The Clipper

Issue date: 1/29/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Jody Hawkins Key: Bus 9=Red, Bus 7=Blue, Bus 19=Green

Students returning for winter quarter are finding some of the buses they relied on in fall no longer exist, others run different routes or have different schedules, and soon, a new batch of changes will be rolling out.

Everett Transit implemented a broad range of efficiency-improving and cost-saving measures on Nov. 29, including eliminating and combining routes, with mixed results.

According to Tom Hingson, director of Everett Transit, many of the changes were made specifically with the college campus in mind, and overall, service to the campus has increased from runs every 20 minutes to every 15.

However, service on the always-crowded 9 North, which runs to the college from Evergreen Way and Broadway Ave., has been cut from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes.

The changes to the 9 came partly as a result of the introduction of Community Transit's Swift service, which runs from the Everett Station to the Aurora Village Transit Center in Shoreline. However, Swift does not directly benefit students who rely on the 9, which ferries more faculty and students to campus than any method besides driving.

On a recent trip to the college on the 9, which was running eleven minutes late, student Bridget Karvonen recounted that on her last attempt to use Everett Transit, one bus had never even shown up, temporarily stranding her and making her late for class.

Everett Transit did add an additional route, the 19, which ferries passengers from Everett Station to College Station, giving students an alternative to waiting for the 9. The 19's departure was
scheduled to coincide with the arrival of another busy bus, the 7, which partly duplicates the 9's route along Evergreen Way.

However, students are apparently not yet all taking advantage of the new option: "Customers are still discovering this and so far the 9 still carries more riders than the 7 but it is slowly evening out," Hingson says.

Complicating the change is the fact that the 7 is often late, causing students to miss connections.

According to Natasha Greb, a student and regular rider of the 9, the buses seem to be running later than ever. They "should try to be more on time," says Greb, who would not recommend Everett Transit to anyone in a hurry.

Continued...

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