Mind wandering again to the Metro fare enforcement report.

 RantWoman, as has already been established, is a bit of a nerd who spends a lot of time on the bus.

During today's bus travels RantWoman's mind wandered again to the recent King County fare enforcement officer report and to RantWoman's own experience riding around for more than a month with a demagnetized ORCA card, a card that only very occasionally produced the beep indicating that the card read properly when tapped. 

Adventures of RantWoman: Reporting on the Metro Fare Enforcement misses a number of points.

(Please do not tell RantWoman about paying her fare on her phone. Between a white cane, a purse, and whatever baggage RantWoman is carrying, taking out a phone and waking it up to pay a fare is more than RantWoman even wants to attempt.)

RantWoman currently has a small couch on a cord around her neck but the whole time her card was not beeping, RantWoman was pulling the card out of somewhere and trying to tap it. RantWoman is white and bathes regularly so maybe drivers just believed her when she said she had a pass. Or sometimes, the imperatives to stay on schedule outweigh more detailed inquiry.

That entire time, RantWoman had in fact paid for avalid pass, online through the MyORCA app. At some point, possibly after RantWoman encounterd a fare enforcement officer, RantWoman followed directions on the back of the card and called an 800 number. RantWoman was referred to her local transit agency. The person RantWoman spoke to looked up the number of transactions which had registered for the previous month. It was substantially lower than RantWoman's estimate of the number of her trips. Then it registered with RantWoman that she just needed to get her disabled pass replaced.

RantWoman imagines that her situation is probably a small minority of situations that look to drivers like someone has not paid a fare. RantWoman has no idea whether these comments are helpful in deciding what the report actually means, but here the info is anyway.

Reporting on the Metro Fare Enforcement misses a number of points.

Silly RantWoman. RantWoman still naively hopes that asking a search engine for a specific document will immediately yield a link to the document, AS THE FIRST LINK in the search results. Thankfully, the Urbanist article and the KIRO radio links below this video both have a direct link to the Metro fare enforcement report. 

For grins, RantWoman read the whole report. The report is presenting the raw numbers requested in the ordinance that requests the report. RantWoman still has questions not addressed by reporting that only looks at the numbers.

RantWoman has ridden every route addressed in the report at least once and usually on a round trip in the last 12 months. So RantWoman's opinions are informed by lived experience. RantWoman considers fare payment a mark of good citizenship, an indicator that she has her own act more or less together. RantWoman always just pays for a disabled pass because that is so much easier than payment for each ride. 

RantWoman may have encountered fare enforcement once on Metro and once on Sound Transit during the study interval. At some point RantWoman's disabled pass got demagnetized and whichever fare enforcement officer RantWoman met looked at the ORCA app on her phone, and told her she needed to get a new card. Since then, RantWoman's card has reliably beeped as expected when tapped.

RantWoman wonders where the estimate that 30% of passengers don't pay fares comes from. RantWoman's estimate would be more like 20% based on what she can observe. However, some of the routes surveyed are so crowded during peak times of the day that people literally cannot get to the card reader to tap their cards. These same routes have plenty of capacity at other non-peak times. By peak times, RantWoman means both regular commuting hours and times when there are concert or sport events RantWoman is VERY glad people take transit to.

All of the routes listed are heavily traveled frequent routes, with frequency as high as every 6 minutes. So, one obvious way to look at raw numbers of fare enforcement contacts would be to look at some kind of ratio, say, of contacts per 1000 boardings.

During non-peak hours when the bus is mostly empty. but when the bus is almost empty, if passengers are clean and well-behaved, RantWoman is just FINE with people using the service, especially if their destination is something like a governmental or social service. Well, passengers who get on the bus carrying a bathtub sized latte and can't pay their fare get a disapproving look and the acknowledgment that one can't pay a bus fare with, say a Starbucks gift card.

RantWoman is aware that transit services are paid for in large measure by sales taxes which are highly regressive. If people can't come up with bus fare because they have paid sales taxes, RantWoman still figures they have at least partly paid their way.

Several media reports note that many of the people who received citations are "experiencing homelessness." If they can't pay bus fare, is anyone surprised that they don't pay fines either? Clearly though, actual payment of fines is not necessarily a great indicator of program success. Fare enforcement officers are also supposed to help direct people to options to be able to pay fares and to other relevant resources. 

So one obvious question: what is the trend about people getting signed up for low income or senior / disabled fares? And can the trend be linked to the work of fare enforcement officers? RantWoman has seen firsthand how just having a bus pass, reliable transportation can help people manage all the inconveniences of homelessness and get them on to paths toward more stable situations. It is not obvious to RantWoman how one might illustrate this point with numbers, but it should be considered when evaluating the fare enforcement program.

Here though we also come to the public safety concerns that are part of the push behind fare enforcement and to driver comments that people causing problems tend also to be people who haven't paid their fare. RantWoman would definitely look more deeply at that concern. 

RantWoman is not at all charmed by drug use on buses or near bus stops. If it were up to RantWoman people also would not smoke tobacco or weed near bus stops. Worse than drug use though are assaults and verbal abuse. RantWoman would be interested to know whether presence of fare enforcement officers reduces on-board crime, either compared to runs when there is no office present or overall.

RantWoman also wants to know more about the increase in fares collected overall. Is that because informational programs are reaching the people they are intended to reach? Is it because more people have figured easier ways to pay their fare? Is it possible to quantify whether the fare enforcement program has contributed to the uptick in fare revenue.

Citations Virtually Nonexistent After Metro Resumed Fare Enforcement

Huh? King County hired 30 fare enforcement officers – they only issued 8 tickets in an entire year

Best sneering from local ragemonger Brandi Kruse

King County Metro faces scrutiny after only 8 citations despite 78K fare checks

on "WasteWatch"

Harger: King County hired 30 fare enforcement officers. They worked 40K hours, issued 8 citations, and voided all of them - MyNorthwest.com

A search will yield several  additional articles for readers who want to geek out in even more detail.

Potatoes, onions, bananas and delivery FEEDBACK for Amazon

RantWoman now has potatoes. RantWoman now has onions, in particular a bag with the kind of small onions RantWoman really prefers. RantWoman is about to run out of fresh bananas but the point of a recent Amazon order was bananas.

(RantWoman acquired the potatoes and onions at a street level grocery right next to a bus stop near an in-person meeting. So Amazon is out of the picture about that, at least this time.)

Here a confession: RantWoman quit shopping at in person at her neighborhood Amazon Fresh in connection with the last #No KingsDay protests. There are both food preference and political reasons: Before No Kings Day 2.0 RantWoman found herself looking on Amazon for faraday bags to protect her electronic lifelines while out protesting billionaires for doing billionairish things. At that point, RantWoman reality checked, decided that she prefers shopping in other places anyway, and also decided she did not have time to evaluate other delivery options. So RantWoman made a small in-person shopping gesture but still relies a lot on Amazon delivery. 

