"City Bus, 1953" from the Seattle Municipal Archives You think the buses are bad now? Check out this shot from 1953! We do love the Penney's sign. We found this classic in our incredible Flickr Pool......

We know how bad this whole crashing economy is. Really, we do. But every cloud has a silver lining, and we're pretty sure the sparkle you can see just past today's bankrupt financial giants and tanked WAMU stock is increased transit ridership translating into more routes and added runs on existing routes so you don't have to drive (or pay for gas) anymore. With ridership nearly 7 percent higher than this time last year, King......

Metro just can't make up its mind about fare increases, so we say bring another quarter just in case. Just a few weeks ago, Metro said it wouldn't be increasing fares for a second time this year, but as of yesterday they'd decided that a fare increase is indeed necessary and imminent. Starting November 1, it may cost you an extra 25 cents to ride the bus. Another 25-cent increase may come in January 2010......

"King County Executive Along for the Ride" by Seattlest Flickr Photographer HonuPhoto White Center Now reports that King County Executive Ron Sims has proposed two staggered fare increases for Metro buses on his blog. In other news--Ron Sims writes a blog?!Yesterday's late afternoon thunder and lightning struck a little too close to home for a West Seattle Blog reader. A cedar tree in their neighbor's back yard was split in two by a lightning strike,......

Okay, okay, we'll hold on, just don't scratch us with those bloody talons.......

So there's an article about bus fares over on Crosscut--by the Cascadia Center for Regional Development's Matt Rosenberg--that suggests raising the one-zone peak bus fare to $3.50, an amount to make even the most evangelical of bus riders clutch their wallet. (We throw in "evangelical" because the Cascadia Center is a division of the intelligent-designing Discovery Institute.) But it could be a very good idea, we think, against our skinflint judgment. The $3.50 fare would......

"You know what I have to say, based on my last couple bus rides? I'm so glad I don't do speed anymore. And that's all I have to say about that."......

By coincidence, it was while we were sitting in the over-crowded number 14 bus on the way to work when we came across this gem of an article in the New York Times: "Drop in Miles Driven Is Depleting Highway Fund; Loan From Mass Transit Is Urged." Our sneering disbelief was interrupted by being smacked in the face by the laptop bag of the guy standing next to our seat in the aisle; the 14......

Even folks who don't drive are being affected by the rising cost of fuel. Plane and train tickets prices have been raised recently to cover the increased cost of gas and, as we noted last month, it was only a matter of time before we'd be adding Seattle Metro buses and Access vans to that list. King County Executive Ron Sims proposed the bus fare increase today. The other alternative is cutting Metro services,......

You know the problem. You're on the bus and you have a choice: You can get off in two stops and make a transfer to a bus that will get you to your destination, or you you can stay on and transfer to a different one at a second stop. The switch at the first stop is a shorter and faster route, but only if the bus you are changing to is coming in the......

In case you got slowed down on I-90 this morning, and were cursing to yourself in the car, we thought we'd help calm you down with a little on-the-scene info. This just in from Seattlest Tera, who was stuck on the scene for an hour: "I have a hilarious bus story. Our bus broke down on I-90 and we are all stuck on Mercer Island. Our 'rescue' bus missed the exit. Good job, Metro.......

"71" by the talented Tim Willis With the ever-increasing cost of gas, the Seattle P-I seems to have taken an extra keen interest in public transit. A quick perusal of the local news on the P-I's site found more stories about taking the bus than any other topic in the local news. It sounds like an exaggeration, but these were all headlines for different stories, from the same day. * Bus Trip Planning Can Take......

Seattlest is grateful for our bus pass and our Zipcar membership. Paying more than $4 a gallon just doesn't sound enticing for us, but we're not surprised when we hear about rate increases and other ancillary fees (like having to pay for our baggage when we fly) being passed onto us for using public transportation. Now, of course, Metro is chewing on the notion of increasing bus fares. Personally, we'd be okay with a......

Wednesday morning, Route 301 from Shoreline to downtown Seattle. Waiting patiently, sweating profusely, standing on an over-crowded bus yet again. It's been in the news many times this year. Ridership is up. And with gas prices as they are, we expect the number of people riding will only climb higher. Back in 2006, King County Executive Ron Sims announced a plan to deliver "up to 21 million more annual bus rides within 10 years." Transit......

Damn, this is the kind of story that really makes our stomach churn. This morning, a skater was hit by a bus killed when he fell under a bus wheel in the U-District. The 20-year-old skater, according to the Times, "ran into the side of the bus and fell under the rear wheel...He was pronounced dead at the scene." Apparently the bus driver didn't even realize she'd run over the kid until the cops......

STOP WHINING by ChrisB in SEA This little piece of advice was plucked from the handy-dandy Seattlest Flickr Pool.......

