Email sent to Metro King County
This is an email sent to customer.comments@kingcounty.gov:
This morning my partner was trying to catch the 60 bus from S Massachusetts St/14th Ave S northbound (N Beacon Hill). There have been some issues with the 36 in the past which he normally rides, but he needed to work at an alternate location on Capitol Hill. So, he needed 60. One Bus Away reported that ALL of the 60 buses were running 20-30 minutes delays (with 36's on-time). He said there were many people stranded at the bus stop waiting on the 60 as well. He ended up needing to take my car to get to work on-time leaving me stranded now when I get home this evening.
Why were there no alerts? I searched the web site and other communications channels, but there were no alerts that I could find. I even checked your blog, but there was no information there as well including a late morning update that claims, "Metro’s Friday AM commute has ended with no significant delays or disruptions in transit service to report."
My partner needs to travel to Queen Anne everyday and is constantly frustrated with Metro with their lack of communications, poor service or poor security and disruptions with bus service.
I submitted an inquiry on your website, but was disappointed after I submitted it you notified me it could take up to 15 business days for a response.
When I've tried to call your main number, I've never been able to speak to a person.
I ride the ST 550 daily and I've never seen an alert about major delays (30+ minutes) when they happen.
I know many things happen outside of your control that impact your bus routes. Communications to your riders is under your control and you consistently fail to deliver important information to them over and over again. If we had better communications we could better plan around those incidents to minimize the impact to us.
Is there a plan to mitigate these communication problems? If not, you will continue to alienate the very ridership you depend on.
This morning my partner was trying to catch the 60 bus from S Massachusetts St/14th Ave S northbound (N Beacon Hill). There have been some issues with the 36 in the past which he normally rides, but he needed to work at an alternate location on Capitol Hill. So, he needed 60. One Bus Away reported that ALL of the 60 buses were running 20-30 minutes delays (with 36's on-time). He said there were many people stranded at the bus stop waiting on the 60 as well. He ended up needing to take my car to get to work on-time leaving me stranded now when I get home this evening.
Why were there no alerts? I searched the web site and other communications channels, but there were no alerts that I could find. I even checked your blog, but there was no information there as well including a late morning update that claims, "Metro’s Friday AM commute has ended with no significant delays or disruptions in transit service to report."
My partner needs to travel to Queen Anne everyday and is constantly frustrated with Metro with their lack of communications, poor service or poor security and disruptions with bus service.
I submitted an inquiry on your website, but was disappointed after I submitted it you notified me it could take up to 15 business days for a response.
When I've tried to call your main number, I've never been able to speak to a person.
I ride the ST 550 daily and I've never seen an alert about major delays (30+ minutes) when they happen.
I know many things happen outside of your control that impact your bus routes. Communications to your riders is under your control and you consistently fail to deliver important information to them over and over again. If we had better communications we could better plan around those incidents to minimize the impact to us.
Is there a plan to mitigate these communication problems? If not, you will continue to alienate the very ridership you depend on.