Stay tuned for a bananas reflection in connection with #NoKingsDay 3.0

RantWoman realizes that the vexations of an Amazon order are definitely "first world problems" when the news media is melting down full of lots of scary scenarios involving oil, fertilizer, ground troops and all like that. RantWoman also has TWO pleas from Amazon to interact with the Amazon data collection about satisfaction with the delivery. The pleas had links that took RantWoman to more ads, not straight to the comment options, unsatisfactory as they are. So here goes world.

When RantWoman is out of fresh bananas, RantWoman has this odd tendency to forget about all the other food in the house, including multiple packages of dried bananas. A few nights ago, RantWoman was out of fresh bananas. RantWoman fully intended to go replenish the supply of bananas and also potatoes and onions. RantWoman figured there is a short bus option, prices are affordable, and RantWoman could buy in a quantity she can carry home.

Nice thought. RantWoman got sucked into one of her YouTube rabbit holes and realized it was really too dark out even for the easy bus option she had in mind. RantWoman REALLY needed bananas. There the yellow Amazon icon was on her phone. RantWoman was even in a space to do the free delivery with a $100 order deal that comes with Prime. RantWoman simply REFUSES to pay $9.99 / month for free perishable grocery deliveries on orders over $25. RantWoman, though is quite happy making orders over $25 for non-perishables. But RantWoman needed bananas.

RantWoman has NO idea what she did, but she wound up in Amazon NOW, unable to get out and with no acknowledgement of one order. RantWoman did in fact include potatoes and onions in her selections but those selections apparently went into a different shopping cart. RantWoman also forgot the all-important bananas. RantWoman would REALLY have liked just to add bananas to the first order but wound up making a second order, partly because there was some kind of hiccup about the usual  order confirmation. 

Here is a summary of those two orders from a few days ago:

RantWoman has bananas. That is the important thing.

RantWoman does not have the russet and yellow potatoes and avocado she would also have liked to have.

RantWoman also has

4 packets of cheese slices when 1 or 2 would have been fine

5 c6 ox containers of raspberries or blackberries

2 packages of hummus

one package of two small frozen pizzas

1 box of donuts

1 6-pack of good tapioca pudding.

2 pints of Cherry Garcia ice cream at a price lower than usual.

RantWoman also has two emails asking wihether RantWoman was pleased with her deliveries

No.

The two delivery drivers were wonderful, courteous, helpful. The problem is definitely not the driver(s).

RantWoman's intent had been to start her grocery list, on Amazon. RantWoman got taken straight to Amazon NOW.

RantWoman previously rebooted her phone to get out of Amazon now. This time RantWoman went ahead.

RantWoman placed her order then realized she had forgotten the bananas, the whole point of her offer.

RantWoman also lost patience before getting acknowledgment of the order in the app.

So RantWoman did a duplicate order with several of the items. RantWoman added the bananas but could not see the potatoes.  They showed up in RantWoman;s shopping cart after the second order was placed and RantWoman was finally able to get out of AmAzon Now.

WTF

The bananas arrived in great shape but too ripe to last very long.

RantWoman definitely was not distressed to get several of the items she ordered at discounts over prices she has seen and / or paid in the past.

RantWoman's shopping cart leaned a little more toward treats than sometimes. RantWoman can definitely COPE.

Dissatisfaction with the Satisfaction survey

In other words, RantWoman is mostly fine except for the part about whatever UI issues are going on about getting out of AmazonNow.

Well and frustration about options for sharing feedback about where Amazon is doing great and / or falling short in contributing to RantWoman's happiness and nutritional needs.

The Opening Day /#NoKingsDay 3.0 angle

Digression: RantWoman spent her Saturday immersed in the hordes of transit riders celebrating the opening of the #2Line #CrossLakeConnection. By now RantWoman should know better about opening day hordes. RantWoman also had to adjust her initial travel thoughts based on howls of pain from her own body. That meant doing other errands and only then trying out the full opening day experience. The trains were packed. At one point RantWoman flashed back to the only other time she has felt that smushed on public transit, a long time ago on a subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan for another GIANT protest. Protest and Survive, indeed.

The opening day moment: RantWoman again needed bananas. By the time RantWoman did her day's train travel she was exhausted, and there were hiccups about bus connections. But RantWoman finally figured out minimal walking bus connections that yielded her preferred banana purchase: one banana ripe enough to eat the next day and a bunch green enough to feed RantWoman for a whole week.

By the way, a plea to Amazon Logistics

While RantWoman has people's attention, and if her rambling narrative has not driven Amazon readers crazy, a BIG request:

RantWoman lives in a building with over 100 apartments. Everyone has the same street address. Many people order from Amazon. Some of them have tougher mobility and budget considerations than RantWoman. Quite a while ago, RantWoman got a phone call from Amazon Logistics in connection with a delivery. 

There are two entrances to RantWoman's building. People making deliveries to the better entrance can phone residents to be buzzed in. However, driving directions to the exact street address in some GPS point people to the back door. Deliveries to the back entrance are difficult for everyone because someone has to know to come meet the driver. This means deliveries get dropped outside the door, stolen... RantWoman gave the Amazon Logistics person precise reliable driving directions. 

RantWoman's account repeats the driving directions and also makes clear her preference to have deliveries brought all the way to her apartment. At this point, RantWoman simply reports that the delivery was great when these directions are followed. We will not discuss the poor unfortunate drivers who deserve scorn from multiple customers when several packages all get dumped in a heap in the mail room.

Recently a number of neighbors have complained that they are having issues with drivers coming to the back door rather than to the front where there is a keypad and options to let the drivers in. Is there some way that Amazon can standardize the driving directions for all drivers? Or is the expectation that drivers will do whatever the GPS says and individual customers will just have to complain every time a new driver goofs up?  RantWoman would SO appreciate being able to help her neighbors out.

Line 2 Opening Day Adventures!

 First, please enjoy this lively commentary with some fun, yes, fun engineering details about how actually a light rail on a floating bridge actually stays afloat. 

RantWoman also enjoyed some hints of festivity at stations she did not make it to. For more on the RantWoman experience, please read on the other side.

First in the world: How Sound Transit built light rail on a floating bridge

First the wardrobe, with thoughts of POSSIBLY stopping by a #NoKingsDay event: Nothing organization specific. A #WhiteCaneDay T-shirt under a hoodie that said "ICE OUT" in a long-winded, pedantic and harder to read way: "the GPS coordinates of your mother's cervix at the time of your birth have no bearing on your value as a human being." The hoodie turned out to be a great weight, warm enough in the morning, not too warm when the sun came out.

