Rantz: Why is King County Metro so bad at planning?

King County Metro, along with local leaders, would prefer that you bus to your destination, rather than drive. It’s a great idea — if it works for you. Buses cut down on traffic and pollution and they allow you the opportunity to be more efficient with your time.

So why can’t King County Metro handle it when you decide to take their advice?

RELATED: Metro experiments with paid Park and Ride

The bus advocates go out of their way to convince you to take the bus. They give you more route offerings, they help create bus-only lanes that result in worse traffic for drivers (which, per the plan, may convince you to ditch the car and take a bus), they even offer you free spots to park and ditch your car for a longer commute by the bus. Yet, when you follow through and take the bus, you have a bad experience because you can’t find a spot.

The Seattle Times reports that free park-and-ride lots in King County are experiencing overflow. It’s so bad that the County is partnering with Diamond Parking to offer expensive private lots to park and then walk to a nearby transit line. In Bellevue, you can park for $173 and then sit on a bus for a long commute. What a steal!

“Historically, transit parking has been free,” said Daniel Rowe, a Metro planner managing the project, the Times. “I think we’re reaching a tipping point here that a lot of the lots that the public sector is operating are full early in the morning, and customers are looking for other opportunities.”

Well, that’s one way to look at it. They’re technically looking for other opportunities, but it’s more apt to say they’re forced into those other opportunities because Metro doesn’t adequately plan for the increase in demand they’re causing for their product.

Why not create bigger lots from the start? I get that it’s expensive but you’re saving more — over the long term — by keeping cars off the road and pushing people onto the bus routes. If you want people to dramatically alter their commuting habits, why not plan as if your efforts will work and people will listen? Are you that insecure with your position?

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