A group of women held signs at 21st Ave SW and SW 152nd Street in Burien Thursday afternoon (Sept. 25), protesting the cut of Metro Transit bus route #139 in Burien. The group included some retired nuns. This route, which will end Sept. 27, was called the ‘Gregory Heights Loop,’ and apparently was the only bus that traveled between Highline Medical Center and the Seahurst neighborhood. “The senior citizens have been told by city officials to buy a car or start riding a bicycle,” Linda Alva told The B-Town Blog. According to the Metro website, route #139 is just one of 28 routes that were cut this month:

As a result of Metro’s years of work to cut costs and increase revenue, as well as projected lower costs for fuel and other key items, we will be able to balance our budget in the 2015-2016 biennium with fewer cuts than proposed earlier. Learn more (PDF)

We’re now proposing to cut a total of 400,000 hours of service, or about 11 percent of the current system, instead of 550,000 hours or 16 percent as originally proposed. Instead of four rounds of reductions, there will be three:
  • September 2014—28 routes deleted, 13 reduced/revised (151,000 service hours)
  • February 2015 proposal—16 routes deleted, 32 reduced/revised (169,000 service hours)
  • March 2016—route details to be announced next year (80,000 service hours)
Here are photos of the protestors (click images to see larger versions/slideshow): IMG_5297IMG_5299IMG_5301IMG_5302photo 4 Here’s a video interview of the protestors: [youtube]http://youtu.be/wz6iMibu8WI[/youtube]]]>

Since 2007, The B-Town Blog is Burien’s multiple award-winning hyperlocal news/events website dedicated to independent journalism.

3 replies on “PHOTOS/VIDEO: Group protests cutting of Metro bus #139 in Burien Thursday”

  1. I think it is embarrassing that the hospital that now touts itself a Medical Center, doesn’t have a bus route to it anymore. How is the sick and injured going to be able to get to Highline Medical Center without the Route 139? Highline should step in and work with Metro to fund a significant portion of the route. Walking from 1st avenue is too far. All of the homes surrounding the hospital don’t have a route to it except during peak hours by the route 121/122. Even then, there’s another walk needed. I know that DSHS used to fund a portion of the route when it went by the former office near Azteca.

  2. Metro has also started canceling runs on the 123 without any notice…Both into and out of the city. The bus literally just doesn’t show up. I finally asked them why…they said they sometimes just don’t have enough drivers…but try not to cancel two runs in a row, so we can just get the next bus. When they’re spaced 30-54 minutes apart, that’s not much help when you need to be somewhere on time. Friends who ride the 7 and the 122 are saying exactly the same things happening on those routes. Hard to figure out what if any data are being used to make any of these decisions …but it is clear that canceling routes, and just not sending a bus on a route that’s supposedly in service ( with absolutely no warning) is happening.

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