RantWoman is thrilled that the #CrosslakeConnection is open. RantWoman appreciated mostly cheerful sunny weather. RantWoman definitely applauds all the parents getting kids started early, even the tiny ones who fell asleep on the bus or while waiting for the bus.

RantWoman probably has some "Dear Accessibility community...here is an opportunity to preview..." email she has not read. RantWoman and Ambassador Thwack the #WhiteCane caught a bus unencumbered by much knowledge of the day's schedule. Plus RantWoman wanted to check out the Rainier Avenue entrance to the Judkins Park station.

Meh. Whose bright idea is it to put the bus stop nearly a block away from the light rail entrance. RantWoman will be interested to see what actually happens about scooter and biker share users stowing their vehicles in the designated areas.

Also, issue a bullhorn for the nice woman whose job it was to stand behind the pull down barrier and tell people over and over that the opening of that entrance was going to be delayed.

Never mind the delay. Hanging out where RantWoman was turned out to be an easy way for friends to find her.  Excitement was contagious, even with the heavy crowds and long waits

RantWoman had an invite to an opening day meet and greet but realized that sleep was going to have to take priority. RantWoman also had to decide not even to try to get into a line to walk up the hill to the 23rd Avenue entrance where people were allowed to board sooner than from Rainier.

After about the third delay in the promised opening, with the line getting longer and longer, RantWoman decided to skip the thought of any inaugural ride. Instead, RantWoman did an errand involving the 7, the E line, a detour for lunch at IHOP and an ibuprofen, Despite some nasty pain issues, it felt good to walk to catch the 40 to Northgate. 

The southbound 2 line was already packed, but RantWoman basically zoned out. At every station, lots of people got off, but an equal or larger number got on. RantWoman was lucky to have a seat. RantWoman would have preferred to face forward, but managed with a side seat.

RantWoman would like to say the view over the lake was glorious. RantWoman would like to say that, but the train was too crowded to catch more than a glimpse of sky and open water, with views of trees as the train rolled through to Bellevue City Center. RantWoman decided that was as far as she needed to go before heading back to the Judkins Park station.

Score a couple bright spots:

--After seeing construction for quite awhile, it was nice to see the train actually serving downtown Bellevue.

--RantWoman likes that the platforms seem wider than  some other stations and that there is more space for people both to stand and to navigate along the tactile warning designs in the floor.

--It was fairly easy to find the elevator(s?) to go up and over to the return side of the tracks. One small grumble: RantWoman's glasses had turned dark but the hallway to the elevators could maybe use a little more lighting.

On the way back, RantWoman wanted to get off on the 23rd avenue side of the station so she purposefully headed for one of the rear cars. Again, the train was packed. A very observant guy indicated a seat next to him and then, when it was time to get off, stood and loudly asked people to move so RantWoman could get off the train. 

Next, walk the direction everyone was headed toward the exit. Locate the elevator(s), again in a hallway where RantWoman might want a tad more lighting. Out the door, across the plaza, hoepfully to catch the #8 bus southbound. That was not to be. After various wanderings and directions, RantWoman decided to just take the 48 NB from the stop she could actually find and pick up the 8 at Jackson as part of her quest for bananas.

From there, life was easy. The only minor hiccup: somehow the pavement in the crosswalk at MLK and Union is, um, worn unevenly. 

Teriyaki pizza? MUST Try soon.

It was a bright and sunny day and RantWoman...ALMOST...stayed on the bus to the Pagliacci in Columbia City to buy a slice of this month's seasonal pie, The "Waji." 

Look: Promo blurbs 

So here it is: The Waji features teriyaki chicken, pineapple roasted in chili crisp, pickled red onions, and mozzarella over an olive oil base, finished after the bake with green onions, furikake, and a drizzle of teriyaki mayo. It hits that sweet-savory balance, with some tang and heat, plus a little extra crunch and savoriness on top 

And from the Pagliacci blog:

This collab with Uwajimaya started with a simple question: what if we made an Asian-inspired pizza together? For Pagliacci co-owner Michelle Akiyama Galvin, the idea has roots that go way back. Growing up, Asian groceries were scarce in her town, so trips to Uwajimaya were youthful highlights. Later, as an adult, she found herself back in those aisles much more often, kids in tow. A few years ago she met Denise Moriguchi, Uwajimaya’s president and CEO, who mentioned how much her family loves Pagliacci, and that was the little spark. What if we built a pizza around that shared love of food?

Turns out, it was one of the quickest seasonals we’ve ever brought from idea to reality. And the best test panel we know came through fast: the kids in both families gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up.

“We are huge fans of Denise and Uwajimaya and are proud to collab with them,” says Matt Galvin.

And the toppings

Teriyaki chicken, pineapple roasted in chili crisp, pickled red onions, and mozzarella over an olive oil base, finished after bake with green onions, furikake, and a drizzle of teriyaki mayo. (Ingredients feature soy, sesame, wheat and egg.)

LONG ago during graduate school in another state, RantWoman had a disagreeable experience with chicken teriyaki pizza. The crust was much pastier than at Pagliacci. There was BROCCOLI, which in RantWoman's mind really does not belong with anything too sweet. Basically, as fusion cuisine, that long ago pizza was not it.

Still, RantWoman is intrigued by the Waji. Roasted pineapple on anything makes RantWoman happy. RantWoman had to look up Furikake - Wikipedia. So far, yum.

But why the bus trip and one slice at a time? RantWoman often orders a whole pizza for delivery, the large seems tempting for leftovers. There are plenty of leftovers. It's just that the slices are too big. RantWoman's budget can live with just ordering one small pizza at a time for now. But it hit RantWoman: RantWoman is not sure about buying a whole pie because of the bad teriyaki chicken pizza experience long ago so RantWoman WILL just try a slice SOON.

The Mom Report: transportation to a new destination.

Just when RantWoman was starting to groove on some new to her transit options in N Seattle (Yeah 365),  RantMom will move soon, hopefully to a lovely Adult family Home on Boyer Ave E.

Location. Location. Location.

Location is so important that the RantSisters opted to skip visits to other Lake City locations suggested by the consultant assisting the RantFamily. If the goal is "comfort and quality of life," the Rant Sisters spending more time with RantMom and less time on transit is exactly on point.

The closest frequent bus route, the Metro 48 happens to serve Little Sister on one end and RantWoman on the other end. First day preview from bus stop to location was in a car. Irrepressible Nephew is good at spotting curb ramps but not so good at noticing sidewalk issues from the car. 

