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Join the debate on eliminating the Free Ride Area

Photo courtesy of King County Department of Transportation
The King County Council recently voted to pass a two-year, $20 vehicle license fee to preserve Metro bus service. Part of the deal was an agreement to phase out the downtown Seattle bus Ride Free Area, which costs the county around $2 million a year, according to online news site PubliCola. It has a debate between Real Change Executive Director Tim Harris and Downtown Seattle Association Vice President Jon Scholes (with environmentalist and SeattleScape blogger Roger Valdez) on eliminating the Free Ride Area. Do you think it should be eliminated or saved?

This entry was posted by Lynn on Friday, August 19th, 2011 at 11:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Matt the Engineer

    It’s unfortunate they chose Tim Harris as the proponent in that debate. The poor certainly benefit form the RFA, but that argument misses the business case. The RFA is the best marketing tool our bus system can have. Countless coworkers of mine have been introduced to buses in Seattle because it’s free and easy to get around. Have a meeting across town, a bit too far to walk? The entire team jumps on a bus. How many of these coworkers would have never considered the bus as a commute option until they rode it around town with their coworkers? We have very high ridership in our region, and I attribute part of that to the RFA.

    There are other benefits as well. The largest secondary benefit is limited curb capacity downtown. Much of savings that Metro attributes to removing the RFA comes from removing the “pay as you leave” system. But that system makes loading downtown much faster, leaving the fumbling-for-change to the easier stops out in residential neighborhoods. Stops like 3rd and Pine and the tunnel stops are already at capacity for buses, and the slowdown that will be caused by people hunting for change will surely slow down the entire bus system. The ORCA card helps this, but people still spend time looking for their ORCA card, and many still use change.

  • batty

    Wow, I think Matt rides completely different busses than I do in downtown. I am glad the RFA is going away, I’m tired of sharing the bus with drunks, bums and scofflaws who ride around for free. If Matt is an engineer, then he and his co-workers can easily afford to ride the bus and stop mooching off the taxpayers as well.

  • Matt the Engineer

    Or we’ll take taxis, which are cheaper and take credit cards. $2.50 each way per person for a one mile ride for 4 people, that doesn’t pick up or drop off exactly where you want to go? No thanks. Of course there goes your introduction of potential commuters to our bus system.

    I commute by bus daily in the winter. Homeless people are not a significant problem on Seattle buses. And ending the RFA to stop the homeless from riding makes about as much sense as ending the free direction on the ferries for that reason. If they’re really sponging free rides out to the neighborhoods, then how do they get home?

    I think your real problem is sharing a bus with people you don’t like. The man that could use a shower and some deoderant. The woman that’s very drunk at 11am. The teenagers swearing at eachother loudly. They’ll all still be there when the RFA is gone – they still need a ride home.

  • Jesse

    Another great benefit is for tourists to our city. Portland has areas that are free ride to and from locations near hotels. This is a great way for people to see the city without having to rent a car and drive in a city they do not know.

  • SuburbanSam

    If it’s free only in downtown Seattle, why should those in King County have to foot the bill? I don’t see free bus service in downtown Renton, Federal Way, etc. Let those in Seattle pay for it.

  • Matt the Engineer

    [Sam] Cost to suburban KC riders: nothing (RFA uses unused capacity on existing buses). Benefit to KC riders: not having to wait for people to line up and pay downtown, which slows the bus behind you, etc. They actually aren’t quite sure how they’ll be able to keep existing capacity in the tunnel without a RFA.

    It’s true that KC estimates they lose money in the deal, but they’re really talking about lost revenue – the money they think people will pay once they charge. We’ll see how much actually gets collected, versus people just walking or taking a cab.

  • Sly

    Eliminating the RFA is a gift to taxi companies. It will probably also reduce shopping during the day. When I worked downtown I commuted by bus, and if I wanted to run a quick errand downtown I would just hop the bus. Walking took too much time during the lunch hour. Those who commute by car wouldn’t have a bus pass, and if there’s no ride free they will either take a taxi to meetings (as mentioned above) or just skip the shopping.

    And tourists are more likely to take a chance on the bus if it’s free. I’ve always thought the RFA was a competitive advantage for Seattle. I really don’t see much of the “lost” revenue being captured. Not many people will pay $2.50 to ride a few blocks.

  • Ben

    How about a reduced fare in the RFA? Could be 50 cents or a buck. Seems like that wouldn’t overburden those taking short trips, would generate additional revenue and would discourage some of the problem makers from jumping on the bus.

  • Matt the Engineer

    [Ben] That would be ideal. I’d actually love to see distance-based fares throughout the system. The trick is actually implementing this. How does a bus driver know if you’re really hopping on and off at the 50 cent area? I think the answer lies in ORCA card payment and GPS. I believe Metro will be rolling out GPS in buses soon, and if we can connect the two systems then in theory your ORCA card could charge you based on how far you’ve ridden. Then short downtown trips would become price competitive, and really long trips to the far suburbs would start paying for all of the travel time and fuel.

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