The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 5

-d 11 J- Local The News Tritxine -Tacoma Sun July 27 1980 A-5 fSyJ MJRWWiWWa Staff photo by Rum Carmack Gina Carbone Elaine Briden and Jan Shoe were aboard when Pierce Transit and Metro buses met at Federal Way Take the express and leave the driving pay fares when leaving the bus when outbound from downtown Seattle and on boarding the bus when inbound Metro fares are 50 cents within Seattle and 75 cents if you cross the city limits Pierce Transit fares are all paid when entering the bus They are 25 cents for all rides for adults On September 1 the fares to Federal Way will be 75 cents for adults Both Seattle and Tacoma bus systems are equipped with some buses that can dose to the curb and can lift wheelchairs into the buses on special devices Both systems offer rider and schedule information by phone The Pierce Transit number is 593-4520 The Metro number is 1-800-542-0905 toll-free from Tacoma system if the bus is not crowded Senior citizens children and students all get discount fares that are worth applying for Ask for transfers if your trip will involve mow than one bus route on either system The transfers are generally good for one hour from the time you board your bus Buses on both the Metro and Pierce Trasnit Transit systems are generaly dean Pierce Transit has a slight edge in the window cleanliness department Seattle offers free bus service within a area within downtown Seattle If you enter and leave the buses in that area you pay no fare Because of that free policy you In a day for riding buses in Seattle and Tacoma recently there were some things that were worth noting especially for first time riders: Carry plentiful change Both bus systems require exact change and merchants generally are unwilling to part with any change without a purchase Consider both monthly passes if you are a regular rider They offer considerable savings over daily fares Bus drivers are generally well-informed and courteous especially if they are not caught in the rush hour crush Most will offer to tell you when you reach your stop and will explain the fare and transfer per mile that the Herts Crap says is the more realistic figure for car operation the mileage cost would be $28 Parking for the day in downtown Seattle would add at least $3 mine to the total Commercial bus services though perhaps somewhat quicker are substantially more expensive Greyhound charges $660 round-trip and Tacoma Suburban Liraa charges $6 for the roundtrip An additional benefit of the public transit it is that commuters can ride local buses to their destinations in both Tacoma and Seattle without additional charges with a transfer Public transit commuters pay a penalty in time however From the South 12th and Commerce Street transit center in downtown Tacoma it takes 82 minutes to reach the park-and-ride lot at South 320th Street and Interstate 5 in Federal Way Waiting times then during commuting hours are generally five minutes or less Express buses take about 30 minutes to reach downtown Seattle from there That hour and five minute span compares with about 40 minutes by car and 45 minutes by commercial bus for the same trip During midday hours and on weekends service is less frequent that serves the park-and-ride lot during non-rush hours goes via Highway 99 with stops along the way During commuting hours some of the 174 buses marked express make only one stop between Federal Way and downtown at the Midway park-and-ride lot Those buses are considerably faster than the non-express 174 buses but not as swift as the 175 176 and 177 buses The regular 174 bus does make a stop at Sea-Tac airport making it possible for Pierce County rati- dents to get to and from the airport (mi public transit The total time from downtown Tacoma to the airport if connections are made within five minutes would be about an hour and five minutes That compares with a 35 to 40 minute trip on the airport limousine and on the Suburban Lines bus The airporter fare is $550 each way The bus faro is $3 The public transit fare would be $1 each way Taking a car would be quicker yet but parking charges are $5 a day in the airport garage Parking costs less in more distant facilities but then it takes more time to wait for the shuttle vans to the airport Jubilee McBride who works at a Sea-Tac area hotel rides the bus seven days a week Before the new Pierce Transit service her husband drove her to and from her job The twice daily roundtripa she figured cost almost considerably more than her $2 per day bus fare and took her husband two hours of his time think this is a great she said have it any other Pierce introductory 25 cent fare will go up to 75 cents on Sept 1 but most commuters say that matter Two of the riders on a recent morning Jan