Stops at Boyer on both sides of the street seem a little steep to RantWoman but Little Sister has a power chair. 

RantWoman walked the sidewalk between the location and the bus stop the other day. The sidewalk is not brand new so it's bumpy in places. Little Sister at first dismissed RantWoman's observations but after a visit today thanked RantWoman for the heads-up.

Next comes visitors from Lynnwood on Light Rail. RantWoman has not put the route into a trip planner but did realize that in terms of easy connection to the 48 the best option would be to get off the Light Rail at the U District station and walk over to 15th Ave NE to get the 48. RantWoman remembers some nuance about the 48 ending at the U District station at least some of the time so probably a visit to the trip planner with some different date time combinations would be fruitful.

RantWoman generally does not try to plan / replan trips on the fly but does like to have general contours of the schedule in mind from planning ahead.

Anyway, the other option of course is to ride all the way to the University of WA station. RantWoman realized that option is less preferable just because the walk between the station and the 48 stop in front of the UW Medical Center is a pain and worse a pain to explain to another low vision person. RantWoman also notes that she may sometimes opt just to Uber part of the trip especially because of a vexing issue RantWoman REALLY needs to schedule her own medical appointment about.

Gratitudes--and Irritability

image from Free Press Journal

#HAPPY THANKSGIVING 

Happy posthumous 91st birthday to RantDad. And special appreciation to all transit, deivery, and taxi etc. drivers, with a particular asterisk for resonance about a couple anniversaries of horrible tragedies. The tragedies never go away, even when there is much else to occupy people's souls.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone involved in food production and food distribution! 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone however you do or don't celebrate.

 

The pink Christmas Cactus

RantWoman considers Thanksgiving at least as important as Christmas. Enough said.

This year, the prep got off to more of a rocky start than usual. Dial-a-Tirade available about software updates and AI that seems to fry RantWoman's phone and other forms of technological disdain for RantWoman's current realities. On top of that, RantWoman spent half an hour of her usual Wednesday morning hourlong webinar trying to figure out a new portal.

Another novelty: an invitation to dinner with nephew and woman friend in exotic LYNNWOOD, but not the part of Lynnwood in range of the Alderwood Zip service. (Earth to RantWoman: did you check Find-a-Ride to see whether the service area might have expanded? NOooo.)

Nephew is both chef and chauffeur, with an offer to fetch both his parents, RantMom, and RantWoman, all in one trip. RantWoman had to reality check this offer. RantWoman is recovering well, but is still feeling a little irritable after some surgery last week. The thought of being crammed in a car even with one's nearest and dearest just does not sound fun.  RantWoman really did not want to request two roundtrips to assemble the whole clan. Somehow a request just to fetch RantWoman from a nearby transit location is too much. RantWoman is quite happy with some exercise and public transit before a holiday feast. More on that in a moment.

RantWoman also learned that Little Sister just assumed RantWoman would be bringing cranberry something. It is a VERY good thing RantWoman discovered a big bag of cranberries stashed in the bottom of her freezer and has been able to assemble TWO kinds of sauce. Uncooked relish will have to wait for another holiday and fresh instead of frozen berries.

Off RantWoman went to Google Maps with the freshly supplied street address. The options with a couple nuances: either Link + the Swift Blue line plus a walk with suggestions to have realistics expectations about walkability or E line plus a Community transit line that runs once an hour on Sundays and holidays. Also, expect rain. 

The actual walking distance from a close bus stop to final destination does not look very long. It just involves interacting with Highway 99 and no indication of crosswalk options. So fabulous: just take Uber the last leg of the trip and expect that family harmony will last a little longer with the right transportation options.

Do you HAVE OPINIONS about SoundTransit? Join a Sounding Board.

RantWoman posts this SoundTransit Sounding Board notice FYI 

Tramsportation Sounding Boards are a great way both to make one's views known and to learn A LOT about our transportation system

Sounding Board | Sound Transit

Dear Amazon, Amazon Day means Amazon Day

The world is on fire, several ways, several places and RantWoman needs to take a break from all that world politics stuff!

Why? RantWoman's lips are about to fall off and she is running out of her much preferred lip balm. RantWoman's most convenient way to get her favorite lip balm is to bundle an order with other items and then to pick her Amazon Day, a day when she is usually home to receiver her shipments.

 RantWoman is just fine with Amazon Day delivery. RantWoman is just fine with collecting a bunch of orders and having them all come at once.

Some of the time that is great.

This post is not about the working great.

Well, one gripe is more of a question! What is the window before a delivery date gets kicked out a week to the next Amazon day? 

RantWoman would be JUST FINE if Amazon clearly said something like "get your orders in two days before your Amazon day. RantWoman could MAYBE endure mumbling about "we just don't have what you want in stock and we need a whole week. RantWoman would handle that GRUDGINGLY. RantWoman's expectation and preference though is that if she chooses Amazon Day delivery, that means her NEXT Amazon Day

However, when RantWoman says she wants her orders DELIVERED, she means to her building and preferably to her doorway. Ignore the naysayers. RantWoman is capable of deciding for herself what theft risks she is willing to run. More to the point, RantWoman orders a lot of things that people don't necessarily want to steal.

The main point: RantWoman does NOT want either some hard to read postal slip OR some long tracking code that she is going to have to type in to usps.gov herself OR an invitation to take two modes of transit followed buy a not terribly ped friendly walk to the nearest holding station. Besides, the last time RantWoman had a problem about a package, RantWoman typed the tracking number in several times on different days and never found her items.

So this time, RantWoman WILL try again about the tracking number, but RantWoman is also griping LOUDLY.

And while we're at it, RantWoman wants a more satisfying way to communicate the nuances of her opinion than picking a box or texting with what is either a bot or an earnest young person halfway around the world at their first job taking gripes from irate customers.

RantWoman also wants some respect because at some point Amazon logistics called up RantWoman for driving directions to her building and in particular to the only door where drivers should be coming to deliver packages. So you're welcome

and PLEASE believe RantWoman: get my things here ON MY AMAZON DAY and NOT THROUGH the post office UNLESS you are sure the package will fit INSIDE RantWoman's mailbox.

Thank you!

UPDATE

7-31-2025. SQUEAKY WHEEL Celebration

The very box RantWoman was ranting about!!!

Only one wayfinding oops.

 Hah!

Remember RantWoman's angst about construction at the UW Medical Center

Adventures of RantWoman: A wholesome alternative to World Events anxiety: CONSTRUCTION at UW Montlake.

RantWoman is VERY happy to report things turned out to be much simpler than RantWoman was fussing about.

RantWoman arrived on her usual Northbound bus on NE Pacific. Lo, there were both stairs and an elevator. RantWoman is a wimp about stairs, especially poorly lit ones but a friendly human helped RantWoman find the elevator.

