses! I'm not even certain that 540 runs from East anymore, and I may also be out-of-date on 532-535 vehicle assignments. I encourage corrections, additional discussion and more information.

My real question is which agency initiated the switch? Did Sound Transit independently "go shopping" for operators? And/or did Metro perhaps nudge them in an effort to oust a "misfit route" from East?

 

Some of what I'm going to say is conjecture too but mostly I'm asking questions.  

I believe the 555 and 556 that are peak-hour routes use 40-footers.   There may be some trips on the 541 and 542 that may use 40-footers on some trips  ...?? not sure.  

Is 9200 still in service at East Base?  ...the older NFI low-floor hybrid.  

If so, that would still leave six 40-footers at East Base?  

As far as the agency that initiated the switch, I think it's ST that makes the decisions and not the other way around.  It may be a collaborative effort where ST consults with the three local agencies before decisions are made but from what I understand, "what ST wants, ST gets" and the local agencies accommodate the ST final decisions.  

Why would the 540 be considered a "misfit route" at EB?  

Do you or anybody else know if the 560 is still operated by Pierce Transit?   That was the first ST route that operates entirely within King County but is not run by King County Metro, correct?    ....now that I think about it, it must be as I believe it still uses all 40-footers and I'm almost postive it's not run out of East Base and doubt it's run out of South Base either.

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1 hour ago, roamer said:

I believe the 555 and 556 that are peak-hour routes use 40-footers.   There may be some trips on the 541 and 542 that may use 40-footers on some trips  ...?? not sure. 

555 and 556 are still artic routes.  556 is going away soon; to be replaced by a bidirectional 555 and 554.

1 hour ago, roamer said:

As far as the agency that initiated the switch, I think it's ST that makes the decisions and not the other way around.  It may be a collaborative effort where ST consults with the three local agencies before decisions are made but from what I understand, "what ST wants, ST gets" and the local agencies accommodate the ST final decisions.

I don't think it's so much as a dictatorship as it is negotiations.  They're out to get the lowest rates possible but they're not going to be able to dictate, say, a $20/hour charge since there's no agency or private company that would be willing to work for that rate.  I don't think there's anything stopping ST from negotiating directly with a private agency, and there were certainly musings of that previously with First Transit, effectively cutting out CT as a middleman.  I don't know if FT is capable of doing the VM side of things, and since nothing has changed in almost 20 years I'd assume that's at least part of the reason for staying with CT.

1 hour ago, roamer said:

Do you or anybody else know if the 560 is still operated by Pierce Transit?   That was the first ST route that operates entirely within King County but is not run by King County Metro, correct?    ....now that I think about it, it must be as I believe it still uses all 40-footers and I'm almost postive it's not run out of East Base and doubt it's run out of South Base either.

All Metro-operated ST routes are out of East.  Was it route 560?  I know 577 was reassigned to PT around that time too but can't remember which came first.  I'm almost positive it's been discussed earlier in this thread :D

 

It's not just vehicle operations that PT has underbid Metro on.  When ST bought their first DE60LFRs they were assigned to Metro but PT did the vehicle acceptance.

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7 hours ago, roamer said:

Why would the 540 be considered a "misfit route" at EB?

Because it requires 40-foot Sound Transit buses... the only route at EB that does!  ?

 

6 hours ago, Atomic Taco said:

I don't know if FT is capable of doing the VM side of things, and since nothing has changed in almost 20 years I'd assume that's at least part of the reason for staying with CT.

Interesting!

Help me pencil in some details, here. Does that mean at CT Kasch Park Base, First Transit only supplies the operators... and Community Transit employees perform vehicle maintenance?

 

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