Via Twitter, LiveJournal, and various news sources

Police were called to the Greyhound bus station at 8th and Stewart with reports that the media was inciting unhappy Greyhound passengers after service was called earlier tonight. Police and Greyhound staff eventually calmed passengers down.

Police have been called to the Sounder station downtown after the southbound to Tacoma train carrying Seahawks fans became stuck and had to return to the station. Police are waiting to calm down the angry passengers.

Many SeaTac passengers are stranded after Alaska and Horizon air had to cancel the rest of their flights after running out of deicer. Rumor has it that SeaTac will close until Tuesday, but that rumor has yet to be proven. Seattlites across the country are stranded at other airports due to weather conditions, flight cancellations and problems at SeaTac.

Taxi service is sporadic or unavailable.

Metro continues to have sporadic service due to weather conditions.

If you go anywhere, try to have a contingency plan in case you can’t return. Keep warm blankets in your car for example, or plan on having somewhere to stay near your destination. Be patient. Things should start returning to normal sometime Monday evening or Tuesday, but could take a few days to really get going again.

Forecasting the weather in Seattle can be a tough job. The National Weather Service (used by King5, Weather.com, and other local weather experts) only had a 75% accuracy rating last year, whereas Forecast Watch (which tracks statistical accuracy of weather forecasts all over the country) has an 80% accuracy rate, still not completely reliable when you consider that 1 out of every 5 forecasts is inaccurate.

Weather Prediction Accuracy

Most of the time, that inaccuracy doesn’t affect the general population much. Forecasters might say it will rain when it doesn’t, or predict warmer temperatures but instead we find cooler temperatures. Occasionally though, a weather situation will be predicted and the more unusual the prediction is, the higher we tend to set our expectations, and the more disappointed we will be when those initial predictions do not become reality.

Yesterday in the blogsophere, I saw post after post from people who were disappointed and in some cases, angry. “The Weather People Need to be Punched in the Neck“, “F**k you, Seattle & KCM“, “Seattle weather forecasters…. YOU’RE FIRED!!!“, and “Seattle schools can suck it!”. The last post was one man’s rant about the Seattle School District’s decision to close school for the day. The decision to close public schools based on weather predictions is one choice I am glad I do not have to make.

School officials’ caution dates back to a 1990 snowstorm that dumped several inches of unexpected snow, paralyzing the city and forcing 1,200 children to spend the night in their classrooms. Since then, the state’s largest school district and its suburban neighbors close as a precaution when snow threatens. (source)

Last winter, BCC received negative feedback after deciding to keep campus open despite predictions for an icy morning. I made the choice to stay home that day because it was not safe for me to walk to my bus stop, and many others made the same choice. BCC responded with a letter detailing the way the decision is made to close campus and what stuck in my mind after all this time was the note that officials have to make a choice between 2am and 5am whether to close schools based on current weather conditions and predictions. As cited above, weather prediction is only about 80% accurate at best. When weather forecasters predict the same scenario for days preceding a big storm that may cripple the region, combined with past experiences of not taking action in time, I can’t blame school district officials for declaring school closures before the storm actually strikes. If the school district had made the opposite decision and the storm did hit the greater Seattle area as predicted, many more people would have been upset that the schools hadn’t been closed as a precaution. Officials just can’t win in this situation.

The main reason that the snow did not come yesterday as expected was the so-called Olympic Rain Shadow. The mountains are similar to a boulder in a stream, splitting the flow of water and creating a calm spot just behind the boulder. Bad analogy, I know, but with Seattle’s geographical features, it’s one reason why the storm split, dumping snow on the greater Puget Sound region and not the main Seattle area. This is explained in a new book from UW professor of atmospheric sciences Cliff Mass regarding Pacific Northwest weather:

It explains how, perhaps 25 times a year, an air mass is split by the Olympic Mountains, then reconnects over Puget Sound somewhere between north Seattle and Everett in what is called the Puget Sound convergence zone, an area that can then be rainy even though the sun shines brightly just 15 miles to the south. It tells how the coastal mountains in Washington and Oregon create a “rain shadow,” wringing a great deal of moisture from Pacific storm systems on the west side of the mountains so substantially less moisture is left for areas east of the mountains. And it dispels the myth that the Seattle area is one of the rainiest places in the country, comparing Seattle’s annual rainfall of 37 inches with the averages of 47 inches in New York City and 56 inches in Miami. (source)