Friendly Help told RantWoman to go down and there would be a walkway right from the elevator.

RantWoman did find the walkway on her second try.

First RantWoman just automatically pressed the button for the lowest floor. 

Oh fabulous. Parking garage. Hot. smelly, dimly lit. RantWoman foggeed around a little bit. No walkway.

So RantWoman decided to get back on the elevator and see what was what. This time the elevator stopped on the level that went straight to the walkway. Phew.

The walk to RantWoman's appointment was a bit of a maze, but especially after the procedure the walk was especially helpful in shaking out back spasms. And the exit through the Surgery center toook RantWoman straight to the stop for her bus home.

As an aside,Tips for mapmakers:

make it easy to print just the map on a whole sheet of paper, perhaps automatically landscape mode if possible.

consider using graphics instead of lines for paths. Maybe little round circles for wheelchair friendly and, say, triangles for the pedestrian route. And where they overlap alternate the little icons. Make the graphics different colors but realize that the routes still need to be identifiable if printed in black and white.

Jesus is dead and you want me to find my bus pass?

This post is dedicated to a former co-worker who always said, when declining to schedule a meeting on Good Friday, "Jesus is dead and you expect me to work." Further theological meditations belong on RantWoman's other blog. The point of this post is a small rant and a couple comments about shared dining.

RantWoman did not go anywhere to church for Good Friday. RantWoman did not go find a livestream. It has to be enough that RantWoman thought about the entire subject.

In particular, RantWoman rode the bus to a favorite neighborhood fried chicken place. RantWoman does not do fried chicken very often, but it seemed an easy way to get a couple bones to make chicken stock. RantWoman walked a couple bus stops toward home to a stop where there are two buses that between them come at least every 15 minutes and go straight to the best evening stop for RantWoman. RantWoman wound up actually dining al fresco with enough time to spare to wipe her fingers well before needing to find her bus pass for the return trip.

Except RantWoman could NOT find her bus pass, at least not where RantWoman usually puts it. THANK YOU to the driver who let RantWoman ride free. RantWoman was embarrassed and kind of in a panic. RantWoman has places to go this weekend and does not carry cash. Somewhere in this muddle, RantWoman remembered that AT LEAST she could do whatever is needed to link her MyORCA app to her Google wallet 

Honestly, RantWoman knows that paying one's fare from one's phone is supposed to be hip and wonderful. RantWoman, though, just finds the whole thought cumbersome. RantWoman almost always carries Ambassador Thwack the badly behaved white cane, a purse, another bag and of course her phone. RantWoman could probaby set her phone timeout interval longer, but it's just CUMBERSOM to have to wake the phone up, find the wallet and then wave the phone. 

But WAIT! later yesterday evening, RantWoman dug frantically through all the various pockets in her daily gear and, ta-da!, found her actual physical bus pass.

RantWoman is soothed! 

Bikes vs Peds Floating Bus Stops in City of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada

RantWoman is aware of several Seattle locations where there is a bike lane between a bus stop and the rest of the sidewalk. RantWoman often finds this placement annoying but has been able to get used to it.

Discussion on a recent committee call suggested that people need to look at whether the "floating" bus stops have flashing lights, no signal, or full Accessible Ped Signal.

Also to be argued about: "buses MUST always stop at the curb." RantWoman is unclear where this point is a legal angle that can be sued over. RantWoman is also openminded about whether boarding and deboarding passengers can be done safely with the right ped infrastructure and safety culture among cyclists.

At a BARE minimum, a lot of cyclists really need to be more courteous about using their bell, ROUTINELY, whether they see a pedestrian or not.

#Bikeshare companies could also definitely alert customers about this particular traffic safety consideration!

RantWoman has no idea whether there have been enough complaints to form any other opinions

Sunny Day Journey Map

 Friday afternoon RantWoman had APPOINTMENTS, two medical appointments across town from each other. The day was sunny and beautiful, as long as one does not count tree pollen. Scratch that: sun was almost too much and RantWoman needed to wash down itchy eyes multiple times with artificial tears RantWoman was fretting a little about timing, but it all worked out.

First leg of trip:  cross a street where the accessible ped signal now talks, a big improvement over the rat-a-tat that was supposed to be a woodpecker but that sounded to RantWoman too much like gunfire. Routing: 8 + 70 . Not surprisingly, the first 8 was just going by as RantWoman was getting to the stop light, but at that time of day the #8 bus has 10-minute headway. Short wait at Fairview for the 70. Rotten truth: RantWoman needed to go three stops. The distance would be easily walkable--except for the GIANT chasm in any plausible pedestrian routing otherwise known as Mercer St and freeway ramps. 

Nice day for uphill walk for a medical test. Cross the street at the marked crosswalk. Luckily traffic out of the parking garage was minimal. RantWoman is not crazy about driveways or parking garage exits and sometimes goes up the other side of the street to avoid cars. RantWoman has enough vision to pull this off but it's tricky because of no marked crosswalk.

Medical test was almost uneventful. Uneventful as in a form that made RantWoman want to grumble "can't you just put an electronic version in MyChart. Even more "fun," one always gets a plastic bracelet at check-in. Frequently there is this funny moment where the person checking RantWoman in somehow misses Ambassador Thwack the badly behaved white cane and asks RantWoman to verify that the info in tiny print on the bracelet is correct. Uhhhh.....

Test flew by and soon RantWoman headed back down the hill to catch the 70 on further north. Destination, the U District Light rail station and two stops on the train to Northgate. RantWoman long ago used sometimes to walk that distance but between timing and pollen and almost too much sunlight, RantWoman was really happy with the bus. 

Some of the time RantWoman feels a pang about an aging body. Some of the time RantWoman also reminds herself that a number of people in RantWoman's family tree did not even live to the age RantWoman is now.

Distance from Northgate Light Rail station to eye doctor's also is walkable but insane from a pedestrian perspective. Easy bus ride from the light rail station and a short walk with car minimizing street crossing options left RantWoman almost an hour early for her appointment so RantWoman...stopped at TARGET to see about a snack. RantWoman has two rants: the very minimalist snack options and Starbucks used to have an automated checkout. Friday automated checkout was gone and there was just one person at Starbucks and there was a bit of a line.

The wait made it almost too easy to Not Buy anything in honor of Blackout Friday. Almost. Besides the fact that RantWoman needed something for lunch, RantWoman's other rant is that the current anti-#DEI fashion is bonkers. RantWoman is not fully versed about the Black creators able to distribute their product through Target. RantWoman, though, is PEEVED on accessibility grounds: a few years ago, the National Federation of the Blind sued Target about inaccessibility of their stores. Target to their credit looked at the issues raised by the suit and at their elderly customer base and then took a number of steps to make Target someone friendlier to people who are blind and / or visually impaired. Target does not seem to have undone some of that though price tags are still....

