Seattle gets nation's first all-electric Vanpool vehicles

OK, so I'm late in posting this up.  You know how life goes.  I received this in my e-mail on August 30 and have been meaning to take the, oh, three minutes to actually post it, but have been a slacker.

Nation’s first all-electric-vehicle commuting program kicks off in Seattle
Metro’s electric-vehicle Metropool program debuts at Seattle Children’s Hospital
The nation’s first electric-vehicle vanpools quietly fired up their engines at Seattle Children’s Hospital today, as four Nissan LEAF cars were added to the commute options for Children’s employees as part of King County’s new “Metropool.”
These electric vehicles are joining King County Metro Transit’s vanpool fleet – the largest public vanpool program in the United States.
“Sharing a ride to work is an environmentally healthy way to commute, and Seattle Children’s employees just got greener by signing up for Metro new electric-vehicle vanpools,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “King County is adding alternative fuel vehicles to its fleet, specifically electric vehicles, to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions.”
Constantine said Metro’s purchase of these cars will enhance what is already one of the cleanest and greenest transit systems in North America. Metro’s Rideshare Operations has committed to purchasing 20 Nissan LEAF vehicles to pilot electric-vehicle technology in a commuter application called “Metropool.” The agency will coordinate the installation of charging stations at major employer sites and multi-modal transportation hubs such as park-and-rides and ferry terminals.
The first phase of the initiative involves Children’s employees using four of the program’s zero-emission cars. ECOtality’s Blink charging stations have been installed on the Children’s campus to support the program.
“Everyday 60 percent of Seattle Children’s staff take alternative commutes to work, many of them in vanpools. Alternative commutes taken by our employees since September of 2009 have kept almost nine million pounds of carbon emissions out of the air,” said Lisa Brandenburg, Chief Administrative Officer at Seattle Children’s. “By adding these zero emission all-electric Nissan LEAF Metropool vehicles to our vanpool program, we will be able to reduce Seattle Children’s carbon footprint even further.”
The LEAF is a 100-percent electric, no gas, no tailpipe, no emissions vehicle with an estimated driving range of 100 miles on a single charge. It seats five people.

"If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!"

In the summer of 2000, I took a month-long vacation.  On the first day, I stopped off in Eugene, OR to meet up with a gal I met online for lunch at the Saturday Market and a bike ride.  She had a sticker on her bike's rear rack with the quote in the title.

Last night, my wife had the video below show up on her Facebook feed:




The video's ending statement got me thinking.  When it comes to our environment; the effects of our dependence on oil and our problems with pollution, we focus on cars (or our use of them) as the cause of the problem.  Simply stopping driving is not going to solve the problem.  It will not magically plug the well that's shooting oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  It won't heal or bring back all the marine and avian life destroyed by the spill.  It will help lessen the need for the gas and motor oil and tar for roadways that comes from this oil.  What of commercial farming that depends so much on petroleum and its by-products for fertilizers (not to mention to fuel tractors for working the farms and trucks to get the goods to market)?  What of fishing industries that need to fuel their fleets of boats to bring in their catches?  What of our use of plastics and other products made from that same petroleum that we use and dispose without a second thought.

Are we really paying attention?

Are we outraged yet? 

More importantly, what are we going to do?

Being aware is good and being moved is better, but without action, they are pretty impotent.

Bikes for Books!

Saw this post yesterday on Publicola.  The Fremont branch of the Seattle Public Library (sponsored by the Fremont Doric Masonic Lodge #2)  is running a contest to get kids to read more.  For every three books a child (grades 1 - 3) reads, his or her name is entered in a drawing for a free bike, lock and helmet.  The drawing will be held on June 5, with one boy and one girl winning. 


I think that this is an awesome encouragement to get kids reading, and what better way to start off the summer than with a new bike!

Community Transit cuts service, raises fares

So, if we wanted to take the bus to see, say my sister and her family on a sunny summer Sunday this year, we'd be out of luck.