The Seattle region is not equipped to handle harsh winter conditions. We have less than 30 snowplows, many of which cannot access neighborhood streets due to street parking or abandoned vehicles. Metro does have chains for it’s fleet, but some of the hills in Seattle are just too steep or narrow to navigate during times of snow or ice. You can read more at this SDOT website, which includes detailed numbers of equipment, employees, and snowplow/deicing routes. We could spend more taxpayer dollars on building a better infrastructure that can handle this adverse weather, but honestly we only use it a few days a year, so it would be a waste of funds in my opinion. People here are not used to handling such conditions, so the snark from East Coast transplants who have cities used to dealing with these conditions is not appreciated either. Yes, Minnesota can handle 2 feet of snow without closing public schools, but Seattle cannot, for the very reasons I just listed above.

All in all, getting angry because the weather forecasters were wrong is honestly a waste of energy. Getting angry at the school district for not closing campuses is also unfair. We get what we get, we have no control over the weather, and we can only plan ahead for what may happen. Personally, I was glad that we did not have snow and ice yesterday, as it allowed me the chance to travel to my doctor for a post-surgery visit. With the snow today, all I can do is look at it through my window and wish I had chosen to have surgery another time. Traveling through the snow in crutches is definitely against the wishes of my doctor.

Photo courtesy Cliff1066

Another problem at the historic monorail linking the Seattle Center to downtown: this time, the Blue car froze in its tracks (figuratively, although ice may be implicated literally as well) and passengers were stuck for half an hour until rescued. Looks like the tourist transit system may be out of service till the problem is discovered, or at least the frigid temperatures warm up. Wonder if the heat stays on during a mid-transit stranding?

Last week, the Seattle Times printed an opinion piece by James F. Vesely titled Impose license fee on King County cyclists. Vesely attempts to argue that it is long past the time which cyclists should be licensed and should have to start paying for the amenities “given” to them by gas-tax-paying drivers. This opinion piece is a work of extreme bias founded on misconceptions, and, in my opinion, only further divides the two camps, causing more harm than good. (more…)

how to get your iphone to help you take a bus.

OMFG. Apple just pushed out the iPhone 2.2 update [#] and along with other nifty things, it includes incredible (and much wished-for) updates to the Maps Application. Namely, you can now search for directions and get the results in terms of walking or public transit instead of just driving. Since Google knows about Seattle’s bus system, the map will show you bus timetables and a generous estimate of the number of minutes until the next bus is scheduled to arrive. A further extension that’s wspecially great for when you’re going someplace new, the map also has a link to show you the “street view” of your destination (example after the jump).

Aieeee! This is the perfect collision of technology and car-free fandom of the month.

Via Gizmodo and their overview of the other updates. [gizmodo]

(more…)

Standing Room, from the Seattle Municipal Archives

It’s that time of year again: yesterday was the first day of the University of Washington’s fall quarter. For many would-be students, both new and old, Wednesday meant packed buses, route delays, and even missed courses. A pile-up on the routes to the UDistrict as everyone tries to figure out which classes they’re taking impacts not only undergrads, but also those who teach them — faculty and grad students alike. A colleague of mine was almost late to her first day of language teaching, due to the 43 from Capitol Hill being 30 mins delayed due to increased traffic. Today, one day into the quarter, the 65 was not picking up passengers between 55th street and campus, due to overcrowding on non-articulated coaches around 9am. There seems to be a ‘capacity valley’ in the curve of distance from campus: if you’re distant enough from the UW, you’ll be assured of a seat, but by the time you get closer to campus, even standing room might be gone.

Metro does put more buses in place in sync with the academic year, but perhaps extra steps could be taken during the first week of classes, when nobody’s schedule is fixed yet and everyone is flooding on to campus to sit in on multiple courses.

Loading the Ferry
Via the Flickr and by SolYoung.

