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January 14, 2007
A To B Without A C
A number of my friends have been asking lately about how to get around in Seattle without a car. My colleague Steve made a New Year's resolution to ride the bus more often; more dramatically, Adrian recently sold his ride and is now hoofin' it around the Puget Sound with the aid of Metro.
Now, our transit systems are good for getting around ... provided you know where to look to find routes, connectors, and the like. For a transit geek like me, it's fairly easy ("Oh, we'll just take the 8 up the hill [looks at watch] it should be at Denny and Westlake in about 10 minutes."). For regular Joes and Janes, however, it's a bit more daunting. Hence, a quick rundown of resources and advice:
- If you need to go a mile or less, I strongly advocate walking; it's generally faster than any other option. Humans walk at 3 - 4 mph, which means it'll take you 15 - 20 minutes to get where you're going. The bus isn't going to be that convenient, and, depending on whether or not where you're going has parking (e.g., downtown) and is busy (e.g., a Friday night), a car may be a lousy option. (See also: "What's The Deal With The Walking?")
- If your distance is a bit farther, use a Web-based trip planner to make sense of our transit system. Metro provides a trip planner, but it's a bit cryptic and technical. A much, much better option is Google Transit, which is both way-friendly and makes use of Google Maps' general awesomeness. (See also: "Google Transit Does Seattle").
- If you're a regular commuter, you'll want to make familiarize yourself with MyBus. Basically, most of the buses in Seattle have GPS on-board; the GPS data is collected and vended through a Web service at the UW. This will let you know the true arrival time of a particular bus at a particular bus stop. Go ahead and find your local bus stop in the MyBus system, and then bookmark the page. Before you head out the door in the morning, check the page to see if your bus is running late (or early). (See also: "MyBus + SMS = Crazy Delicious!")
- Assuming you don't have a car of your own, Flexcar is a great option for quick-hit trips around town. Need to go to Costco, or to that dinner party on Mercer Island? Flexcar's a great option. It's cheap (around $9 an hour), all-inclusive (gas + insurance) and carries a small annual fee. (See also: "The Joy Of Flex")
- Finally, let's say you want to get away for the weekend. Enterprise Rent-A-Car often has smokin' deals on the weekends (50% off is not unusual). If you want to go to the ocean or Idaho or something, Enterprise is going to be cheaper than Flexcar. My friend Philip has been using Enterprise for weekend getaways for years, and has an additional tip: if you have homeowner's insurance, it's usually simple to add an inexpensive rider to your policy that covers you in rental-car situations. (Insurance from Enterprise can easily double the cost of the rental.) Worth looking at.
So there you go. If you're trying to kick your automotive habit (or just trying to put some more dollars in your pocket by not driving as much), give a few of these handy options a try. Let me know how it goes!
Posted by Gavin Shearer at January 14, 2007 2:20 PM. Posted to Transit.
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