Community Transit, the transit system that serves Snohomish County, is implementing service changes that will cut routes and services beginning in June.  Some key points of the plan:

• Increase fares 25 cents across the board
• Suspend Sunday and holiday service on all routes
• Reduce frequency of many routes, including reducing some routes to two round-trips daily!
• Start and end many routes at park & ride lots, rather than on city streets
• Cut routes, including many that have alternative transit options, or duplicate existing service
• Provide $50,000 to local agencies to provide transportation assistance to those in need.

 According to the information that Community Transit has provided (linked above), this is in response to a budgetary shortfall, a pretty common problem across all transit systems these days.  They also state that they have been trying to avoid service cuts such as these for over two years.

To me, the cuts will not help the overall health of the transit system.  It will impact many who can least afford the impact.  There are people out there who use the bus to get to work on the weekends.  In fact, many in service jobs (which are traditionally are not very high paying jobs) work on weekends.  Not all of these people have a car or can afford one. 

They are also forcing more cars onto the roads at a time when our roadways are becoming more and more choked with traffic.  An early morning run to Boeing is being cut.  What are the workers who ride that bus going to do?  They'll have to either form vanpools (not always an easy thing to coordinate) or drive themselves.

A quote from another news item about these changes:

“In my 18 years as an elected official, this is the hardest vote I’ve ever had to take,” said board member and Lynnwood City Council President Ted Hikel. “I don’t know anyone on this board or this staff who likes this, but there are realities out there – there just isn’t any money.”

As much as I dislike this news, and think it will only serve to hurt lower-income users of the system, as well as force more people back into their cars, the Frequently Asked Questions make it clear that the board looked hard at alternatives before settling on this as a means to reduce their operating losses.  With much of the funding for transit coming out of taxes, the options available are limited without legislative action, and in the current economic climate, anything to eek out more funding through taxes and fees is a hard sell.

ACTION NEEDED - Vulnerable User-friendly language in bill before the Senate

I received this from Dave Hiller at the Cascade Bicycle Club today:

Dear Mark,

Two weeks ago, we watched as the Vulnerable Roadway User Bill died on the Senate calendar. Today, however, hope is alive. SB 5838 may be officially dead, but the law's language is being kept alive as an amendment to HB 3001.

Lawmakers from every corner of the state need to know you care about this issue.

Tomorrow at 5pm is the final cutoff in Olympia in this year's short legislative session. It's our last chance to pass HB 3001. Developed by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, the bill expands bike and pedestrian safety education in traffic schools for bad drivers. It also includes our Vulnerable User Bill in an amendment.

Please call 1-800-562-6000 today. Ask your senator to vote for House Bill 3001. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the house - let's not let it die, too.

It's too late for an email. Please take a minute to call the legislative hotline and leave this message: "Senator, please support House Bill 3001 and the leadership amendment."

Cascade Bicycle Club is in Olympia, working hard to build support for the HB 3001. We need your help today to get it passed.

Thank you,

Please call the legislative hotline at the number above and encourage your legislators to support the bill AND amendment. It is important to encourage both the Senate and the House to support this bill. If the bill passes in an amended state, it will go back to the House for approval, and the House members need to know how you feel.

Vulnerable user bill dies without Senate vote

Tuesday, February 16, was the cutoff for bills to be passed out of their house of origin.  SB 5838 never made it to a vote of the full Senate.  It looks like next year Cascade Bicycle Club, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and concerned roadway users will have to take it up again.

On a better note, SB 6302, a bill that would have violated federal funding for the I-90 floating bridge by prohibiting light or other fixed rail transit across it, died in committee this year.

Update on the Vulnerable Users' bill

Yesterday we received a response from Senator Joe McDermott, the sponsor of SB 5838, to our letter of support for the bill.  It appears that the bill is on the fringe of moving from committee to the Senate floor for action.

Vulnerable user bill in committee January 26

The 2010 Legislative session is underway and Senate Bill 5838 (the Vulnerable User's bill) has been reintroduced by resolution and referred to the Senate Judicial Committee. The bill is scheduled to be heard by the committee on Tuesday, January 26. I've not been able to find details from the Legislature's web site the time when they will be meeting on Tuesday. It will be in one of the hearing rooms in the John A. Cherberg building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia.

From Dave Hiller's quote in this Publicola post, it looks like there's a chance at a majority yes vote on this bill this time around.

