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Week of Mar. 27, 2006
Metro steps up to the plate to deliver Mariners service
Believe it or not, it’s time again for a little SODO Mojo. The 2006 Seattle Mariners baseball season opens at home next Monday, April 3.
Every year, Metro Transit and the Mariners team up to transport baseball fans to and from the ballpark with a combination of regular bus routes and special shuttles.
For the 2:05 p.m. season opener on Monday, Metro will have plenty of regularly scheduled service near Safeco Field both before and after game. Then, beginning with post-game service on Tuesday, April 4, the Mariners and Metro will offer special shuttles. The fare for special shuttles is $3 each way.
The special shuttles operate post-game only on weeknights, and both before and after weekend games. They travel to and from Safeco Field from 13 outlying park-and-ride lots. There is also a post-game shuttle with a $1 fare that circulates through downtown Seattle on First and Second avenues.
The post-game and weekend shuttles serve the following park-and-ride lots: Northgate; Northgate Transit Center; South Kirkland; South Bellevue; Eastgate; South Renton; Tukwila; Kent Station Transit Center; Kent/James Street; Kent-Des Moines; Star Lake; Federal Way Transit Center; and Federal Way/South 320th. The shuttle also stops after games only on North Mercer Way on Mercer Island, but passengers should be aware the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride is currently closed for construction.
After the game at Safeco Field, the shuttles board in three locations: Occidental Avenue South; Royal Brougham Way; or First Avenue South. Be sure to check in advance where your particular shuttle will be located after the game.
There is no special service for weekday afternoon games. Depending on when the ballgame starts, there are several transit options:
Afternoon games, Monday-Friday: Travel to and from Safeco Field using regular Metro service. There are more than two dozen routes that stop at, or near, the ballpark. Metro’s convenient online Trip Planner allows you to easily research which regular routes will provide the best connection from your home or office to the ballpark. The Trip Planner does not include shuttle service information.
For night games with 7:05 p.m. start times, Monday-Friday: Use regular Metro service to arrive at the ballpark. After the game, there are three choices: use the regular routes; ride the downtown Seattle shuttle; or ride one of the special shuttles that run between Safeco Field and the park-and ride-lots. Those shuttles run only after the weeknight games.
Weekend games: The special park-and-ride shuttles provide service both to and from Safeco Field on weekends, except for Mercer Island, which only has post-game service. The post-game downtown shuttle also operates on weekends. And, there are a variety of regular weekend Metro routes that serve the ballpark. Once again, the Trip Planner is a great way to figure out all the options for regular service.
If bus service doesn’t fit your needs, use Metro’s “Event Match” to find a carpool partner who has tickets to the same game you do. The Rideshare program offers an alternative way to get to the next Mariners game, concert, festival, or any of a hundred special events going on in the Puget Sound area by sharing the ride. Registration is easy; simply visit the Rideshare Online Web page.
Detailed information for all Mariners service is available on the Metro Online website. Or, call (206) 553-3000 (voice) or (206) 684-1739 (TTY).
After five years of detailed review and hard work, King County officially opened the 11-mile East Lake Sammamish Trail last week. The new trail links the cities of Issaquah, Sammamish and Redmond, and ties in to King County's vast public access system for cyclists, walkers and runners. It was a project spearheaded by the county’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks, but the Road Services Division played a key role in getting the trail ready for the public. The Roads Division assisted by: managing the federal grant funds for the project; overseeing the work of several contractors; and inspecting the completed work. The interim trail features split rail fencing, signage, litter stations, pet waste bags and temporary restrooms. The trail surface is constructed of compacted gravel atop the existing rail bed and is not appropriate for thin-tire road bikes or inline skates. The final paved trail will be constructed after the Metropolitan King County Council adopts a master plan and all relevant permits obtained. The master plan is expected to be submitted to the county council in 2006. |
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Last week, King County Executive Ron Sims announced an ambitious goal of increasing the county's use of biodiesel from the current 5 percent mixture to a 20 percent mixture - an increase that is intended to cut pollution, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and encourage growth in the domestic clean-fuel industry. The King County Department of Transportation has been in the forefront in the use of biodiesel in this region. In 2004, Metro Transit began using a biodiesel blend to fuel buses at two of its bases. More recently, the Fleet Administration Division, which oversees the county's general service vehicles and equipment, began using biodiesel in its on-site diesel fueling system. To make the new goal official, Sims signed an executive order committing the county to the increased biodiesel mix, which will result in an annual use of 2.5 million gallons of biofuels in county vehicles. This will make King County the state’s largest purchaser of the environmentally friendly fuel. |
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