I arrived at Westlake station at around 5:50 today. The northbound platform was already decently crowded, which means a train hadn’t come through in a while. When I looked up at the arrival info, it said the next train was in 14 minutes. As I type this, it is 6:01 and no train has come. The platform is even more crowded. I’m nervous that when the next train comes it will be so packed with people from other stops that not everyone will get on.
If this was a one-time occurrence, I wouldn’t be posting right now. But this isn’t a one-time thing. I think you all know that this isn’t a one-time thing. I’ve been abandoned in Capitol Hill because of a breakdown and had to take an Uber home. I’ve had the misfortune of being scheduled to work and not realizing my commute was going to be at the same time as a concert or sports game. I routinely have miserable experiences with the light rail.
This sucks. I want to ride transit. I want to cut my emissions. I want to be able to recommend to my friends and coworkers that they consider using the light rail for their commutes. But it’s really hard to do that with the state that it currently is in. I know once the maintenance yard on the Eastside gets connected to the network the frequency will increase. But it’s hard waiting for that.
I’m now boarding a packed train at 6:06. Sixteen minutes after my arrival at Westlake on a weekday during peak commute hours. My drive home would have taken 23 minutes according to Google Maps.
I hope this gets better.
submitted by /u/206-Ginge
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