Shoe and Gina Carbone said the increase will mean they will probably once again take turns driving to the Federal Wav park-and-ride lot It takes too much time they said to make the 75-cent tore worthwhile By JOHN GILLIE erhaps it was the still-early hour or maybe it was the bass rumbling of the GM diesel but it seemed that half the people on 177 express bus had drifted off into the Land of Nod While cars clipped by in the fast lane outside other riders leafed nonchalantly through newspapers or stared absent-mindedly out the window Another day another dollar The SO people aboard that bus were riding the closest thing this area has to the Long Island Railroad though cleaner and more reliable At least three of them that morning were from Tacoma who by dint of Pierce efforts were able to Join King County commuters that day in their ride from Federal Way to downtown Seattle The three aboard that bus had arisen early to catch the Pierce Transit new connection from Tacoma to Federal Way where they caught the 177 express They were among an increasing number of Pierce County residents who are abandoning their cars in favor of the bus Elaine Briden for instance works at the Seattle Indian Center She was among the first riders the new Pierce Transit connection had when that service started July 1 For the first few days she said she was the lone rider Last week there were 10 passengers on that bus Her seat mate Mary Ann Wilson formerly took Greyhound buses to a business school in Seattle but had recently begun riding Pierce Transit and Metro to save money Saving money is what riding the bus to Seattle is all about It costs $1 now 25 cents for the Pierce Transit ride and 75 cents for Metro Compared with the cost of nearly every other way of getting there it1 a bargain At the 185 cents a mile the government says it costs to operate an automobile the 70-mile roundtrip would cost $1295 At the 40 cents Outdoor Furniture generally make the trip to ederal Way Federal Way from Tacoma every half hour diving rush hours Express buses leave the Federal Way lot for downtown Seattle as often as every five minutes during peak commuting times In non-commuting hours the trip will take much longer Tacoma to Federal Way buses run about every hour with about the same 30-minute running time to Federal Way In non-rush hours the trip from Federal Way to downtown Seattle takes about an hour and 10 minutes instead of the 30 minutes The difference is that the express buses numbered 175 176 and 177 run but during rush hours Those buses go directly to downtown via 1-5 The 174 bus fail me By JOHN GILLIE FOR FINAL CLEARANCE On Homecrest Outdoor Furniture Summer living was never so comfortable Selden's has a full line of Homecrest chairs tables and umbrellas to make every weekend at home seem like a vacation The best designs In steel frame outdoor furniture are complimented with removable vinyl cushions In floral patterns of orange and brown or yellow and green VASHON ISLAND I Implored fail me My feet clad in heavy bro-gans were already complaining about the excess mileage and by my reckoning I was only half way to my goal the ferry dock 8 Point at Tahlequah opposite There was a lesson in it for me believe information operators when they seem hesitant about the infer-' mation they provide I had called Metro from downtown Seattle to find out if it was possible to travel from downtown Seattle back to Tacoma via Vashon Island via bus and ferries Yes said the operator there's a shuttle bus on Vashon that meets the ferries from time to time and travels to little town on the south part of the the fiance on the south end ferry to Vashon where the shuttle bus would meet the boat I did as she instructed but realised that I should have taken the number 118 bus instead That bus actually boards the ferry- I got on the bus (No met the ferry) aboard the ferry and took a look at the schedule The was not Tahlequah but Burton some five miles north of the southend ferry terminal I could have backtracked but I walked instead barely making the 3:10 pm ferry connection to Tacoma after getting off the bus at Burton at 1:35 It was not an unpleasant walk but not anmething do in brogans and if it were raining In my quest to explore the bus systems of King and Pierce counties I had decided to try to take a little different approach to getting from Seattle to Tacoma something that might make a good weekend family outing Now as I put one foot in front of another I had to reflect that it was an experiment that a total success SrfaiywM LAKEWOOD CENTER 1 9531 Gravelly Lake Drive SW Phone 588-3636 HOURS: Mon A Fri Daily A Sat Sunday I asked said she somewhat hesitantly She advised be me to catch the number 18 bus at First and Pike to go to the ferry terminal at ake the 12:45 Fauntleroy take pm.