"Third and Pine, rain or shine," the bus driver almost sings to his passengers. As the bus approaches each and every stop, our driver offers a whimsical rhyme or at least a lengthy, informative spiel on what you'll find, should you choose to disembark here and now. He is charming, jovial, and more importantly, a great driver. He doesn't feel the need to Top Gun his rig, only to come to a screeching halt fifty......

An intriguing bus mate if there ever was one."box 'o bones" by ~wesa~ from the Seattlest Flickr Pool. Thanks for sharing!......

Bolstering our faith in the local transit authorities, for the second time this week, the downtown bus tunnel is closed. The official reason is computer problems, as a H.A.L.-like super-brain down in the I.D. station controls the heating and ventillation, traffic signals, and zombie-workers that make possible Seattle's pathetic attempt at a subway. No word on when the tunnel will re-open, but earlier this week it was same-day; as before, tunnel lines are re-directed......

Realizing we’re in the midst of the “R” months, we had a sudden craving for happy hour oysters. But where? Recalling a recent review, we Googled “shucker's happy hour oysters” and quickly jumped on a bus after reading the first result: a June reprint of a 2006 rave in the Seattle Weekly about Shucker's fifty-cent oysters, two-dollar margaritas, and free parmesan crisps. We lost on almost all three accounts. Oysters had doubled to a dollar......

No. But that doesn't make this factoid from a political campaign article in today's P-I any less disturbing: "If it's OK to notify a political campaign about this guy, what about the neighbors he lived near for months?" said Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, pointing out that [Mitt] Romney's aides were warned about [Daniel Thomas] Tavares's presence here during the candidate's recent campaign swing through Seattle, though Troyer's own office......

"You can't reinvent how to write a song," Robin Pecknold once said in an interview. "I don't listen to too much new music unless it adheres to tradition." Generally we might take that to mean Neil Young or Fleetwood Mac, but the polyphonic choral intros and sense of space to newer Fleet Foxes songs pull from early American hymns, maybe even monastic chants. The complicated multi-part harmonies have prompted Pecknold to start air conducting --......

Besides the Big Wood Festival going on up at Brouwer's (which even exceeded expectations last night), this weekend marks the 3rd Annual Winter Beer Festival put on by the Washington Beer Commission. The Winter Beer Festival is held at Hale's and will feature over 30 different winter beers from Washington brewers. It can get a little packed, but it's a great time and last year was a solid lineup. This year keep your eyes......

It seems like we've been seeing a lot of plays lately with children in them. Into the Woods at the 5th Avenue had kids, and Whistle Down the Wind at the 5th Avenue and A Christmas Carol at the ACT both do. We wondered, who are these child actors? How do they find time to act when there is so much television to watch? So we had a short chat via email with Elijah Ostrow,......

All mass transit is not created equal; here in Seattle, a city with buses and, well, nothing else, unless you're specifically talking with someone about monorail or lightrail or streetcars (you know, theoretical mass transit), when you're talking about supporting mass transit, you're talking about supporting buses. And buses suck. Last week, Erica C. Barnett had a column in The Stranger that spoke to our experience riding the bus to and from work daily: It's......

It's so easy to keep going to the same places in Seattle over and over again. With the abundance of great places to grab a pint that we can get to from a bus ride and a quick walk, it's tough to hop in a car and go anywhere for a drink. But it is always great fun heading out to the breweries away from town to see what is going on. Snoqualmie Falls......

Admittedly, the only reason we know this is because we submitted a poem and it's on a bus, and so we were invited to the party. Sadly there was never any chance that we were going to stand up in public and read it. Its only purpose is to disrupt the glances of bus riders lingering over the list of things you're not allowed to do on buses in Spanish, the announcement of whichever UW......

Prop. 1, the roads and transit measure. Supporters say it will help solve our gridlock problem. Anti-tax opponents say"no it won't" and environazi opponents say "roads are killing the planet, it's transit-only or nothing." Tomorrow's election day. Here's how Seattlesters are voting. Dan: I'm not exactly turning cartwheels as I cast my "yes" vote, but I look at it as "which is easier to get passed, roads or transit individually?" I couldn't pass up the......

In today's P-I, columnist Joel Connelly blithely goes along with the argument that if Prop. 1--the tax-heavy plan to breathe funding-life into the Regional Transportation Improvement District (RTID)--fails, the entire region will continue tottering along to complete and total transportation infrastructure collapse. Likening the quandary Prop. 1 voters face to a scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Connelly writes: Cornered atop a cliff, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid face surrender to a......

... in a couple of years, anyway. "After two years, it's definitely moving," writes invaluable neighborhood blogger Captain Columbia City. He talked to the market's coordinator, Karen, on Wednesday, the last day the Columbia City Farmers Market will be open this year. Of course, Columbia City Plaza was sold to a development firm on the east coast recently, and so when the Plaza owners lease expires early next year, they'll sign a new one......