[NFBSea] Seattle Transit Advisory Board meeting

[Marci Carpenter]

Hi everyone,

Great discussion today at the chapter meeting about our transit issues! ! As noted at the meeting it would be great to have some members speak during the Public Comment period at the Seattle Transit Advisory Board meeting this Wednesday, August 22. This meeting takes place from 6 pm-7:30 pm at Seattle City Hall in room L280 (the Boards and Commissions room) located on floor L2. The address is 600 4th Ave. but you can also enter from 5th Ave. 

There is only 5 minutes on the agenda for public comment, primarily because people seldom show up to comment. The comment period can be extended if several people want to speak. There is a sign-up sheet so the co-chairs know how many people wish to speak. You can get sign-up assistance from Ben Smith, the City staff liaison to the board. I would recommend keeping individual comments to 1 minute each. For this board I think it would be good to emphasize needed service improvements/additions to bus service in Seattle. This board has oversight and recommendation responsibilities for the $45 million a year that the city uses to buy more service from Metro Transit. A lot of new service and additional routes and runs have been added over the last few years but much more is needed. Some examples people have mentioned include more service during off-peak hours to Ballard and later night service to many areas. The City money can be used to improve routes which have 65% of their stops within City limits. 

I am one of 12 Transit advisory Board members. This is a pro-transit board. We don’t have jurisdiction over day-to-day Metro operations. Below are some links if you want to dive deeper into this program. At the bottom of this email is a link to the transit Board webpage where you can keep up with what is going on and sign up for our email list. I have not tested that link so please let me know if there are accessibility issues.

The doors to City Hall are locked at 6 pm so it is best to show up a little earlier. If you arrive after 6 pm there are security staff who can still let you in. They work on the 5th Ave. side of the building.

I am really glad to have other blind people there to help advocate for needed service. Contact me if you have any questions.

Marci Carpenter
206-604-5507
mjc59 at comcast.net

https://www.kingcounty.gov/elected/executive/constantine/news/release/2018/July/25-metro-service-amazon-seattle.aspx

https://seattle.curbed.com/2018/7/30/17631238/seattle-bus-service-expansion-amazon

http://council.seattle.gov/2018/06/26/changes-to-the-seattle-transportation-benefit-district-and-what-it-means-for-your-commute/

https://www.seattle.gov/transit-advisory-board