If you want to see this bill advance and possibly get heard on the floor, contact the members of the committee soon!

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are:
Adam Kline
Debbie Regala
Bob McCaslin
Mike Carrell
Randy Gordon
James Hargrove
Jeanne Kohl-Welles
Pam Roach

The web page for each member liked above has a link with which you can send e-mail to the member, or you can look up their e-mail addresses here and send an e-mail to them directly.

Help pass a Vulnerable User law in Washington!

Cascade Bicycle Club Traffic Justice Summit – Wednesday, October 14 2009, Seattle City Hall

In 2007, the Oregon State Legislature passed the “Vulnerable User” law. In a nutshell, what this law does is to strengthen the penalties against motor vehicle operators found to be at fault in accidents involving “vulnerable users” (pedestrians and cyclists). As we all know, in accidents involving these parties, physics dictates that the motor vehicle will win, and the penalty is high to the loser. Legal codes in Oregon were, as they currently are in many other states, similarly slanted to the favor of the motor vehicle operator. The Vulnerable User law changed that in Oregon by assessing criminal penalties to the at-fault driver when an accident results in severe injury or the death of a vulnerable roadway user (pedestrian or cyclist).

Last legislative session, Cascade Bicycle Club, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and others tried to bring similar change, legal parity and justice to Washington with Senate Bill 5838. The bill never made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In legislative lingo, it “died in committee.” Fortunately, since our legislature is a biennial legislature, any bill that dies in the first year of the legislature, isn’t really dead. When the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate convene the 2010 legislative session, the bill will be revived.

Now is the time to begin planning and working to get Senate Bill 5838 passed and into law.

What you can do:
· Attend the Traffic Justice Summit on Wednesday, October 14 at Seattle City Hall. If you are unable to attend, I’m told that the summit will be aired on the Seattle Channel and available online.
· Know your legislative delegation
· Know who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee
· Call and write your legislative delegation as well as members of the Judiciary committees and encourage them to support this bill. The Legislative hotline can be reached at: 1-800-562-6000.

New digs and up-coming commute change

I've grumped a bit about my current commute. Well, it's not going to get much better as far as timing. However, there will the possibility for more variety. Come November, Maurie and I will bid farewell to downtown living and move to West Seattle. We'll be very close to Alki beach, with it's wonderful activity and bike path. I'll still need to get into downtown to catch the shuttle to the office, but I can bike to downtown, take the bus, or get to the water taxi and take that across the bay!

Another nice thing, we'll have the kayaks at home again, and with a set of wheels for the boats, we can just roll them down to the beach and shove off! How nice is that?!

Well, that's all for now!

My new job...an adventure in transit

I started a new job yesterday. I'm now working the help desk for a health care organization. When I was called to come in for an interview, I was excited. I mean, the organization has the naming rights to a velodrome, they sponsor a women's cycling team for women on staff, and they have been sponsors of Bike to Work day here in Seattle. What better place for a cycling nut?

For all that, cycling access to the administrative campus is pretty lacking. Sure, there's the Green River Trail, which lets out onto Interurban Ave about a mile away. But that mile from the trail to the office, is along a narrow, winding road, that just happens to lose any sidewalks for about half a mile, and all shoulder for about 200-300 yards...around a curve. I watched several tractor-trailer combos rubmle down this road yesterday. So, that's out...

So, if I don't want to drive myself, that leaves transit or carpool/vanpool. Metro has an agreement with my employer to allow use of buses bound for South Base as a shuttle. These run quite frequently, until just before 8 am. My shift starts at 9, so taking a shuttle puts me there 30-45 minutes early! That's the most reasonable transit option, timing wise. Since my shift ends at 6, coming home looks to be worse. The last shuttle to Seattle leaves at 5:30. I can walk 1.3 miles to a Park & Ride and catch the 150 to downtown. I did that yesterday and got home at 7:15 (after leaving the office at 6:02). Or, I could wait 25+ minutes for a bus to the Rainier Beach Link station, and take the train. This will get me home, oh, about 7:15.