RantWoman has no idea whether Target is just talked about rolling back #DEI commitments to appease the mobs horrified by some previous gestures, RantWoman emphatically wishes some of the companies falling into line with the current fashion would grow a spine and say "we are doing ..X;;; because it serves our customers. Plus, nutball pronouncements from the current administration aside, anti-discrimination laws STILL EXIST!

So Dear Target, thank you that I was able to pay for my snack and please consider this rant a free tip!

Eye Doctor appointment was decidedly low torture: just the blue light special to measure eye pressure. No dilated eyes or chasing weak lights around a circular background. Vision definitely not better but not dramatically worse than previous visits. Steady is good.

One easy street crossing to a bus back to the light rail and 3 stops to Capitol hill. RantWoman generally loves buskers but the Friday band at the station as a smidge too loud even for a sunny celebratory Friday. Anyway,  easy just to pop out lf the station, get on a bus and be done with street crossings for the day going home.

King 5 Procession for fallen Metro bus driver Shawn Yim in Seattle

RantWoman emphatically does not want to detract from the solemnity of tdays remembrances for murdered Metro bus driver Shawn Yim.

TL:DR Bus drivers sees is a continuing and worseniing public safety problem; redesigning buses would help a lot.

RantWoman has absolutely no problem with Metro alerts that reported that at times only 85 % of the network or even 80% of the network routes.

RantWoman found this 3-hour video and may or may not look for clips from all the extremely moving remembrances and calls to action she heard when she tuned in.

Instead, below the video, RantWoman is going to make some feeble attempts at audio description script and comment about one other #accessibility issue.

Task one:

attempts at meaningful audio description

(Please note: RantWoman knows at least one blind transit nerd who can probably identify by sound many of the vehicle models on the road. RantWoman is not that sonically adept.)

LOTS of visuals of buses either in motion, along the procession route or parked en masse all over the Lumen Center Parking lot and for blocks around the area.

Many of the participating buses had set their reader boards especially for the occasion: Shawn Ym and his radio call number 21882, Central Base, Atlantic Base, Ryerson Base, Pierce Transit, Community Transit, Vancouver Metro, TriMet, BC Transit.... Some just said "To Terminal"

Also present: paratransit vehicles, Bus-sized tow trucks and other vehicles RantWoman could not identify.

Actual indoor observance starts about 1:50: Bagpipes, large white floral arrangement, big smiling face of Shawn Yim on a screen with an even bigger ATU logo behind hiem

International ATU president: John Costa: "Who moves this city. We move this city."

LOTS of people in transit uniforms, hi vis safety gear, police...and just regular rain gear.

Task two: yell about #ASL interpretation.

WHY the ... was there no ASL interpretation of the main speakers? RantWoman has no idea whether there was ASL interpretation in the room but RantWoman always considers it really on point to do camera work so that the ASL interpretation can be seen in frame with the speaker. RantWoman is not a camera operator. RantWoman does not hesitate just to say "Make it so."

Please note: maybe there is expectation that autotext will be sufficient. RantWoman never makes that assumption. In fact, beyond noting the lack of visible #ASL interpretation in the streams RantWoman saw, RantWoman is reluctant to speak on behalf of #deaf and hearing-impaired transit riders

Rwmember Mark McLaughlin too.

Maybe RantWoman will be able to say more soon.

Memorial for murdered Metro Driver January 10 2025 PLAN AHEAD about travel needs.

 Dear transit riding public

If you need to travel on the morning of Friday January 10, please plan either to get where you are going before the beginning of the memorial or to arrange schedule for after the funeral.

RantWoman has a Zoom call or she would probably go to the memorial.

Here are more articles.

Metro Plans Reduced Service as Staff Hold Shawn Yim Memorial Friday

Author: Doug Trumm
Date: Jan 09, 2025 02:21 pm 

To allow staff to participate in a memorial for slain bus driver Shawn Yim, King County Metro has announced plans for reduced service Friday. Amalgamated Transit Union 587 is honoring Yim with a 10am funeral procession through Downtown Seattle and a memorial service at Lumen Field Event Center.

The post Metro Plans Reduced Service as Staff Hold Shawn Yim Memorial Friday first appeared on 

Plonkers, Parsnips, and pedestrian nightmare. Oh My

Pomegranates from
the party before the party

This post is about Christmas dinner, the day after the Christmas Eve party with pomegranates.

So there RantWoman was, feasting with RantMom and some of her neighbors.

(Feast highlights: the vegetables. Carrot rutabaga soup flavored with rosemary, squash parsnip mash rich in sage, baked cauliflower with capers. Other items.)

Anyway, conversation with one neighbor turned to bus connections. Neighbor is a senior who uses a mobility cane and has a hearing loss. Neighbor's car is apparently out of commission. 

Neighbor: tell me about bus connections.

RantWoman to herself "Oh honey." 

To neighbor: "What kind of phone do you have?"

"A land line."

"You need the number for Metro Flex 206.253.7739."

The exact reason a senior who uses a cane and wants to use transit needs the phone number for MetroFlex:

The nearest bus stop to 11440 Rainier Avenue S is on the route 107, at 87th Ave S and S 115th street. The stop is up an extremely steep street with no reasonable pedestrian infrastructure on either side of the street and a stoplight at Rainier Avenue just to ensure that there are cars turning up the steep hill at arbitrary intervals.  RantWoman tried this stop exactly twice and then opted for plan B, described below.

Neither the Google trip planner nor the MetroFlex route picker knows this and RantWoman has realized that she needs to speak up, and preferably more politely than "No that is not an ideal routing you plonkers," That was rantWoman's thought bubble after the MetroFlex app said "We found you an ideal routing."

RantWoman has discovered another stop on Route 107 at 87th Ave. S and South 118th.  There are a couple different combinations of streets between S 118th and S 116th and cross streets that will get one to Rainier with about a block to walk before the stoplight to cross Rainier at S 115th. Sidewalks are spotty and intermittent but the streets are walkable at least for RantWoman, but NOT recommended for RantMom's neighbor. Traffic is sparse enough to be reasonably safe. That is the walk RantWoman did for holiday feasting in the rain, after multiple Uber screwups and recommendation from the MetroFlex app to take the bus. RantWoman did not tell RantMom's neighbor all of this. RantWoman just encouraged RantMom's neighbor to call MetroFlex.

RantWoman spared her dining companion her long litany of vexations with Metro Flex.

