By the Wanz

            HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!!

I know that this is a particular truth for those readers in the Puget Sound Area cause there’s been actual WARMTH and a little dash of something called SUNSHINE outside lately!  WOO!!

So if you’re reading this today, you may momentarily stop, and ponder “Why is this being posted on a Sunday?!” And the reason, I start working on Monday. (RIP Funemploymnet.) And I start work in… San Francisco!

Yes, as I’ve already noted, this month I transition from Tacoma, Washington to the San Francisco Bay Area (cue: screaming applause). This means that Bandito Betty will be holding down the fort up in Washington while I report the transitfulness of the Bay. There will be some new kinds of posts coming soon, so be on the look out for those.

            So, for my ode to the Puget Sound Area, I’m giving you my goodbye review / rant of the public transit system for Metro, Sound, and Pierce Transit. Certain transit lines offer more to review-rant (rev-rant?) about because of the kinds of services they offer (i.e.: Sound Transit has the lightrail, the Buses, and the commuter train).

             Rapid Transit is not reviewed because I never really rode it, but I’m sure one day I’ll have a chance to complain about it. And the busline to Olympia can be damned, because it stopped accepting my Orca Card, so I rejected it from my heart. (#scorned.)

            So let’s get this rantful review started!!

            All in all, traveling on Metro, I always get where I needed to go and there’s usually a number of buses available to get me multiple places. The timeliness of Metro is a double-edged sword; there is conveniently a shit ton of buses running, but there’s a lack of accuracy to them. Buses arrive too early for my bus-system or even horribly late. (My almost flawless technique of catching the bus on time was frequently challenged by Metro.)

            Metro is sorta dirty and a little sketch. I remember sometime during my first months working up in Seattle, I saw a girl get ambushed and mugged by two girls and she lost her iPod. And the bus Driver was just like “eh, whatever” and drove off (minus the words, his gestures and silence spoke volumes). This shouldn’t reflect all drivers. The bus drivers are hit or miss. Sometimes they were very caring, but other times, the driver does not give a single flying fuck about some of the passengers, cleanliness, how they drive, etc.

            And cleanliness was just… absent.

            Metro gets 2 out of 5 Proof of Payment Stars. It’s dirty, not super safe, hit or miss with the bus drivers, but at least there were a lot of lines and you could get where you needed to go in Seattle. Getting where you need to be, kinda important.

            (I must separate my eternal annoyance with long commuting with this review/rant, since I was commuting between Tacoma and Seattle for like 2 years.)

            Aside from the 590, 592, 593, 594, and the occasional trip on the 595, I took Sound Transit a few times to other cities around the Puget Sound Areas. (Definitely took an Issaquah trip, ventured to SeaTac, meandered to Auburn, even up to Snohomish.) The drivers are typically really nice, they got me to my destination, and they even maneuver through traffic and haul major ass on i5 (which I very much appreciated).

            Pricing-wise though, it is a little expensive—ESPECIALLY when they stopped accepting transfers for those who paid in cash because of the Orca cards. Now, that’s another major complaint, since you can only use transfers if you had an ORCA card, but those with cash can’t. Just kinda feels like a douche-bag move. Understandable why it was done, in order to make a push for the use ORCA cards, but for those who like bill-to-bill, or were visiting the area, or any other reason, that’s just uncool.

            (And yes, I did have an ORCA card, but it was paid by work, so I never paid for the $90 monthly passes. Though this may be more of an ORCA card rant than a Sound transit rant… oops! That’s right, I’m gonna rant-review-anger-rate them anyways. ORCA, you get a 1 out of 5 Proof of Payment Stars in my book! Now, re-routing rant.) Anyways, Sound Transit is pricy and ORCA didn’t help.

            The buses themselves are very clean. Buses run very regularly. The one to the airport almost runs throughout the night. The commuter train is cool, but it’d be great if it ran more frequently than it did. And, lastly, there are the two lightrail systems. *sigh* The Seattle lightrail is great, gets/connects Downtown Seattlers with south Seattle (most specifically, the airport), and it did it at a quick pace. It covers a lot of area. Now, the Tacoma lightrail is free, probably because people wouldn’t pay to go from Downtown Tacoma to only 1.6 miles away to the Tacoma Dome Station. (I accidentally capped that last sentence and rewrote it, but my anger definitely subconsciously slipped into my typing.) Does “pointless” and “ridiculous” summarize the idioticness of the t-town lightrail? Nay… justice hath not been served by pointless and ridiculous.

            Sound Transit gets 4 out of 5 Proof of Payment Sars! Great drivers, clean buses, plentiful routes, with bad pricing and one awesome lightrail system and a joke of a lightrail system. Good job!! J

            Then came the great fire that destroyed a natural fuel gas tank right before the major bus cuts/re-routes of 2011.

            For those who are unfamiliar with this event, hereis a news article explaining what occurred with the explosion. As an outcome of this accident, Pierce Transit was forced to have limited usage and to borrow vehicles from Sound Transit. I still theorize that this fire was set by Pierce Transit themselves, to make their future cuts/re-routes appear to be less shitty. This limited bus schedule resulted in overcrowded buses, confused schedules, SOL passengers, and PO’d drivers.

            From this, we transitioned into the proposed route cuts and re-routing of nearly all bus lines, which left riders without ways of getting home passed 10pm. :\ It was slightly readjusted over time, cutting more routes, extending the time and change the frequency for certain lines, but not very well. Suddenly, commuting in Tacoma became the hugest pain in my ass. Walking seemed like a better fiscal and life choice than the over priced buses in Tacoma.

            The buses are decent in regards to cleanliness, though sometimes seats were broken, smelly, or messes were made. (But it’s a bus, those happen.)

            HOWEVER, their drivers majorly redeem services for Pierce Transit. Their drivers are by far some of the most friendly, concerned, and customer-orientated drivers I’ve ever had! I remember my favorite route-one driver, who was a “take-no-shit-from-anyone” would always welcome me with a smile, check in on me, noted how I lost weight (hella swoll) and would always honk as she passed me to wave goodbye to me. (Right?!) It is a common trend. Or if drivers notice issues or harassment on the bus, they stop the bus and address it. They clearly care… well, most. There’s always room for exceptions, but for the most part, drivers remember the riders and express a genuine concern. Shitty routes aside, they helped and did their best with the transition of the limited usage and the cuts/re-routes.

            All in all, Pierce transit gets 2 2/3 out of 5 Proof of Payment Stars! Bad prices, ok buses, bad routes/times, but phenomenal drivers.

That’s ALL for you commuters in Tacoma / Seattle / all the places nearby (*ahem* except Olympia). You will be missed and frequently visited!! My ORCA card hath been retired for a CLIPPER card (yay area) since I left my heart in San Francisco, but my liver will always be left in Tacoma.

Feel like you disagree with my ratings? Feel like I should give Olympia a chance? Maybe have some insight into Rapid Transit? Well, like always, I scoff with doubt and say prove it. Follow us!! On the internet. I dare ya. And leave us a comment! JShare your experience on our blog or our twitter account at http://twitter.com/LifeInTransitTJor on our facebook at http://www.facebook.coom/lifeintransittjor send us an email at [email protected] we may post your message / picture!!