What's aggrivating to me, is when the Link was put in, it was routed along the south end of Boeing Field, and then south to Tukwila International Blvd., along an industrial corridor with scattered office complexes. From Rainier Beach to Tukwilia International, there are no stops. None to service Boeing (I mean come on, one of the region's major employers, and Sound Transit couldn't have put a station in for them?); not further down East Marginal Way for other businesses!

So, now I'm left with adventures in transit to get home

Bikeshare demo in Seattle

Last week, we walked down to the South Lake Union Discovery Center to check out the Bikeshare demo being put on by Metro.

I'm really very excited about the prospect of a bikeshare in Seattle. I've seen a lot about the City Bike program in Copenhagen and Vélib in Paris. In the past couple of years, we've started to see these programs start up in the US.

At today's demo were three systems (I guess that's what you'd call them): B-Cycle, Bixi, and the Bikeshare Program. Each of the systems has an "open cockpit design" bike which can be checked out for point-to-point, or round-trip travel. Fare structure would be set by the "owner" of the program. In the case of Seattle by Metro and the city.

Looking at the bikes, I was most impressed with the B-Cycle bikes, followed closely by the Bixi bikes (I preferred B-Cycle's closed basket, and liked the handlebars better than Bixi's). The Bike Share Group's system has a more protected storage mechanism than the others. It shows that they are the local guys, knowing how bikes need a little more protection from the elements in our damp Northwest weather. This means that their bikes have more points of adjustment to get the bike ready to ride. This is both a benefit and a drawback. It's a benefit in that you can adjust the bike to better suit your size (by adjusting both seat and handlebar height), whereas the others only allow for the seat adjustment. The drawback lies in that there's more to do to get the bike ready to ride. All bikes are equipped with fenders and lights that are powered by a dynamo hub. Bixi and B-Cycle have spoke guards that allow riders to wear long coats or skirts without worrying about them getting caught up in spokes.

I can see a bike share being a wonderful addition to our growing list of transportation options. It would be great to see bikes stationed near transit stations as well as downtown. Even though I will often bike places, I can see using such a system when I've started out by foot or transit, but decide I'd like to ride somewhere a bit out of the way of the transit line I'm using.

With the hills in Seattle, a key to making this really work will be to ensure that bikes don't end up all at the bottom of the hills. Paris has a crew that is constantly redistributing bikes to ensure that there's sufficient availability. Seattle will have to mimic this sort of arrangement. Another thing that will need to happen is a repeal of the mandatory helmet law in Seattle. The target market for bike shares (tourists, casual riders, and those who wouldn't ordinarily ride) are not likely to have a bike helmet with them, and the idea of sharing a helmet from a communal pool is not too sanitary. Mandatory helmet laws are said to be a barrier to people cycling, and it certainly would be a barrier in the community embracing a bike share in Seattle.

Successful Link Opening Weekend

Well, I've still not ridden the new Link light rail in Seattle, so I don't have much I can say about it. However, on Sunday as we headed to the coast for day relaxing on the beach, we did see a couple of trains running along I5 (one north-bound, one south-bound) and both looked packed to standing room only. It may have been a weekend of free rides, but it looked promising. Reports are 92,000 riders over the weekend. I've still not seen ridership reports for Monday, but I'm confident that while reports are that they were low, that they'll grow as we get used to having light rail, and development happens around the lines, we'll see those numbers go up.

Seattle Tranit Blog has been all over opening weekend, and is following the latest on it.

Opening Weekend for Link

In case you've missed it (and if you live in or around Seattle, I'm not sure how you could have), The Link light rail line from downtown to the airport will open on Saturday. Sound Transit has details on the opening here. The folks over at Seattle Transit Blog have been counting the days to this, and I have to say that Ben and company really seem ready to party as a result of the long-awaited opening.

There will be free rides all weekend. Be prepared for long lines and crowded platforms and trains all weekend. Also, there are no round-trip rides. To give everyone a chance to ride, once you get to one end, you have to get off the train and get back in line. There will also be shuttles running the route if you don't want to wait in line again.

Personally, I think I'll be waiting to take my ride on Link until after the festivities

King County Water Taxi ridership record

Yesterday on the shuttle to the Overlake Transit Center, I heard that the King County Water Taxi set a new ridership record for June. Total passengers transported by the service in June were 33,865. This is up 12% from the 30,046 passengers carried in June 2008.