The first time RantWoman tried to use it, she just tried the phone number and had not set up the app with complete information about her own traveler characteristics. The person on the line just hung up and did not respond when RantWoman tried to call again. RantWoman thinks that time she opted for a short Uber ride, but that was STILL more than her Regional Reduced Fare Permit fare.

Then RantWoman tried to look up some point A to Point B routings to see whether they fell within one of the MetroFlex services areas. Turns out the MetroFlex app will not answer such questions unless one is already within one of the service areas. BOO!

Another day, RantWoman was travelling at dinner time with a dying cellphone battery. There were MetroFlex vehicles swarming around the Renton Transit center, but without a working phone RantWoman in her trademark yellow raincoat with white cane could not even flag down a vehicle to see about a ride to RantMom's.

Somewhere in here RantWoman finished setting up her rider profile which CLEARLY SAYS RantWoman is a white cane user with a Regional Reduced Fare Permit. WHERE on planet earth is it reasonable to expect that a white cane user will be able to navigate a pedestrian routing that is insane on pedestrian amenetiy grounds in the first place???

Anyway, next RantWoman did use the app but the promised response time was over an hour. RantWoman opted to pay for a short-distance Uber ride.

So then comes Christmas day. RAIN. Some kind of hiccup about connecting with Uber vehicles. Try MetroFlex. "Please wait while we find you the ideal routing."

No! No! No!

RantWoman decided to cope with the walk in the rain, with one final hiccup. 

Ring, Ring. RantWoman has regular old fashioned gloves with no modern flap on the index finger. The rain makes it hard to take gloves off. And...it's RantMom wanted to know where RantWoman is.

ETA 5 ,minutes, in plenty of time for dinner.

RantWoman will now share this rant and if necessary harangue relevant people....

Happy Christmas, Kwanzaa, Passover, Festivus....

A 911 call and then....

The following compilation of videos and commentary is dedicated to:

--Everyone who knew Shawn Kim, everyone who helped nab his killer, and everyone remembering what a great guy he must have been.

--All the transit drivers who will be working through the holiday season, especially the ones who deliberately choose routes that come with different difficulties

--Everyone whose holidays include transit and especially when holiday dramas spill over on the ride to or from festivities (count a couple mildly memorable moments from the RantFamily.)

--Everyone who, like RantWoman, thanks our drivers when we get off the bus. This social point is one reason RantWoman is not necessarily eager to consign bus driving to some kind of robot overlords.

Happy Holidays!

Drivers who choose to drive the night runs.

Like everyone else whose lives are entwined with transit, RantWoman was outraged to wake up last week to news of the stabbing of Shawn Kim.

RantWoman has seen plenty of times when drivers were able to deescalate all kinds of extremely stressful situations. People sleeping on buses also often do not react well when drivers waken them at the ends of routes. Murder is horrifying.

The stream of details becomes more heartbreaking with every new media account.

Rant: the murder occurred in the U district. Were there no University police anywhere in the area? Transit police are from the King County Sheriff Office, but do local police routinely respond if a 911 call comes from a specific jurisdiction?

RantWoman is really grateful for comments from people who knew Mr. Kim. RantWoman totally sympathizes with grieving relatives who really might have no mental space for media figures sticking microphones in their faces. At the same time, at this point, enough images of the suspect. How about more images of the murdered public servant?

Bananas did not go to the vigil

RantWoman apologizes if the heading above sounds flip.

RantWoman is very glad there was a vigil. RantWoman expressed interest in finishing off her day of errands with a stop at the vigil, more or less on RantWoman's way home anyway. 

But RantWoman scored bananas at a very cool new supermarket she will celebrate separately. 

And, completely unsurprisingly, there was a Metro alert advising riders to expect delays on every bus route that travels through the crime scene. So, RantWoman picked a different route home; the video will have to be enough for now, and not enough of course for all the events every day on Metro.

Description!

RantWoman, like a lot of armchair experts on social media would not have minded more of a description of the suspect sooner. Too much of the social media RantWoman saw was certain the killer must be Black. Like every transit driver in the area, RantWoman was glad to have enough of a description to rule out a lot of the riding public. 6'5" and white comes with a pretty definite body characteristic more useful to RantWoman than brown hair and brown eyes as well as some expectations about voice.

RantWoman is very thankful not to have encountered the killer.

RantWoman is very glad drivers had the description!

Arrest: a secure place to sleep.

RantWoman comment: this is pretty much a picture-perfect arrest from the police perspective. Completely cooperative suspect. No altercation of any kind. RantWoman also only sees white faces.

We are all grateful that this guy will have a secure place to sleep for a long time, without even any bus drivers to wake him up at the end of every run he lands on.

Boxes

a celebratory Christmas Cactus

 Happy Birthday RantDad.

If RantDad were still alive he would turn 90 today, one of those time horizons one hardly imagines, whether the celebrant is alive or not.

30 years ago, RantWoman flew back to MT to surprise RantDad on his birthday. That year his birthday fell on Thanksgiving. RantWoman missed out on Thanksgiving dinner but collected a nice incentive to take a later flight than the one she originally booked. The whole trip was the best birthday surprise ever.

35 years ago was a terrible tragedy RantWoman still smarts from.

But let us talk RantDad memories:

Bassoon music

Postcard collecting

Stacking boxes in boxes.

RantDad was frugal in a style that definitely did not permit throwing away all the boxes that crossed his path.  In fact, even though some kinds of math definitely were not RantDad's favorite, he made sort of a hobby of stacking boxes in boxes and then figuring out how to rearrange things to stack even more boxes in the boxes. 

When RantMom was getting ready for downsizing 1.0, we discovered that the garage of the family home still held boxes stacked from the 1960's, before the RantFamily moved from CO to MT.: All of these spatial reasoning masterpieces started going out the door during Downsizing 1.0 for RantMom. RantMom sold the home where she lived for 30 years, loaded her life behind a bulkhead in one of those we will move your stuff in our semi on our timeline deals and moved to Seattle.

And two downsizings later, RantMom's apartment still has a FEW boxes stacked in boxes remaining.

RantWoman smiles ironically every time she flattens an Amazon delivery box. The flattened boxes go to the recycle. RantWoman would be thrilled if the charming drivers who bring boxes of things to her door could, on subsequent trips. In the meantime, RantWoman strives to move the boxes along in the universe more elegantly than RantDad did.

And speaking of boxes, one of RantMom's recent excursions into boxes turned up this memorable phot of RantDad, probably from early college because RantWoman thinks RantDad played the baritone horn until he went off to college and fell in with the woodwinds.

RantDad with his bassoon in performance clothes

Meet Rep. Jasmine Crockett on #project2025 with a side of broadband.