One of my favorite local trips is over to Bainbridge Island, partly because I simply enjoy riding the ferry and the trip there and back is convenient fun.

As anyone who has taken a Washington State ferry any time recently can tell you, you cannot be even remotely near a ferry without hearing multiple times the warnings about not leaving your personal possessions unattended, so it always surprises me on those infrequent occasions when someone does. Usually, it’s a suitcase or a backpack or a big shopping bag that someone’s put down and walked away from without thinking about it. but last night someone left a much larger item behind on the M/V Tacoma: a car.

My ride over to Bainbridge yesterday was the M/V Wenatchee. We had totally smooth sailing until just as we were pulling into the harbor over on the Bainbridge side when the overhead speakers made that gravelly sound that indicates a message is coming. An announcement at this point in the game is usually about some delay or potential delay, and sure enough, that’s what it was. It’s just that instead of the usual minor mechanical issues or heavy water traffic causing a delay, this time it was a security issue caused by the discovery of an abandoned vehicle in the car deck of the Tacoma.

Apparently the car wasn’t much of a threat because we were still able to pull into the dock and disembark as normal. The 5:30 sailing from Bainbridge on the Tacoma had been cancelled, but the people waiting were all able to board the Wenatchee for its return trip. My return to Seattle on the 8:10 crossing was on time and perfectly fine.

This morning I glanced through the papers to see if I could find a story but there’s nothing noteworthy in “nothing happened” so there was nothing to be found. Still, I can’t help but wonder about this car. I’ve left magazines and bottles of water behind on the ferry out of carelessness and inattention, but who leaves behind a car? One of my co-workers thinks that it was someone who routinely walks on the ferry and simply forgot that they drove; another proposed the idea of someone trying to fake his or her own disappearance. What do you think? Could someone really forget something as big as a car?

I’m one of the few people to live in Seattle without owning a real bike. I have one of those old Sears bikes that can’t make it uphill, let alone up  the block. So I was thinking of making an adult purchase and getting one of those real bikes, so I can be like the rest of you. Except I don’t know where to go.

There’s REI, of course. But I think that’s a little too spendy for a first timer like myself.

I know of Play It Again Sports and Second Ascent. I’ve bought things from both places and like their prices. I’m not interested in a top of the line bike. Just something for under $200 that will get me up little baby hills, and maybe even has a gear or two to play with.

Do you know of any other places I could seek out such a bike? Or if Second Ascent is better than Play It Again Sports? Advice, comments, concerns are more than welcome.

King County Metro announced a wide variety of service changes and additions this morning that will start taking effect this weekend. Many of the changes were funded by Transit Now, the sales tax increase that voters approved X years ago.

A full list of the changes can be found at the King County Metro website.

A few of the changes include:
* frequency increases for routes 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14, 26, 28, and 41 (among others).
* A few trips on certain routes will be deleted due to lack of ridership.
* Route 215 will be added between North Bend and downtown Seattle.
* Route 244 replaces the temporary route 644. (Personal note: 644 was temporary? I can remember seeing that bus way longer than a temporary route should be around)

For a full listing of the changes see the King County website.

_{Bike Shorts, Denim Skirt, Tatoos, courtesy of Seattle Daily Photo}

In an effort to reduce drive-alone commuting, King County teamed up with REI and the Cascade Bicycle Club to encourage biking to work by offering 200 free bikes to participants who meet the requirements of their pledges.

The program, which is offered through businesses to employees (and which employers had to sign up for by August 4th), allows commuters who reduce their drive-alone commutes by 60 percent to earn ownership of an REI Novara bike or a free bike tune-up. In addition, Cascade Bicycle Club is providing safety training and bike mentors.

Thus far, the program seems to be going well, which isn’t surprising considering how bike-friendly Seattle is, and the upward trend of gas prices over the last year.

“We have had an enormous response!” said Susan Whitmore, Commute Trip Reduction Services Training Specialist. “We currently have nearly 250 participants registered.”

The brand-new project was funded by a grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation, and may continue in future years if additional grant funding is secured. For more information about how to get yourself or your employer involved, see the Green Bike Project web page.