News, Transportation

Busdrone Lets You Watch Metro Buses (and More) Move Slowly in Real-Time

Thanks to a commenter at Seattle Transit Blog, we can alert you to the existence of the cheekily-named busdrone, a Google map initially overlaid with Sound Transit’s and King County Metro’s real-time feeds, so you could watch buses beetle about the city for amusement, and possibly travel-related purposes. Now it’s got SLU streetcar and Washington State Ferries, too. Continue reading Busdrone Lets You Watch Metro Buses (and More) Move Slowly in Real-Time

News, Transportation

30% of King County Metro Routes May Disappear in “Bus Rapture”

By mid-2014 — when two temporary funding sources expire — King County Metro will be facing a shortfall of $75 million per year. Metro chief Kevin Desmond said this morning that, without replacement funding, this could mean the termination of up to 30 percent of Metro routes. Continue reading 30% of King County Metro Routes May Disappear in “Bus Rapture”

News, Science

Maybe Seattle’s Dating Scene is as Bad as Women Think It is

We also don’t know, for instance, how many of the MCs were belated responses to an in-person approach, shot down but then regretted once an overactive fight-or-flight response subsided. Google, our age’s final arbiter, pulls no punches either way. Auto-complete for “Why are Seattle men so…?” yields “unfriendly,” “bad,” and “loud.” Continue reading Maybe Seattle’s Dating Scene is as Bad as Women Think It is

News, Transportation

Who Made King County Transit the Tunnel Fall Guy?

What Gregoire, Sims, and Nickels could do was present everyone with a fait accompli: a construction megaproject in midstream, and the promise of gridlock if more funds aren’t made available. Specifically, says Metro chief Kevin Desmond “about 125 daily bus trips and 7,500 daily transit seats will be lost — while tunnel construction and viaduct demolition continues into 2016.” Continue reading Who Made King County Transit the Tunnel Fall Guy?

News, Transportation

WhichBus Real-time Trip Planning Takes the Long Way Around

Seattle’s internecine transit system, with its dearth of system and route maps and schedules, makes this kind of service a necessity. But I can’t advise use of WhichBus for newbies yet. For one thing, there’s no app version available — they’re waiting for Apple approval. Continue reading WhichBus Real-time Trip Planning Takes the Long Way Around

Health, News, Transportation

Ride Free Area’s Door Closes, Free Downtown Circulator Door Opens

On September 29, 2012, there will no longer be a Ride Free Area in downtown Seattle, for passengers of King County Metro. It’s primarily a cost-cutting change to help deal with Metro’s budget woes. Metro can’t afford to forego all those fare dollars from people who might otherwise pay. A new, free “downtown circulator” will assist low-income passengers. Continue reading Ride Free Area’s Door Closes, Free Downtown Circulator Door Opens

News, Transportation

New Trip-Planning App WhichBus Reaches Private Beta

WhichBus approaches the Seattle bus dilemma from a different direction than OBA, which assumes that you know where you are and where you’re going. (You can search out these particulars using OBA, but it’s not as easy as it could be.) WhichBus uses King County Metro’s real-time data to help you solve how to get from A to B. Continue reading New Trip-Planning App WhichBus Reaches Private Beta