It's been a long but sunny day. RantWoman is tired from an extended in-person meeting and from insisting on walking and the comforts, at least for her, of the bus compared to car travel. Metabolically, RantWoman is somewhere between caffeine buss and sugar high.

In short, RantWoman is in the sort of mood where prudence might dictate laying off the keyboard.

With that as an intro, RantWoman still needs to go off.

RantWoman generally LOVES Rep. Jasmine Crockett. In the clip below, RantWoman loves to hear Rep. Crockett tear apart #Project2025 and the #GOP lie vortex.

RantWoman, though, does NOT love the moments at the end of the clip where there is a hapless witness trying to make what he thinks is a point about costs per customer for broadband service. For his trouble, sincere or not, reality based or not, the witness earns a lecture inviting him not to complain about #DEI. 

RantWoman can easily imagine that the witness has earned a lecture, and hopefully there is another hearing where discussions of persistent inequities in broadband deployment, probably tied to the same concerns DEI programs aim to overcome.

IN the meantime, please enjoy the firecracker effects.

0 houses have been connected

Ride Transit Month is almost OVER? RantMom has moved and MAYBE RantWoman transportation problems sorted out

 This post is a fast account of several phases of transit adventure disguised partly as elderliving quest..

5+ years ago, RantMom came into money enough to afford to move to a retirement community. This is reflects both DEEP affection of a longtime family friend and a HUGE relief for RantWoman.

RantMom chose well, in terms of excellent garden and landscaping, in terms of helpful staff and in terms of transportation. In particular, at the time, the location was one bus away from Little Sister's house and two frequent buses or various other permutations away from RantWoman. Unlike RantMom's previous abode, it was too far for RantWoman to walk but transit access was great and there was staff to deal with some times when RantWoman would previously have had to spend the night after some medical experience!

Then North Link opened. Sigh. 

Bus service hours, probably appropriately, got reallocated. The one bus option went to Little Sister's apartment went away and RantMom spent a lot of time dealing with paratransit scheduling hassles. Eventually, quite a while later, Rant Family collaboration figured out an easy two-bus routing between RantMom and Little Sister. This worked fine though RantMom also sometimes assessed energy levels and opted for ACCESS instead.

Along came the #pandemic, assorted old building concerns, and a company decision to tear down RantMom's community and rebuild. This news has lingered for quite awhile with considerations about options to move to other communities operated by the same company. The GO Please move phase finally landed this spring. Residents scattered among the choices. Staff moved on. There were lots of good-byes and recognitions and time to reminisce. 

The choices:

Across Lake Washington? Hands down, too far for the transit-dependent RantFamily.

Location in Wallingford: no question the best transit connections but not a fit for multiple reasons.

Location in Greenwood. Still two frequent bus legs but a longer ride. Also not feasible.

Option where RantMom landed: beautiful. on the edge of Lake Washington, right where Seattle and Renton street numbers intermingle. At first glance, oh good. A bus route that goes about 3 blocks away...

We WILL make the transportation work.

Visit 1: 

a bright sunny day routing by Google maps. Several options presented. One option selected without looking at route maps or thinking through pieces. This routing had one transfer. RantWoman and Thwack spent a couple moments at the transfer intersection while RantWoman fumbled with her phone. It was a bright sunny day. The intersection has a stoplight. A lovely woman came along and offered "ask a human assistance. RantWoman found the transfer stop, rode to the recommended stop and discovered no sidewalks and no curbs. 

RantWoman guessed at the direction down the street and chose the side closest to the bus stop. There was a pitiful asphalt path with SEVERAL discontinuities. The grade was WAY too steep for any wheelchair user without one of those super-duper climbing chairs to consider. 

Visit accomplished. Little Sister had come on ACCESS and went home that way. A staffperson who commutes from Capital Hill and uses rideshare from the Renton Transit Center walked RantWoman back up the very steep hill on the other side of the street. The asphalt path was in a little better condition, but RantWoman did not really enjoy the hike.

At the top of the hill RantWoman naively assumed that she should catch the bus on the opposite side of the street, but RantWoman did not really pay attention to the stops once she got on the bus. Turned out, thanks to the magic of Metro through routing, the 107 bus turned into the 148, a point RantWoman learned when last stop was called. Driver was apologetic about needing a break. It was a lovely day. RantWoman opted not even to fuss, but just to hang out at the bus stop until the driver was ready to make his run back.This time RantWoman paid enough attention to transfer to the 101 at the S Renton Park and Ride, a stop RantWoman knows well from a long ago work commute. Route 101 goes straight to downtown and RantWoman did fine from there.

MetroFlex?

Muddle around with MetroFlex and the evolving Find a Ride routing. RantWoman thinks she has email that might help about a couple nuances. The Metro Flex app told RantWoman to use the same bus stop as before. RantWoman has other grumbles about the MetroFlex app and will write separately.

Visit # 2. 

Review the routing options, take to heart the Renton Transit Center option, and again get off at the same stop as before. It was a gray day and cool enough to justify RantWoman's hi-vis yellow raincoat. It also dawned on RantWoman that she can easily catch the 106 right near home and have a much easier transfer to the 107.

Off at the same stop as before. The same steep walk down the hill. RantWoman checked out the better side of the street but finally decided just to walk in the street. Thank you bright yellow hi-vis raincoat. Thank you cars who appropriately just went around RantWoman. Thank you minimal traffic going up the hill, but still not an approach RantWoman is going to want to do in bad weather.

RantMom insisted RantWoman just take a ride-share ride back to the transit center. RantWoman opted for the 107 back home, partly because there is a grocery store next to the last stop. 

Trip #3. 

106 to the Renton Transit Center. MetroFlex by phone. Meh.  More separately. Try one Rideshare option: glad to serve in an hour for a price RantWoman did not want to deal with. Other rideshare option wanted booking only half an hour in advance. Fine. Transfer to the 107. Get one stop before the recommended stop and see what the walking route looks like.  of course no curbs and nothing but some intermittent asphalt paths here either, but Eureka! It too two tries to fine a street that led to workable cross streets and a short less than ideal walk along Rainier Ave S. By this time RantMom was starting to fuss. She was thrilled that RantWoman arrived safely, and we had a lovely spell of opening and unpacking enough boxes to find a few things that had gotten misplaced in the move.

Then it was time to book a ride before RantMom went off to dinner. This time the rideshare ride had LEGROOM! RantWoman opted for the 106 for a one-bus ride home or at least to things she might do on the way.

Coming next? 

Tonight RantWoman spent some time looking at Google maps. The distance from the transit center is less than 2 miles, a good walk if the weather is nice and the pedestrian options are reasonable. STAY TUNED.