The newsbit on the radio attributed the increase to people coming from West Seattle for Mariner's games. OK, so I can understand wanting to avoid the traffic and parking near Safeco Field, but is that really the reason? How about it's a great way to get to and from West Seattle from Downtown (or is it the other way around?)

So far, the service has carried 85,784 passengers. Not bad for three month's worth of service.

Next year, the Water Taxi will begin running year-round.

Click for Schedules for the Water Taxi.

You can take your bike on the Water Taxi for no additional charge.

There are also free Shuttles from the West Seattle dock to Alki, the West Seattle Park & Ride, and West Seattle Junction (among other stops).

Veer, the movie Thursday, June 25 @ Columbia City Cinema

I'm excited about this! The evening of Thursday, June 25 Cascade Bicycle Club is hosting two viewings of Veer, the movie. Showings are at 6:30 and 9:00 PM. In between showings (at 8:30) is a talk with the film maker (Greg Fredette), David Hiller (Advocacy Director at Cascade Bicycle Club) and others.

The viewing is a fundraiser for Cascade's Major Taylor Project.

Here's the trailer for the movie:




More details on the Calendar at Cascade Bicycle Club's website.

There is a bike check next door to the cinema for $3. Ride your bike or take the bus (Metro's #7 goes there from downtown).

Coming events - Week of May 18, 2009

A couple of events are happening this week that you may be interested in.

Intro to Bike Commuting: It's how we roll
This is a free class offered by the Cascade Bicycle Club to help you get ready to begin commuting by bicycle. Covers traffic laws, basic equipment and strategies for commuting.
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 from Noon to 1 PM
Location: King County Chinook Building, 401 5th Ave, Seattle 98104, Rm 123
Website: http://www.cbcef.org/bike-commuting-resources.html

Ride of Silence
Free lesiurely ride in honor/memoriam of those injured or killed cycling. This is a slow-paced ride in which riders are to keep together. Black or red arm bands are encouraged, as is spreading the word through facebook, twitter and other social media.
Seattle ride info:
Date/Time: Wednesday May 20, 2009 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM
Location: Gasworks Park
Cascade Bicycle Club link & ride info: http://cascade.org/EandR/Activities_Calendar_Detail.cfm?eventID=12267
Main Ride of Silence Website (contains information for national rides): http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php

Opening day for the Water Taxi

Travelling to West Seattle from the waterfront is about to get easier again. The Water Taxi will start its season on Sunday, April 5.

All day on Sunday, you can ride for free between downtown and West Seattle. There will be music and events at Seacrest Park from noon until 2:00 pm, give aways, a drawing for an Argosy cruise, and an opportunity to meet the King County Ferry District board (as well as neighbors and local business owners).

The service is being re-branded as the King County Water Taxi, instead of keeping the Elliot Bay Water Taxi name.

More information can be found at: http://metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/water-taxi/kcwt.html.

Don't miss the boat on Sunday!

Surfin' while I'm ridin'

On Tuesday morning as I boarded the 545 to go to work I noticed a logo next to the door. Apparently, my bus had WiFi access.

In five trips since I noticed the logo, only once has there not been WiFi access (twice the bus hasn't had the logo, once it did have wireless, once it didn't.

Sound Transit has started a pilot project to provide WiFi on select express routes and on the Sounder. According to the web page about the pilot, the most common routes to find WiFi are the 545, 522, and 577.

I've got to say, it's a nice addition to the commute. I'm sure many of my fellow riders appreciate it too, given the number of laptops I often see open each ride!

Community Transit in Snohomish county has been offering the service since Autumn 2005 (see the press release here)

Bicycling: A Sustainable Choice

Attention all bicycling enthusiasts!

Friday, February 27, 2009 at the Seattle Central Library downtown Cascade Bicycle Club is hosting the next in their presentation series.

The event will be from noon to 1 PM in the Microsoft Auditorium.
The speaker will be Niels Tørsløv--Director, Traffic Department Technical and Environmental Administration for the City of Copenhagen

More details can be found here.

This is one not to miss for a glimpse at what we can do to promote cycling in our city.